Minutes of the
NIU Board of Trustees

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, STUDENT AFFAIRS
AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

August 27, 1998

With the fall semester just beginning, Chair Grans asked Provost Moody for a brief update on how the fall semester enrollment looked.

Dr. Moody said the administration is very pleased that enrollment is up again this fall. It was expected that the enrollment would include about 160 more new freshmen than last year. Undergraduate transfers were down as was expected, and there was an increased number of returning students, which is always good for enrollment. Overall, he said, we expect to have about 300 more students on campus this year. These numbers are preliminary, but it looks very good. Off-campus enrollment figures are not available yet because many of those classes have not begun. Dr. Moody said that, across campus, people have been cooperating in increasing and stabilizing enrollment. Some new retention projects are going to be implemented that are expected to help further stabilize enrollment. Dean Pernell reported that the College of Law had an entering class of 106 this year, bringing the college's total enrollment to 286. Trustee Siegel was pleased with the Law School enrollment, saying it had improved over the last couple of years. He congratulated Dr. Moody on the improvement of the university enrollment picture.

Chair Grans recognized UAC representatives Sue Ouellette and Dan Gebo and thanked them for coming. Dr. Moody introduced new associate provost Dr. Ron Simmons. Dr. Simmons came to NIU from the City University of New York. Prior to that, he was at the University of Virginia and Cornell. Dr. Moody said Dr. Simmons has great experience and has hit the road running, and the university is very pleased to have him.
 

Dr. Lynne Waldeland, Assistant Provost for Academic Planning and Development, presented requests for off-campus degree authority for two undergraduate degree completion programs. Off-campus programming at the undergraduate level by public universities is in high demand, she said, but it is very difficult for Northern to respond because the faculty is fully utilized in delivering the on-campus programs. Most of the off-campus program requests brought to the Board for the last two and one-half years have been at the graduate level. At the graduate level, departments sometimes decide that they will offer the entire program off campus, as in the case with the Master of Science in Taxation approved last year; or they allocate their graduate programming resources between on- and off-campus locations, depending on the demand.

The first request was for a degree completion program, the B.S. in Business Administration. Dr Waldeland described it as a generalist business program that will prepare graduates for employment in a number of business roles. Students will be required to have completed 60 hours of undergraduate work, including ten tool courses that are required for admission to NIU business programs. The program will consist of the upper-division course work necessary to earn the degree and will be offered by regular NIU faculty. We propose to offer it initially in rented space at Motorola University, Dr. Waldeland said, both because the Hoffman Estates Education Center is overcrowded now and because the College of Business has a strategic partnership with Motorola Corporation. The program is not limited to Motorola employees; it will serve any student who wishes to enroll. Motorola is aware of the gift of land the university has received and realizes that when expanded facilities in the area are available, the program will move to university space.

The second request was to deliver the B.S. degree completion program in Nursing to students who have already earned an R.N. degree at two community colleges west of DeKalb. The program would be delivered by interactive video to students at Highland Community College in Freeport and at Sauk Valley Community College. There is significant support for the degree completion program from hospitals and other health service providers in the region, Dr. Waldeland said, and from the community colleges, both of which have offered to provide an on-site facilitator in the interactive video classroom. The program could be transmitted from the DeKalb campus and from the Hoffman Estates or Rockford Centers, depending on the overall enrollment the School of Nursing has to accommodate in a given semester. The faculty of the School of Nursing is among the university's most experienced users of distance education technology. They now use this technology to deliver this same degree completion program to other off-campus sites in the western suburbs. Dr. Waldeland said that this is a good example of a program that we could not offer, given our current faculty resources, if it were not for the new technologies.

The university recommended that the Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee endorse these requests for final approval at the Board of Trustees meeting of September 17, 1998. Trustee Siegel asked if there was going to be an option for any type of concentration in the B.S. in Business Administration. Dr. Waldeland answered that the B.S. in Business Administration has no emphases or options. The College of Business has decided that this is the only undergraduate business program that can be delivered off campus in a cost-effective manner. In answer to another question from Trustee Siegel on the Nursing program, Dr. Waldeland stated that those seeking the degree already have an R.N. degree and have completed much of their clinical work. In the degree completion program, there is one clinical course that will be carried out in health facilities in the region. She also mentioned that a needs survey had been done by the two community colleges. There were 130 nurses who indicated they would like to pursue a baccalaureate degree.

Chair Grans said she had learned in talking to associates in the Freeport area that this was a welcome addition to the community. She then asked for a motion to approve offering the programs at these off-campus sites. Trustee Siegel so moved, seconded by Trustee Raymond. The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.b. - 1998 Report on the Participation and Achievement of Underrepresented Groups

Dr. Admasu Zike, Assistant Provost for Academic Support Services, reported that public institutions of higher education in Illinois are required by public act to develop plans and implement strategies to increase the participation and achievement of minorities, women and individuals with disabilities, who traditionally have been underrepresented in higher education. The legislature requires that the Illinois Board of Higher Education report annually in January to the Governor and General Assembly on the progress of underrepresented groups in Illinois higher education. Every year, public institutions submit information about the participation and achievement of underrepresented groups to be included in the IBHE's report. In the university's report submitted today, Dr. Zike said, we have included some of the items that will be part of Northern Illinois University's report to the IBHE. This year, the guidelines for this report have asked only for new initiatives; therefore, the underrepresented group report we will submit will not cover all the programs and activities available at NIU for members of underrepresented groups.

