Minutes of the
NIU Board of Trustees
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, STUDENT AFFAIRS AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE MEETING
May 16, 1996

CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

The meeting was called to order by Chair James Myles at 12:45 p.m.  Recording Secretary Mimms conducted a roll call of Trustees.  Members present were Trustees Susan Grans, David Raymond and Chair Myles.  Unable to attend the meeting were Trustee Sanchez and Student Trustee Fowler.  Also present were Committee Liaison Carroll Moody and Board Parliamentarian Ken Davidson.

VERIFICATION OF APPROPRIATE NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING

Confirmation of Open Meetings Act notification compliance was given by Board Parliamentarian Ken Davidson.

MEETING AGENDA APPROVAL

Trustee Grans moved for approval of the agenda and was seconded by Trustee Raymond.  The motion was approved.

REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

It was moved by Trustee Raymond and seconded by Trustee Grans to approve the minutes of the March 7 meeting.  The motion was approved. 

UNIVERSITY RECOMMENDATIONS

Chair Myles asked Committee Liaison Carroll Moody to introduce the items under University Recommendations.  Provost Moody called on Dr. Lynne Waldeland, Assistant Provost for Academic Planning, to present Agenda Item 6.a.

Agenda Item 6.a. – Request for New Degree Programs

Dr. Waldeland explained that the requests for two new degree programs each contained a brief review of the process for approvals, deletions and other program activities for each program.  Degree programs go through an elaborate curricular approval process on campus; they then require approval by the Board of Trustees and the IBHE.  The IBHE generally expects to receive the requests on July 1 of each year.
 
The first request was for a Bachelor of Science in Education in Health Education to be offered by the Department of Physical Education.  The Department has expertise in health education and has offered a minor and a certification program for many years.  It has also been able to offer a major in health education through a contract major, which allows students to arrange courses that are not currently available to them through a formal major.  In spite of a serious demand for health education, the number of students who can get a contract major in any area is limited by NIU policy to no more than twelve in a three-year period.  Dr. Waldeland noted that a large percentage of school districts in this part of the state employ full-time health educators.  The University has concluded its review and believes this is an appropriate and viable program.

The second request was for the Master of Science in Taxation.  This is a new, professionally-oriented program for tax professionals that builds on expertise in the Department of Accountancy, which has offered a specialization in tax for some years.  The Department has had numerous requests from professionals to make a full-scale tax program available to full-time employees who would be able to study on a part-time basis.  The Department has developed this program and plans, initially, to offer it only at Hoffman Estates where there is a concentration of full-time employed professionals.

The University recommended that the Committee endorse these two programs and include them in the President's Report for final Board action in June.

Trustee Grans asked what other schools or universities in the state offered the Bachelors in Health program.  Dr. Judith Bischoff, Chair, Physical Education, stated that Western Illinois University, Illinois State University, Eastern Illinois University and SIU-Carbondale were among those already offering the program.  Dr. Waldeland stated that no public institution north of I-80 offers the program, so NIU would be filling a need in this region.  Trustee Grans mentioned that she had checked with several school districts in the area and learned that the need for health educators is great.

Chair Myles asked for a motion to approve the new degree programs.  Trustee Grans moved approval on both degree programs, seconded by Trustee Raymond.  The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.b. – Request for New Program Minors

Dr. Waldeland explained that any new subdivision of a major, minor, specialization, emphasis or concentration requires Board approval.  The IBHE does not require submission of program minors for approval, but has to recognize them as "reasonable and moderate extensions" of existing degrees.  Until they are recognized by the IBHE, the university cannot offer them.

The minor in Marketing was a request from the Department of Marketing to offer a subset of their courses to majors from other programs.  It would be open to majors outside the College of Business as well as those in the College (such as management majors, finance majors, etc.).

The Manufacturing Engineering Technology Minor and the Electrical Engineering Technology Minor bring nearly to a close a long and careful process by the Department of Technology to reconfigure and streamline its curriculum.  The demand for technology in the northern Illinois region is very significant; there is still a very high concentration of manufacturing industries that need the kind of expertise that this program provides.  The old curriculum was very specialized, containing many narrowly-focused minors.  The department has tried to make both the major and the minor more broad based and more appealing to majors outside the area of technology.  These two minors will use existing courses and will replace seven more narrowly-constructed minors.

