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The Edgar County Watchdogs recently accused Northern Illinois University's board of rewarding violations of state law and university policy, including a six-figure severance package for former NIU President Doug Baker.
According to the Dec. 5 Watchdogs’ report, the Office of the Inspector General found that Baker had mismanaged the university and Baker was the subject of a vote of no confidence from the University Senate. Despite this, the NIU board was negotiating a payout of potentially more than $600,000 for Baker through a presidential transition agreement.
“This is not new to NIU, but simply a continuation of public employment policies throughout the state of Illinois – these types of self-enriching agreements happen across the state,” Jim Kraft wrote in an article posted on the Watchdogs' website. “Screw up bad enough to get asked for a resignation, then lobby for lucrative six-figure severance packages. NIU should call it what it is, a severance package, and it should have been a simple ‘get the hell out of here before we throw you in jail’ kind of package.”
Former NIU President Doug Baker
NIU has also paid the legal bills of three employees who pleaded guilty to charges related to selling materials from university job sites and moving the proceeds into private accounts. The school also kept former Dean of the College of Law Eric Dannenmeir on staff for several months after finding complaints of sexual harassment against him likely to be true.
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