NIU has created several partnerships with K-12 schools in its service region. One of our most valued programs in this context is the Upward Bound program. We have made a concerted effort to make Rockford a major area for this kind of partnership, Dr. Zike said. He reported that the director of the Upward Bound program, Ms. Bohanon, would be at the reception, along with several people that she works with in Rockford, so that the Board would have a chance to talk to them.

Dr. Zike reported that NIU was recently cited in a national magazine, the July 9, 1998 issue of Black Issues in Higher Education, for its work with minority students. A special report listing the institutions that confer the largest number of degrees to students of color listed NIU in a number of categories in the top 100 institutions. In computer and information science, NIU ranked 42nd for Hispanic graduates and 41st for Asian-American graduates. In engineering-related technology degrees, Dr. Zike said, we were 39th for African-American students earning degrees and 36th for Asian-American graduates. In education degrees, NIU was 21st in Asian-American graduates. In English, the university ranked 23rd for African Americans, 46th for Hispanic-American graduates and 50th for Asian-American graduates. Our academic support programs play a major role in our success in this area. To be effective, Dr. Zike continued, acceptance and understanding of their work and contribution by the university community is essential. In order to get universitywide support and recognition, faculty advisory committees were established for several of the support programs. These advisory committees are composed of faculty from all the colleges and especially from departments important to the specific support unit. The faculty is excited about this new involvement, and the support program staff are gaining confidence in their work and feeling valued by the larger university.

We are also experiencing increasing diversity in our student population, Dr. Zike said, and that has implications for curriculum and climate issues. To make the teaching and learning experience for all our students effective, our curriculum as well as our pedagogy must take this diversity into account. We have a very innovative faculty; and, when necessary, the Provost's Office has made resources available to support faculty in integrating new knowledge into their courses.

A task force established by the Provost has developed a curriculum transformation institute that has been offered for the past five years, Dr. Zike said, a very unique program, both nationally and within the state. The summer institute is supplemented with a year-round presentation of resources on multicultural issues in the academy. Faculty interested in participating in the summer institute must apply. The proposal includes a statement of interest and expected outcomes. Each of the selected faculty receive a thousand dollar stipend. Interest among faculty has been growing, Dr. Zike reported. This year, 20 faculty, the highest number thus far, completed the institute. At this time, Dr. Zike said, I want to introduce and invite to the podium a person who has done a lot to advance student and faculty diversity at NIU, LeRoy Pernell, Dean of NIU's Law School.

It is a distinct pleasure for me to make just a few comments about the College of Law, Dean Pernell said, and the efforts that it has made in reaching out and guaranteeing the success of a wide variety of diverse students and faculty within the College of Law. Dean Pernell stated that NIU was one of only two law schools in the state to receive the Diversity Award from the Illinois State Bar Association. That award was recognition for the Law School's efforts in a number of areas. We take special care in reaching out to prospective students through specialized mailings, receptions, and contacts and linkages, not only between our admissions staff and students, Dean Pernell said, but with full participation by faculty and, by alumni as well. This year's entering class is 106 students, up from about 92 students last year. I am very pleased with this class, Dean Pernell continued, particularly in light of the fact that we, as most law schools, were faced with a reduced pool of applicants. This class is over 25% minority with a gender balance of approximately fifty-fifty. The dean said this is directly linked to the special efforts and participation of significant alums, who are now judges, legislators and lawyers across the state, to reach out to students. Every effort that a law school, or any school, makes to obtain and maintain diversity within its boundaries has to root itself in what its faculty does and says and the make-up of its faculty. We are very pleased that we currently rank number one among all the law schools in the state of Illinois on percentage of minority faculty, Dean Pernell said. Our percentage is nearly double that of the next law school within the state. This represents a commitment made by the Law School and its faculty, not only in hiring but in support of those hired to make sure they have a successful tenure at the Law School. We have also made efforts regarding academic support for all students.

Finally, Dean Pernell said, we have engaged in partnerships, not only within the university but on a national basis to support a diverse group of students, both through a national organization, the Council of Legal Education Opportunity, and locally, with the Minority Law Education Resource Committee of Chicago, which is composed of significant minority practitioners, judges and others within the city. All of this has added up to two basic principles that we attempt to adhere to at the College of Law, the dean said. First, we value diversity and the students we have, and we let the students know that. Second, we take ownership of all our students. We are concerned with not only what the students do within the confines of the Law School, Dean Pernell concluded, but outside the Law School as well. Trustee Siegel congratulated both Dr. Zike and Dean Pernell on their excellent reports and the encouraging numbers of students cited by both.

