Special Group Tours
Guidelines for Scheduling Special Group Walking Tours
Any group of at least 10 people desiring a campus tour should make arrangements through:
Chris Porterfield
Assistant Director
Admissions Office
101 Williston Hall
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115
(815) 753-1536
cporterfield@niu.edu
- Unless there are unusual circumstances, groups of fewer than 10 people are asked to take the regularly scheduled campus tours at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on weekdays and at noon on Saturdays. These daily tours leave from Williston Hall at the Office of Admissions. Saturday tours are offered during the academic year between Labor Day and Memorial Day weekends. Weekday tours are offered throughout the year except when the university is closed.
- In order to allow us to recruit tour guides, at least two weeks' notice is needed to arrange a campus tour. If special arrangements are requested, such as a residence hall tour, three weeks' notice is needed.
- Special tour groups are asked to schedule their visits on weekdays whenever possible. Due to unavailability of staff and resources on weekends, it is generally not possible to provide special presentations on weekends.
- To ensure the quality of the visit, weekday special tour groups should be limited to 40 people.
- In order to ensure proper conduct and make the tour a meaningful experience for all participants, it is expected that tour groups of high school, junior high, or elementary school students will have adequate supervision by teachers or adult group leaders to accompany the tour (at least one adult per 10 students).
- If a tour must be canceled for any reason, a three-day notice is requested as a courtesy to the student tour guides and other university personnel involved with special tour groups.
- Tours of Northern Illinois University can provide an excellent opportunity for prospective students and other visitors to view campus, learn about academic and extracurricular involvement, and witness college life in general. Please assist us in making tours a positive experience by helping to adequately prepare students for their visit. The most effective tours are those in which students show a genuine interest by being prepared with questions and attentive to their tour guide. Your help in conveying these expectations to visiting groups is appreciated.
- The tour involves approximately one hour of walking outside and between buildings. During the course of the tour, participants climb several flights of stairs. Those taking part in a tour should be prepared to walk and be dressed for the weather. With sufficient notice, the tour can be modified to accommodate the participants with disabilities.
