Illinois professors protest Gov. Rauner's board nomination

Rauner announced John Bambenek, a former Champaign school board member and a onetime Republican state Senate candidate, as his faculty choice in mid-April.

The Faculty Advisory Council to the Illinois Board of Higher Education plans to send a memo expressing "shock and dismay" over Rauner's choice to the state Senate's Executive Appointments Committee.

Faculty Advisory Council chairwoman Marie Donovan, who teaches at DePaul, said the person representing processors across the state should be a full-time, tenure-system faculty member who understands the "lifeblood" of a university.

The open seat is the only designated faculty position on the 16-member board, which coordinates, sets policy and recommends budgets for the state's public colleges and universities.