Dr. Ronald Epps, Superintendent of the Rockford School District, recently published his State of the Schools editorial in the Rockford newspaper, Chair Grans said, and stated how important it was to have parental involvement, not only for the success of the K-12 student, but also as the student decides what to do in the future. Regarding the Upward Bound program, Chair Grans said, your inclusion of a parent workshop solidifies and underscores what we are trying to do as parents and aunts and uncles for K-12 students. You are carrying that same message through when working with students. There are several students I have talked to individually, the Chair said, who are part of the program, that have their teachers' encouragement and now have faculty working with them through the university.

President La Tourette extended his appreciation to Dr. Zike and Dean Pernell and all the other people who had been involved in this effort. I do want to point out that the challenge for the future is very large and very daunting in a sense, he said. Some recent data indicates that the diversity of NIU's student body is going to change dramatically in the next ten years. For example, high school seniors are projected to increase about 12% to 13% between now and the year 2006. The composition of that student population will include only a 3% increase in Caucasians and very large increases in the Asian-American, Hispanic-American and African-American categories. The population of high school seniors in northern Illinois, including Chicago, will change from about 25% now to about 42% minority in the year 2006. The challenge is very big, President La Tourette said, but I am confident that we have the leadership to reach out and make a difference, to draw in these students who will be the next generation we will depend upon to lead our country and state in the 21st century. I wanted to put this in perspective because we have kind of caught up to the level of representation we should have based on the current population, but that population will change dramatically in the next decade. We have to keep our eyes on this target and redouble our efforts to be able to provide an education for all the students who will be coming out of high school in the year 2006.

Agenda Item 6.c. – Compensation Benchmarks and FY00-02 Increment Priorities

Every year the university evaluates and announces certain increment priorities in conjunction with the annual increment process. The status of faculty and staff salaries has been a key stated priority of the Board of Trustees since its inception, Mr. Steve Cunningham, Associate Vice President, Administration and Human Resources said, and we continue to maintain salary studies which help us evaluate the status of our compensation in any given fiscal year. The maintenance of positive compensation improvements is related to the productivity, retention and recruitment of our faculty and staff workforce and is certainly affected by the region in which Northern exists. The status of NIU salaries is greatly affected by the influence of the locale and the change in the cost of living.

Mr. Cunningham said that the university has good national or statewide benchmarks that compare like positions and like disciplines or classifications for the faculty and for civil service employees. With supportive professional staff, it is somewhat more difficult to identify appropriate benchmarks, he said, and we currently use about 60 surveys to benchmark those positions. Unfortunately, Mr. Cunningham said, there is not one single survey that evaluates those positions across the appropriate market. For the presidential salary, the benchmark used in FY99 was the MAC average, which was attained with the increment approved by the Board earlier this year. I would also note that these benchmarks are minimal benchmarks, he said. Our goal is always to exceed these benchmarks, but we use them to pinpoint those areas showing the most significant lag with the market.

I think this is an important time to talk a little bit about the targeted average of minimum starting points, Board Chair Boey said. In particular, it is well recognized that when we have new employee replacements, we do not want to be restricted to average starting positions or starting pay. As a matter of Board policy, he said, we should never be that restrictive in terminology or just key in on an average; we need some flexibility. We never know when we will need to hire a new faculty member. It is my personal wish that President La Tourette will work for the next 50 years, if he so desires, right alongside the rest of us; but we do not know when we will have to hire a new president. During the next 50 years, we do not know what the market is going to do, Board Chair Boey said, and I think it is important that we not be unnecessarily restrictive. The same applies to replacement of faculty members or any other professional group. Chair Boey suggested to Chair Grans that the statement that the benchmarks are a minimum be included in this item so that it is less restrictive prior to inclusion in the materials for the September 17 full Board meeting.

These are FY99 comparisons, Mr. Cunningham said. They change each year, and our goal is not just to meet them but to exceed them. These days there is a great deal of market inflation in salaries, and you very often have to pay more than was paid to the departing individual. Trustee Raymond said his understanding was that the target for average NIU faculty salaries was the midpoint value between the MAC and NASULGC averages.

In some material I received from the IBHE, Trustee Raymond said, there was some comparative information which indicated that Illinois is behind a number of other states when benefits are considered. It is the benefit component that really holds Illinois down, and the state really controls the benefits to a large degree. He inquired whether there was any discussion at the IBHE level about improving benefits. Mr. Cunningham stated that the issue of benefits is not new and that most of our benefits are part of the state employees' menu of benefits. The retirement system is the State Universities Retirement System, and recent upgrades were made to bring provisions closer to nationwide provisions for colleges and universities, but that did not even take it to the third quartile. There are similar issues with the health insurance program. Similarly, the rate of growth in appropriate funding for salaries in Illinois has been somewhat mediocre in comparison to other states, Mr. Cunningham said. So, we have a multiple challenge with respect to total compensation. In response to a question, Mr. Cunningham said that Northern has made some progress on salaries. Last year Northern received 2.85 percent for salary increases. At the September meeting, he said, the university will demonstrate that NIU has an unparalleled record in the state for reallocating money toward salary increases. Looking at 10- to 15-year growth rates of faculty salaries across the state, Northern is at the top when compared with the other state universities. We all have experienced a similar limitation on appropriated resources, while each year some universities receive additional funding. Using the additional funding received last year, along with university reallocation efforts, has been very successful at Northern. Despite that, Mr. Cunningham said, we are still maintaining relatively average comparisons with most of our peer groups, and we are having to reallocate greater and greater resources toward salaries just to maintain that average.