Trustee Myles asked for a motion to approve the proposed minors.  Trustee Raymond made the motion and Trustee Grans seconded.  The motion was approved.
 
Agenda Item 6.c. - Request to Delete Existing Programs

Dr. Waldeland pointed out that only the Board of Trustees may delete programs.  The Board of Trustees and the IBHE must approve new programs, but the final authority on deletions rests with this Board.  The university requested the deletion of two Educational Specialist programs in the College of Education:  the Ed.S. in Counseling and the Ed.S. in Curriculum and Instruction.  All departments involved support the requests for deletion.

This year, the education graduate programs were scheduled for program review.  Prior to program review, the IBHE does a statewide analysis that lays out what it sees as common issues across all programs.  One of its recommendations this year was that Educational Specialist programs be considered for elimination because, in the IBHE's view, they do not serve the purpose for which many of them were originally begun.  NIU's departments took that recommendation seriously and, in two of the three cases, agreed that the need for these specialist degrees and the professional purpose they served seemed to be minimal at this point.  A third degree, the Educational Specialist in Educational Administration, is being retained because it is directly tied to the course work required for a superintendency certificate.

Another deletion arising from this year's program review was the elimination of a specialization in administration and supervision within the Special Education degree. Out of the 30 required hours, only nine were in special education and the rest were in educational ministration.  It has now been concluded that the degree program should be placed in educational administration with nine hours of electives.  Following upon the action of the Department, College and University Curriculum Committees, the recommendation of the University is that the specialization in administration and supervision within the Special Education degree be eliminated.

The following eliminations would be replaced by the two new minors in technology just approved – the Manufacturing Engineering Technology Minor and the Electrical Engineering Technology Minor.  Seven minors in Drawing, Electricity/Electronics, Metals and Woods in both the teaching and nonteaching options would be eliminated.  However, these deletions are contingent upon approval of the new minors, because if those are not approved, students will have no way of obtaining such minors.  Students currently enrolled in these programs will have the opportunity to complete them.

Chair Myles expressed concern regarding the deletion of programs and wanted to confirm that they were not being deleted because it was recommended by the IBHE but because the university felt there was a real need to do so.  Dr. Waldeland said that these were university decisions growing out of internal review processes.  Chair Myles also wanted to be sure there was no negative effect on students presently in the programs or who might be looking at these programs.  Dr. Waldeland stated that those students would be aware of the plans to delete the programs and the departments would counsel with them.  Anyone currently enrolled in these programs may complete them.

Trustee Grans commented that the University is strongly recognized, in northern Illinois, as having a wonderful Special Education department.  She assumed these changes represent a focused response to the market and to the people being served.

Chair Myles asked for a motion to approve Agenda Item 6.c. in its entirety.  Trustee Grans made the motion, seconded by Trustee Raymond.  The motion was approved.
 
Agenda Item 6.d. – Request for Degree Authority at Off-Campus Sites

The University is required by the IBHE to request off-campus degree authority for any program to be offered off the home campus.  NIU has a number of off-campus programs at this time, and three of the five program requests consolidate activity in programs that have been in the western suburban area for quite a while.  The IBHE uses community college district boundaries as its geographical approval structures.  In response to that request, the School Business Management program gave up degree authority in the Elgin Community College district and retained it in the Harper district.  The School Business Management program had degree authority in most of the community college districts in the western suburbs for years, but several years ago the IBHE asked NIU to eliminate any sites not being used.  Since the Hoffman Estates Education Center had not yet been built, the programs went to other community college districts.  The School Business Management program requested its former Elgin Community College District authority be reinstated.

The next item is the consolidation of the Public Administration program which has used off-campus sites regularly.   As part of the program's philosophy, it has always tried to utilize municipal sites; however, it is harder to find those locations particularly in facilities that support the computers which are used a great deal in the program.  With this in mind, it was thought that the program could offer a better, higher quality educational experience if offerings were consolidated at the Hoffman Estates Education Center.  This would reduce the movement in and out of various municipalities considerably, and the computers and library connectivity available at Hoffman Estates will be of benefit to the program.

