Members of the Faculty Senate will be voting tonight on whether same-sex couples will receive insurance from the university.

Faculty Senate President David Hopper said domestic partner insurance will be on the voting ballot. Principles for emerging systems of scholarly publishing from the Association of American Universities and the faculty conduct policy will be discussed during the meeting.

“I think the faculty will support the domestic partner insurance,” Hopper said. “It’s already approved at Iowa, and I would predict it will be approved here.” If the bill passes, same-sex couples would receive the same benefits as traditional couples receiving insurance from the university.

While some of the items may not involve much discussion, Hopper said others, such as the conduct policy, may be more involved. “It’s been talked about for almost three years now,” he said. “It’s been a long and slow process. We’re hoping to finish it up and grind out final changes.”

The code covers many areas of misconduct, including sexual harassment, crime and academic dishonesty.

Max Wortman, chair of the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Council, said there are also several items of new business. Wortman, distinguished professor of management, said these include discontinuing the school psychology specialist degree program, discussing standards for unmet high school requirements and changing the class audit system.

The Faculty Senate meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. in Rooms 260 to 262 of the Scheman Building.