In FY99, the university initiated an equity program for clerical employees for a total increment of 10.2%. In FY98, due to the income fund resolution program, there was no supplemental equity program, and in FY97, there was a one percent additional market equity adjustment drawn from internal reallocation. The focus for Fiscal Year 2000 will be the ranked faculty. The university is seeking to make a commitment of at least one percent in the base increase for faculty beyond what is appropriated in the compensation increase line. If an increase of three percent is received in the compensation increase line of the appropriation, Mr. Cunningham said, the university would distribute a minimum four percent increment to the ranked faculty. However, the university has the goal of obtaining funding to add two percent to the compensation increase line for faculty. Funding can be derived from efforts to receive additional appropriations for retaining critical faculty and staff, the maintenance of cost savings that would be realized through the resolution program and other means. This is a multiyear program, extending for three fiscal years; it is anticipated to total at least 15 percent over that three-year period. Chair Grans asked for a motion to approve the compensation benchmarks and FY00-02 increment priorities. Trustee Raymond so moved, seconded by Student Trustee Sosnowski. The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.d. – Tuition Waiver Program for Employee Children

Mr. Cunningham provided a brief history of the tuition waiver policy from 1992 through the present. Prior to September 1992, the Board of Regents and its universities granted tuition waivers to employee children after three years of service. In 1992, a tuition waiver for children of employees with seven or more years of service was approved by the legislature specific to each institution. The policies at Northern provided that this benefit be conferred after three years of service, Mr. Cunningham said, hence, we subdivided our Board Regulations into part 1 and part 2 formats to separate the different types of waivers. Waivers that are not authorized by statute are charged against the 3 percent IBHE limitation. The issue of tuition waivers has been of interest to the legislature for some time, Mr. Cunningham reported, and most recently the Legislative Audit Commission recommended that we bring our policies in conformance with the statutory seven-year authorization. We are at the point now of fully implementing the seven-year threshold effective January 1, 1999 for employees hired after that date consistent with the stated policy intentions of the state legislature. Replying to a question from Trustee Raymond, Mr. Cunningham said that since this was a carryover from the Board of Regents, NIU and ISU worked on the policy structure together. Sangamon State University, which is now the University of Illinois at Springfield, made the change when it transferred to the University of Illinois system. To clarify further, President La Tourette gave the chronology of events that led to this change in the Regulations. First, there was a three-year employment requirement for NIU employees to offer dependent waivers to students attending Northern only. Then the legislature passed a seven-year requirement, which allowed all universities to offer this kind of dependent waiver at their individual campuses only. The current legislation extends the privilege of a dependent waiver to attend any Illinois public university to the employees of all Illinois public universities after seven years of service. It took a long period of time for the universities to convince the legislature to pass legislation that would allow this reciprocal arrangement among the universities, he said. Now that it has been passed, the Legislative Audit Commission feels that it is appropriate for all the universities to adopt a uniform approach to this issue. Trustee Siegel said he had been approached by several faculty members, who have since retired, and asked about the possibility of extending the tuition waiver to include spouses of employees. Mr. Cunningham said that the spousal benefit had been an expressed interest of faculty and staff for some time. The statutory changes made in 1992 and in 1998 were specific to eligible children and did not include spouses; therefore, there is no statutory provision for spousal education benefit waivers. Mr. Cunningham reiterated that the policy change will result in no change in tuition waiver benefit policies for current employees and those hired prior to January 1, 1999.

Answering another query from the Trustees, Dr. La Tourette explained that another reason for the Regulations change was the Board of Higher Education would penalize the university for exceeding the allowable waiver amount. NIU's budget increase will be reduced each year if the authorized three percent allowance for undergraduate students is exceeded. We are required to include the portion of language for employees that have less than seven years but more than three years, he said, which amounted to about $26,000. Our increment for this year was reduced by more than that, the President said, due to the fact that we were offering these dependent waivers to people with less than seven years of service. And unless we have a statutory change, we will exceed the three percent limit if we provide spousal waivers. That would mean a penalty of equivalent dollar amounts for each year's increment. Chair Grans asked for a motion to approve the tuition waiver language change. Trustee Siegel so moved, seconded by Trustee Raymond. The motion was approved. Trustee Raymond noted, for the record, that this item was also on the agenda for the Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee meeting the next day to discuss the financial implications of the Regulations change. 