The program has received many requests over the years from the Quad Cities Graduate Studies Center in the Rock Island area to bring this program to them.  The program cannot free up faculty to drive to the Quad Cities to offer the full program.  However, if the Hoffman Estates site is approved, that site has a distance education classroom which would make it possible to beam the program courses to the Quad Cities Graduate Studies Center.  The Quad Cities area has evidenced a recurring interest in the program, and no other university in the state has been able to offer it.  The program is willing to develop a Quad Cities program if it can offer half of it through distance education.  It would also encourage students to take available course work at Urbana, the University of Illinois-Springfield, or come to the DeKalb campus.  The faculty do not want to offer more than 50% of the courses through a telecommunications mode, but are willing to do that if necessary.  The program has numerous internship sites in the Quad Cities eager to have students in NIU's M.P.A. program.  Public Administration faculty were among the first to use the new distance education classrooms and have been teaching courses every semester for the last three years.

The Master of Science in Taxation will be offered only at Hoffman Estates because that area contains the largest complement of part-time, fully-employed students.

The final off-campus request, Waldeland said, is from the Technology Department, which proposes offering a B.S. in Technology in the Rock Valley Community College District at NIU's new Rockford Education Center.  This is in response to a request of the Industrial Advisory Committee to Rock Valley College which has long wanted the University to make a program available in Rockford to students who graduate from Rock Valley College with the Associate of Applied Science.  NIU is pleased with the flexibility of this department and with its willingness to work with Rock Valley College and the industrial employers in Rockford to develop something that meets the needs of this audience.
 
Chair Myles asked if there were questions or comments on any of the program requests.  Trustee Grans inquired whether or not there would be a cost for beaming the long-distance classes to the Quad Cities.  Dr. Waldeland replied that there are line charges which will be paid by funds from the NIU Division of Continuing Education and funds supplied by the IBHE to the Quad Cities for making educational opportunities available.

Trustee Raymond asked if the facilities were already available at Hoffman Estates to beam to the Quad Cities.  Dr. Waldeland said that those facilities had been equipped this Spring.  Trustee Raymond also asked if there is some sort of review process on the impact of these programs on the community colleges.  Dr. Waldeland stated that after the University and the Board of Trustees approve an off-campus degree request, it has to go to one of the ten regional consortia which must sign off on it before the IBHE will take action on it.  Trustee Raymond asked how long the process would take after approval by the Board of Trustees.  Dr. Waldeland explained the approval process and said that approval could be expected, at the earliest, in October of this year.  In reply to a question from Trustee Grans, Dr. Waldeland stated that some individual courses could be offered right away as long as they do not exceed the amount of course work allowable prior to obtaining formal degree authority.  The university cannot advertise a program until approval is received.

Trustee Raymond asked if those courses already being offered in other locations could be consolidated at Hoffman Estates without Board approval.  Dr. Waldeland replied that because all of the degree program was being offered in one community college district, the university must seek IBHE approval.  She explained that the IBHE's rules state that universities may not offer more than 12 hours toward a degree program unless it has IBHE approval.

In answer to a question from Chair Myles, Dr. Waldeland stated that even after this Committee's approval and the approval of the Board of Trustees in its entirety, the request could still be vetoed by the IBHE which has significant regulatory authority over off-campus offerings by public institutions.

Chair Myles entertained a motion to accept the off-campus degree authority requests.  Trustee Raymond so moved, seconded by Trustee Grans.  The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.e. – 1995-96 Program Review Summary

Moving to the program review summary, Waldeland explained that the University engages in a comprehensive program review process on a schedule which it established until three years ago.  Starting in 1992, the IBHE established a statewide calendar for program review, and now universities must review all programs in a given discipline at the same time.  This year there will be reviews of all three public schools of law and all the graduate-level programs in education.  Last year all math, English, communications and undergraduate education programs were reviewed.  The statewide schedule allows the IBHE to make direct comparisons among universities which can be very misleading if questions of mission, student mix and number of part-time students, for instance, are not filtered in.  This year there were 25 programs reviewed at NIU, including the College of Law J.D. degree and the graduate programs in Education.  Presented here is a very brief summary of the key findings which go to the IBHE on July 1; the IBHE does not see the full reviews, though these are available on request.
 
Agenda Item 6.f. – 1996 Review of Undergraduate Education Summary

Dr. Moody called on Dr. Rosalie Hewitt, Associate Provost, whose major areas of responsibility include almost everything pertaining to undergraduate education and academic support services, to comment on the 1996 review of undergraduate education.