Agenda Item 6.e. – Accumulative Sick Leave Options Pertaining to Employees on Temporary Appointments

Mr. Cunningham informed the Board that the basis for this recommended action comes from the fact that as of January 1, 1998 employees are no longer eligible to receive new compensable, or payable, sick leave. It will still accumulate in an account and be applicable to retirement service credit under the general formula, but will no longer be monetarily compensable. Sick leave earned prior to that date will remain compensable. In May, the Board adopted conforming changes to Board Regulations to implement the provisions of Public Act 90-65. What this allowed us to do, Mr. Cunningham said, was to evaluate the feasibility of allowing temporary employees — those who are appointed on a year-to-year basis — to accumulate sick leave. Previously, policies had prohibited those employees from accumulating sick leave from year to year. The reason to consider this change is the potential benefit those employees would receive in SURS service credit. The university has approximately 178 employees who would fit the policy definition and be eligible to accumulate leave under this new provision. That number changes every year or every semester, Mr. Cunningham said, because these appointments are temporary in nature and there is no presumption of renewal. However, the average length of service for those employees is about four years and a few have more than 15 years. The great majority is on the lower end of the distribution, because these are temporary appointments. The potential exists for those employees to use their sick leave in cases of illness and they have had access to a sick leave bank as well as the one-year accumulation which has been about 10 days plus nonaccumulative extended illness leave of 20 days, for which they will remain eligible. The other provisions of the Board Regulations provide for a five-year limitation on continuous temporary reappointments, Mr. Cunningham concluded, therefore, policies are being implemented that will also reflect a five-year limitation on accumulative sick leave for these employees. Chair Grans asked for a motion to approve the accumulative sick leave options. Student Trustee Sosnowski so moved, seconded by Trustee Raymond. The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 6.f. – FY99 Increment Summary Report

Mr. Cunningham stated that this item is a summary of the outlays in the FY99 increment that were consistent with the increment guidelines approved by the Board prior to the distribution of the July increment. This data reflects the incorporation of the clerical market equity increment program, with an overall 10.2% increment for those employees. The equity factor of 7% either meets or exceeds any multiyear equity programs for clerical employees that we know of in Illinois in a single year. It has been a very effective program that applied to approximately 85% of the positions we have that were below the statewide average, he said. Therefore, the overall university increment was 4%. In answer to a question from Trustee Raymond, Mr. Cunningham stated that the increment guidelines have different increment categories, and this year's eligible pool totaled about $94 million for the four categories defined in the increment guidelines.

Agenda Item 6.g. – 1998 Productivity Report

The productivity report is an annual report mandated by the IBHE, Dr. Lynne Waldeland said, and it is our plan to keep the Board fully informed of all communications with any external body. This is a very brief summary of the process by which we prepare this annual report. The IBHE board members asked several years ago to receive only an executive summary of the very substantial full report. The executive summary has gone to all members of the Board of Trustees, but the full report has also been sent to members of this Committee. The issues are very important. They are mostly focused on academic, student and personnel issues, but they have the potential for becoming political. That is one reason we feel it is important that this Committee have the opportunity to know what we are communicating to the IBHE, so that if an ongoing discussion ensues, you have been in on it from the beginning.

Last year the Board productivity report included a focus on a review of all graduate programs. This year the IBHE asked for coverage of two special topics. One was called academic advancement, by which the IBHE meant things that universities do to help students progress toward degrees and their academic goals. The other one was administrative productivity, which was surprising, Dr. Waldeland said, since it is also one of the four regular categories of the annual productivity reports. Dr. Waldeland highlighted a few points from this year's report pertaining to the academic advancement issue. She reported on the change in graduate requirements from 124 to 120 hours and the new tuition plan approved by the Board last year that encourages students who are able to enroll on a full-time basis to enroll for at least 15 hours. What really lies behind that tuition plan, she said, is the need to overcome an impression that many undergraduate students have 12 hours as a full load. They have that impression because that is the definition from federal financial aid guidelines. The tuition plan is largely an educational process of encouraging students who can enroll to do it with 120 hours. If they take 15 hours a semester, they can complete their degrees in four years. For students who can enroll full time, these changes assist them in making good progress toward their degrees.

This year's report also described the creation of an Office of Advising, Information and Referral Services. The university has spent a lot of time in the last few years looking at its advising support, Dr. Waldeland said, and what we have determined is that we do provide a great many services, including programmatic advising, career counseling, study skills workshops, cooperative education experiences, peer tutoring and more that help students progress to graduation and successful careers. A demonstration was given at a Board meeting two summers ago on that career counseling program, Discover, and a presentation was made at that same meeting on NIU's Coop Ed program. What we have also found, Dr. Waldeland said, is that not all students find these services, or they do not always find them at the moment in their academic careers when they would be most useful. The main role of this new office is to be there for students as they enter the university or when they decide to switch majors and are not quite sure what to do next. It has also served transfer students and students in NIU's dual admissions programs who sometimes need assistance finding the right spot on campus. Dr. Waldeland said that the high level of traffic through the office in its six months of operation suggests that it was very much needed.

Dr. Waldeland also mentioned efforts to make the residential experience at Northern a living and learning experience. As part of that agenda, she said, the university places a great deal of importance on the West Campus Master Plan and improved facilities. NIU offers a number of freshman interest groups in the residence halls as well as UNIV 101, the freshman experience course that introduces new students to university life and academic expectations. The residence halls donated space for the Advising, Information and Referral Center in order to place it right at the center of student traffic patterns. Larger numbers of special interest floors continue to be offered for honors students and for students in specific majors. A peer tutoring laboratory easily accessible to students was recently established in Lincoln Hall. One thing we have found, Dr. Waldeland said, is that a number of students who need course work help are a lot more comfortable seeking it from their student peers. All of these efforts to include educational experiences and support services in the residence halls are part of a long-term commitment to retention, Dr. Waldeland concluded, and to facilitating students' academic progress.

Dr. Anne Kaplan, Vice President, Administration, reported on administrative productivity. As you know, Dr. Kaplan said, the IBHE's definition of administrative productivity has tended to be what high-cost, inefficient thing have you stopped doing so that you could do some low-cost and effective thing better. We have, in reporting on administrative productivity over the years, tried to broaden the range of administrative actions that we think should reasonably count as increasing productivity. We have reported on things that simply save money. We have reported on things that bring staff together so they can work more effectively. We have reported on things that cost more but, nevertheless, get the job done better. We have tried to do a little of all that in this year's report, she said, since we were asked to focus more fully on administrative productivity.

Dr. Kaplan went on to highlight a few of the things that had the greatest impact on improving administrative productivity. The retirement incentive program initiated by NIU in 1996 and 1997 was designed to increase retirements, reduce the cost associated with the early retirement option and help departments plan more effectively. It is reasonable to say that it has certainly been a success, she said. The total reallocation in the university over this three-year period has been about $5 million. That $5 million has been absolutely critical in helping the university rebalance its revenues and expenditures, and it has allowed the return of funds to the campus for such high priorities as student recruitment and retention and improvements in undergraduate education.

We have also argued that cost avoidance is a productivity measure, Dr. Kaplan continued. This year's productivity report notes that NIU's retirement counseling process has saved about $650,000 in waived early retirement options. Obviously, finding ways to take on additional work without additional funding is another form of productivity. The university's audit and computing staffs have devoted about 24,000 hours to achieve Year 2000 compliance. That is about a million dollars in unfunded personnel costs. There is no question that this work has displaced a number of important initiatives on campus, but it has not displaced them all, Dr. Kaplan said, and in that sense, I think it represents a highly productive effort on the part of the staff involved.

Finally, there have been a number of organizational changes that have helped us make better use of the staff we have. They have not necessarily saved noticeable monies, Dr. Kaplan said, but they certainly have increased efficiency, and I think those count as well. The ones highlighted in this year's report include the consolidation of the university affirmative action, equal opportunity and diversity enhancement functions; the placing of Printing Services in organizational proximity to computing and telecommunications, where expertise in the management of technology can be shared; and the creation of the position of assistant provost for academic support services, under which a number of units that serve special populations have been brought together. We think some of these things have worked very well, Dr. Kaplan said.

Student Trustee Sosnowski inquired whether there was any evidence that the new executive director of the IBHE might carry on with P•Q•P or something similar or if that was a thing of the past. President La Tourette answered that the executive director was working on a platform statement for a very high level of commitment to higher education in the state of Illinois in the future, with the hope that not only will he have the endorsement of the higher education community but the support of the new governor when he takes office in January. The President said we may not see an explicit reference to P•Q•P in the future, or it may begin to fade as an approach. It is clear that we will still be under considerable pressure to reallocate, to set priorities and to invest in our high priority areas and, perhaps, disinvest from other areas. There will also be a much stronger emphasis on initiative and entrepreneurship. It is clear that we have to respond to the competition that is developing within higher education, President La Tourette said, and reach out to many different groups of people who need educational experiences for career advancement, job changes or continuing education. I think you are going to see a new platform emerge for higher education in Illinois over the next several months as we move into the new term for the Governor and a spring session for the legislature, he said.

I would think that P•Q•P will fade, but it will still be referred to as something that has established some benefits in higher education in Illinois, President La Tourette said. It was clear that the priorities were shifting away from higher education during the eighties and nineties as new areas of state need emerged. P•Q•P has also received a lot of attention across the nation and served as a way in which to position higher education for more state support in the past several years, he said. P•Q•P served the purpose of highlighting to the public that public higher education could become more effective and more efficient in its operations, that it could reallocate, establish priorities, and act more like a business, so that the Governor could advance what he thought would be the package we would need each year. And as you know, the President said, that was a pretty good approach between the leadership of Art Quern, who tried to size the request each year to fit what the Governor could support, and yet, when it was presented, there was not a year, with one exception, that the Governor did not get his budget through the legislature. One could say that this was highly successful from the point of illustrating to the public that higher education could get its act together. However, that time has passed, and the need now is to stress initiative and entrepreneurship, creative kinds of activities that will allow us to carry our activities out to more people at about the same budget level or a budget that is enhanced by three or four percent per year.