Dr. Hewitt stated that the Illinois Board of Higher Education requires each public university in Illinois to submit a report on undergraduate education annually.  The topics designated by the IBHE to be covered this year were student academic advising, transfer and articulation, and career planning and placement.  Academic advising at NIU is primarily the responsibility of the six colleges with undergraduate programs and the academic departments within those colleges.  There are also interdisciplinary programs which offer academic advising for students in their minors.  Administrative oversight of academic advising is the responsibility of the deans of each of the colleges, usually the associate or assistant dean and the associate provost.  Faculty committees with student representation at the college and university levels also have responsibility for establishing policies and procedures which relate to academic advising.

There have been two major developments related to faculty advising in the last two years.  The first, a telephone registration system called T.R.A.C.S. (Touch-Tone Registration and Add/Drop Class Schedule), which allows all students to register for classes by telephone, has been fully implemented.  NIU has also been able to accommodate the registration and advising of new transfers entering in the Fall Semester.  Also, the distance learning classroom was used for advising transfer students.

The other development is the Degree Auditing Report System (DARS), which provides students with a computer printout of their course work and academic status and specific information.  Advisors can also access this information on computer screens when having advising sessions with their students.

The second topic was Transfer and Articulation.  Northern has for years participated in transfer agreements with community colleges.  In recent years, there has been an increase in NIU's minority student transfer enrollment.  The largest transfer minority enrollment ever was experienced in 1995.  This is an increase in both two- and four-year college students.  Like all other colleges and universities in Illinois, Northern is participating in the IBHE Illinois articulation initiative.  The general education component of this initiative will be implemented in 1997.  Essentially, this means there is an agreed upon statewide framework for transfer in general education and the creation of a statewide data base of courses that institutions have agreed upon for students to be able to transfer from one institution to another.

The third area is Career Planning and Placement.  There are three major student support units responsible for career planning and placement, although a number of academic support services also contribute to helping students decide upon a career.  These three major support units are the Career Planning and Development Center, the Counseling and Student Development Center, and the Cooperative Education Internship Program.  The alumni survey done annually, five years out, and ten years out, indicates that we do have a high number of graduates reporting that they have been satisfied with their job placement.  There were 78% of the 1993 and 1994 graduates who indicated they are employed full time.  Another 18% are in graduate school or employed part-time.  Of the 1993 and 1994 graduates, 89% are employed in Illinois.
 
Dr. Hewitt asked Dr. Alan Farber, from Counseling and Student Development, to give a presentation on DISCOVER, one of NIU's career building programs, and Mr. Doug Davis to give a presentation on the Internship program and NIU data bases.

Dr. Farber's presentation focused on three major student concerns addressed at the Counseling and Student Development Center:  personal, academic and career. DISCOVER is one of the many tools available to help the student who is undecided or considering a change in his/her major or career.  Currently, DISCOVER is available only in three sites on campus – the Career Resource Center in the new Campus Life Building, in Williston Hall and in Graham Hall – but the department plans to network DISCOVER campuswide so students will have around-the-clock access to the program. DISCOVER is published by American College Testing (ACT).  The cost is $3,600 annually, and the material is updated annually.  DISCOVER has two components.  One is strictly information, for students who want information about careers or occupations, financial aid, military programs or how to write a resume.  There is also a guidance component.  Students can use DISCOVER independently or in conjunction with a class, career counseling or a career development workshop.

Dr. Farber introduced Mr. Doug Davis, director of the Cooperative Education and Internship program.  Mr. Davis described cooperative education as a work experience related to the student's academic major for which the student is paid and, depending upon the department, for which the student may earn academic credit as well.  The internship is a one-time work experience which may or may not be paid and, frequently, may be no more than a project-oriented type of experience.  Once that project is completed, the student returns to campus to complete his/her education.

To be eligible for this program, (1) the student must have a minimum 2.0 GPA to enroll in the program (employers have the option of asking for higher grade point averages if they wish), and (2) the student must have completed at least 30 semester hours of credit here at the University before placement.  Students can enroll any time during their enrollment at the University but are encouraged not to enter the program during their first year.  The department feels students should become acclimated to the University, and employers usually want students to have some degree requirement courses out of the way before they will employ them.

Students can access this program from any one of 22 open computer labs on campus.  The orientation will tell them to come to the Career Resource Center to find out what the program is all about.  Once they have done that, they can go to the labs and fill out a computerized application, make an appointment to see the coordinator and prepare a rough draft of their resume for the coordinator.  The student can then view the on-line jobs listings at one of the 22 labs.  Once a student has signed up for a job, a letter is forwarded to the employer, which includes the student's resume and any other materials the employer requires.  The employer then interviews the student either here on campus or at the job site.  If the student is hired, a training agreement is prepared which specifies the job, the supervisor, the amount of pay, the work hours, and any other information helpful in the Center's evaluation of that student's experience.  A coordinator follows the student's progress by visiting with the student on the work site and talking to the employer or supervisor. Students have the opportunity to change careers or majors if they find that a particular work experience is not exactly what they want to do.
 
Each of the four coordinators also develops internship sites, establishes a working relationship with other employers, keeps job information current, and provides a student evaluation to the employer when requested.  The internship is noted on the student's official transcript, whether it is one experience or a coop, and the work experience is also listed.  Presently, the center has in excess of 2,000 positions available and slightly more than 1,500 students enrolled in the program.  More and more companies prefer to hire someone who has been through an experiential education program such as we offer here at NIU.  Students find this advantageous because it cuts down on job hunting time.

In answer to Trustee Grans' question, Mr. Davis said that 95% of the Center's program businesses are between I-80 and the Wisconsin line, in Chicago and the Quad Cities.

In answer to Trustee Myles' question on the percent of minority student participation, Mr. Davis stated that program enrollment is 18% minority, of which approximately 14% have been placed.

Trustee Raymond asked if the DISCOVER program software was developed here or if it was available to other universities.  Dr. Farber stated that the DISCOVER program is from the American College Testing Service.  There are two major programs in the country, DISCOVER and SIGI-Plus (a career guidance software program); it is nationwide and used by approximately 95% of all colleges and universities.

Chair Myles invited Linda Sons, as a member of the University Advisory Committee, to make comments.  Dr. Sons said she was pleased to see the Board's action relative to the new academic programs.  She emphasized the amount of faculty energy, debate, deliberation, time, etc. put into advancing such programs.
 
OTHER MATTERS

Chair Myles recognized three student leaders who had asked to make comments.

First to speak was Ryan Eggert, the newly elected president of the Student Association.  He introduced the newly appointed Student Trustee, David Marquez.  Marquez has been involved with the Student Association for the last four years, served two years as Minority Relations Adviser, two years as a senator and two years on University Council.  He served on NIU's Student Association Finance Committee, Internal Affairs Committee and Academic Affairs Committee.  He sat on the President's Commission on the Status of Minorities, is involved with four different Latino organizations, three different Asian organizations and four different African American organizations.  He's served on several search committees throughout the University, participated in NIU's multicultural institute, and serves as a peer mentor and recruiter for the University Resources for Latinos.

Mr. Eggert addressed the restructuring of the University administration, noting that he felt the Student Association had lost a major channel between student concerns and the major policy decisions made on this campus.

Chair Myles let Mr. Eggert know that his concerns were well taken and that the Board had been fully briefed on these changes which were made for the long-term betterment of the University.  He was inclined to wait and see how things turn out.
 
David Marquez, the newly appointed Student Trustee for the Board, stated that he had been very actively involved with student government and student life at NIU during the five years he had been here, four of which were totally devoted to student government.  He said he will actively go out and educate students on certain aspects of the University, how it works, the hierarchy, how they need to get involved and how those issues affect them.  His number one concern is promoting the student voice.

Chair Myles stated that he had worked with three student Trustees throughout his time with the Board of Regents and the Board of Trustees.  He stated that Mr. Marquez would have to follow two of the very best, Mr. Fowler and his predecessor, Mr. Butler.  He told Mr. Marquez that it would be a learning experience and recommended watching the process very closely to understand and deal with it.  Chair Myles welcomed him and assured him that at the next Board meeting, when the transition officially took place, the Board looked forward to working with him.
 
NEXT MEETING DATE

Chair Myles announced that the next Committee meeting would be held on August 15 at NIU's Rockford Education Center.

Chair Myles called for a motion to adjourn.  Trustee Raymond made the motion and Trustee Grans seconded.  The motion was approved.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 2:40 p.m.
 
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Sharon M. Mimms
Recording Secretary