Trustee Siegel asked if peer tutoring had helped in the retention effort. Dr. Moody replied that it certainly is working, but expansion is needed at this point in the peer tutoring efforts we have on campus, Dr. Moody said, as well as the mentorship programs of faculty and staff working with students. Trustee Siegel said he could understand why students would prefer to have peer tutoring close to their residences rather than seek it in a laboratory. He suggested that this might be an area to look at expanding. In answer to another inquiry from Trustee Siegel, Dr. Zike said a learning assistance center was started last year in the residence hall. It is a walk-in service manned by graduate students, undergraduates and upper-class students. We have expanded, he said, but I also think we need to expand it even more. The new Associate Provost, Dr. Ron Simmons, is thinking of having a type of transition program in the summer, where students could be acclimated to the university before they actually enroll in the fall. Trustee Siegel said the transition program was an excellent idea and thought that Dean Pernell had a similar program at the Law School that allowed certain students a period of time prior to the start of their first year of law school to become acquainted with the Law School, its procedures and what is expected of them.

Trustee Raymond was interested in learning what the IBHE did with these reports every year, and he wondered how our experiences compared with the other universities responding to the same request. Dr. Waldeland responded to that question. She said that the IBHE will come back in December with a P•Q•P analysis. In a public document, they briefly summarize what each university reported and sometimes hand out compliments or sometimes criticisms for not having given enough attention to something. Last year, Dr. Waldeland reported, NIU was singled out positively for the argument that cost avoidance is something universities should be looking at in administrative areas. We reported in detail last year and again this year on the telephone system, she said, and the millions of dollars saved having our own telephone system compared to what it would cost to contract for that service. That was noted as a legitimate thing for universities to be doing. The university has been trying to make the point that there are many things that can lead to productivity and that internal cutting and reallocating are not the only solutions.

Agenda Item 6.h. – Rockford Education Center

Mr. Greg Petty, Director of the Rockford Education Center, welcomed the Board members and members of the university community. Mr. Petty gave give a brief history of NIU in Rockford. NIU has offered classes in Rockford for over 50 years. These classes were offered at various sites throughout the community. Rockford likes and even covets NIU, Mr. Petty said, and even to this day you will here laments about why NIU is not located in Rockford and some plot to try to move the entire university here permanently. So, we were welcome when we came here, and this building was built with a great deal of support by Rockford-area legislators. This building opened on August 28, 1995, three years ago tomorrow, Mr. Petty said.

Academic programs offered at the Center continue to flourish. Enrollments grew 97% the first year compared to the year before the building was constructed, and they have gone up another 32% in the last two years. We have five active program areas here, Mr. Petty said. Far and away the two largest are the MBA and the graduate education programs. Enrollments in these programs have tripled since the building opened. Other programs offered are bachelor degree completion programs in nursing, general studies, and a relatively new one in technology, which was especially welcomed by this community. Rockford is a manufacturing community known for both high quality and high technology, Mr. Petty said, and NIU's technology program fits into the area very well. According to surveys and comments, the faculty and students like it here. The average student at REC is 32 years of age, equally divided among men and women, 97 percent of whom work (about 87 percent full-time, 10 percent part-time). Most classes are offered at night, with a few on Saturdays and a few during the day in the summer.

Mr. Petty stated that the Rockford Education Center has the best conference training and educational center in the area. He cited three purposes for the Center in the community: to develop good will; to be a community asset; and to generate revenue for the university. In the first year, we averaged activity in 1.4 rooms a day in this building, Mr. Petty said, and last year it was up to over four rooms a day. Last year, 12,000 continental breakfasts and 8,300 lunches were served, and another 30% growth is expected this year. The Rockford Education Center hosted two annual meetings of Fortune 500 companies last year, Sunstrand, whose international headquarters is located in Rockford, and Newell, with offices in South Beloit and Freeport. They both had very successful meetings and plan to return, Mr. Petty said. Surveys of these groups rated the center at about 4.6 on a 5-point scale.

The Rockford Education Center also tried to increase the opportunities for NIU to be active in this community so that NIU and the Rockford community benefit more from each other. Virtually all NIU colleges and several departments and divisions are active or have had activities at the center. A series of six seminars is going to be offered by the College of Business in the fall, and six more will be added in spring. Each Board member received a brochure published by the College on those seminars. Also, President La Tourette has an advisory council made up of Rockford business leaders. Currently, that group is discussing special training opportunities the university can develop.
 

Trustee Raymond said he notified Governor Edgar of his intention to resign from the Board after the September Board meeting, for several reasons. It has been generally known that I moved my residence from Illinois to the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. recently, and my term was scheduled to expire in January in any event. Looking at the calendar, it occurred to me that after the September meeting, there was only one other meeting before the end of my term, Trustee Raymond said, and I thought I could give up coming back to northern Illinois in December. So, I resigned a few months earlier to give the Governor an opportunity to appoint an Illinois resident to come on board and have the opportunity to start making contributions to the Board. I have really appreciated my opportunity to get involved with higher education in Illinois and, in particular, my opportunity to work with Northern Illinois University. It has been a great experience, he said. I have had the opportunity to work with a number of great people at NIU, and it has really been interesting to be involved in starting out with a brand new independent board and a new system of governance here in Illinois. I think we have made a lot of major contributions to the future of NIU in this first two and a half years, Trustee Raymond continued. Some of those include the west side redevelopment plan already in progress; renovation of the residence halls; the acquisition of major parcels of real estate on the west side of the campus and the new addition of land in Hoffman Estates; the building and renovating of facilities; and the innovative new tuition plan adopted by the Board last year. Since Trustee Siegel is on the line, Trustee Raymond said, I want to recognize the wonderful opportunity he made as our first Board Chair in getting this new system of governance that we have been operating under the last two and a half years established. I think it has proven to be very efficient and very effective. We have had a very smooth working relationship among the Board, the administration, the faculty and the student representatives. I have been very pleased to be part of this whole new governance system, Trustee Raymond stated, and am glad that I had this experience. As many of you may know, I endowed a grant to the university last year to give the faculty some resources to use technology and teaching, Trustee Raymond concluded, and my intention as part of that contribution was to come back once a year in the spring to hear who will receive that grant every year, which will give me an opportunity to have some continuing contact with the university in the future.

Board Chair Boey went on to say that the Governor's choice to replace Trustee Raymond was Mr. Gary Skoien, from Inverness. Mr. Skoien is currently Chairman and CEO of Horizon Group Properties of Chicago, a spin-off company of the Prime Group, which is one of the big development companies in Chicago. In addition to his commercial background in development, Board Chair Boey continued, Mr. Skoien served for eight years, 1983 to 1991, as executive director of Illinois's Capital Development Board. In 1991, he left the CDB to become executive vice president and chief operating officer of the Prime Group Development Corporation, continuing to serve as a CDB board member for another two years. We are fortunate to have a very capable replacement, the Board Chair said. Mr. Skoien comes to us with an extensive business background, Board Chair Boey said, and we look forward to him doing the same effective job as David Raymond. 

Dave, on behalf of the university and all the people that you worked with, staff, faculty and students, President La Tourette said, I want to extend our appreciation. Not only have you been a conscientious Board member, but you have made a special effort in the last several months traveling back from Washington on a number of occasions to be available to us. We know that you have gone beyond the call of duty on a number of occasions. From a personal point of view, the President said, I have really appreciated your interest in the university, your commitment to education with a desire to really understand how our university operates, and how to make it more effective in its mission of education, research and public service. That commitment has gone beyond more than your time through the endowment you have created here that will help faculty to address the use of new technology to make our instruction programs more effective for many years. It is also with heavy heart that I bid you adieu, the President said, but I hope that we will see you on many occasions when we visit Washington and when you come back in the spring.

As a footnote to the comments made by Chair Boey, President La Tourette said, Mr. Skoien is a graduate of Colgate University, and it is noted on their web page that since 1976, Mr. Skoien has attended every Homecoming day at Colgate. He is very active as an alum which is a very good sign for us of his interest in higher education, the President said. He travels extensively internationally, in addition to the fact that prior to this tenure as executive director of the Capital Development Board, he was part of the state's budget office. So, as Mr. Boey has indicated, President La Tourette, concluded he has good experience in the commercial sector and in the government sector as well.

Trustee Siegel said he wanted to say a few words to Trustee Raymond for the record. Your dedication, drive and commitment to NIU have been exemplary. You have given the citizens of the state of Illinois and NIU a priceless gift, Trustee Siegel said, your time. In addition, even though you are not an alum, you have made a generous personal contribution to the university. David, as an alum, former faculty member and Board Chair and fellow Trustee, I personally thank you. It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve with you on this Board, Trustee Siegel said, and I wish you and your family the best of luck. Trustee Raymond said he appreciated Trustee Siegel's remarks. One of the things I also thought all of us owed as Trustees was to establish incentives and models, he said, and to encourage commitment by people who have some association with the university community. I hope I have been able to do that as well, Trustee Raymond concluded.

Chair Grans called everyone's attention to the Northern viewbook, published by the Office of Admissions. This is a marvelous publication that improves every year. She asked the Trustees to keep one for themselves and take some to hand out. I have used them several times, Chair Grans said, and they present a very positive image for the university.

The Chair asked University Advisory Committee Representative Sue Ouellette if she wanted to make a comment on behalf of the UAC organization. Dr. Ouellette said she had no comment at that time except to say that she and the faculty particularly appreciated the attention given to the increment priorities. I think that will be a real boost for faculty morale, Dr. Ouellette said.

Chair Grans announced that tours of the facility were available and a reception would be held on the first floor immediately following the meeting. She then asked for a motion to adjourn. Trustee Siegel so moved, seconded by Trustee Raymond, The motion was approved. The meeting was adjourned at 5:00 p.m.
 
 
Respectfully submitted,
 
Sharon M. Mimms
Recording Secretary