Minutes of the
Meeting of the
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
of NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
December 10, 1998

Legislation, Audit and External Affairs Committee
Committee Chair Moser reported that the Legislation, Audit and External Affairs Committee met that morning.  The Committee received an update on the Fall Veto Session in Springfield, considered several federal issues and discussed the IBHE staff recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2000 budget. The Committee heard that the four legislative leaders have agreed to move House Bill 2805, which contains the legislative changes necessary to allow university board members to continue serving until reappointed or replaced by the new governor.  The bill is scheduled to be voted on in the Senate on Monday, January 11, and will move immediately to the House for concurrence on Tuesday, January 12, the final legislative day of the 90th General Assembly.  Despite an agreed upon set of 28 measures to address problems contained in the procurement reforms passed last year by the General Assembly, cooperation to move the changes forward in the House during the Veto Session dissipated, and they will be dealt with by the new General Assembly next spring.  NIU's specific request to change the legislation to exclude negotiations for continuing education instruction was part of the agreed set of changes.  Since these changes ran into trouble in the House, Trustee Moser said, the university plans to file legislation to address this issue again in January.  At this point, it appears, that any hopes of a "5+5" retirement initiative for state employees and any additional benefits for SURS have failed to achieve enough support in the General Assembly.  Finally, the IBHE staff has recommended a 6.9 percent increase in the university's FY00 budget.  Dr. Eddie Williams and Dr. John La Tourette led the Committee through a review of staff recommendations.  The IBHE was to meet Tuesday, December 15, to review and approve these recommendations.  At that point, the entire higher education budget request will be transmitted by the IBHE to the Bureau of the Budget and the new governor.  Lengthy discussions will be held, Trustee Moser said, and we will all have to advocate for a substantial GRF increase for higher education. 

Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee
Committee Chair Sue Grans reported that the Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee met on Thursday, November 19.  A request was heard to grant degree authority for three degrees at off-campus sites:  the B.S. in Technology (Industrial Technology) and the M.S.Ed. in Instructional Technology in the Elgin Community College District, and the M.A. in Communicative Disorders in the DuPage, Blackhawk, Elgin, Lake, Moraine Valley and Rock Valley Community College Districts.  Those items were forwarded through the President's Report to be heard by the Board in this meeting.  Other reports at the AASAP Committee meeting included a discussion on the NIU Parents' Association; an update on enrollment for this semester; FY98 external funding for research, public service and instructional projects; and compensation policies for promotion in academic rank.  The Board was also presented with an update on the Undergraduate Research Apprenticeship Program (URAP) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee
Since the chair of the Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee was called out of town at the last minute, Chair Boey asked Dr. Eddie Williams, Senior Vice President for Finance and Facilities, to give the Committee report.  The Finance, Facilities, and Operations Committee met on Tuesday, November 17, at which time four major action items were reviewed and several university reports were presented.  Action items included a revision to the FY00 capital budget request.  The Committee also considered a request for a new work order software system that will be used by the Physical Plant for receiving and processing work orders throughout the campus.  The recommendations also included FY00 tuition rates and a provision for an additional on-campus computing system for the university's residence halls.  Those action items were included in the President's Report for Board approval.  The university reports presented included a periodic report on transactions in excess of $100,000 and a semiannual progress report on all capital construction activity on campus.

Illinois Board of Higher Education
President La Tourette reiterated some of the points he made earlier in the day at the meeting of the Legislation, Audit and External Affairs Committee.  The important thing to emphasize here, Dr. La Tourette said, is that we have a new budget development process and a new level of cooperation between the public universities and the executive director of the Illinois Board of Higher Education.  Several meetings were held over the fall, including the “Big Picture Meeting," scheduled here on campus between the staff of the Board of Higher Education and the President's staff.  There was a “Bigger Picture Meeting" in Springfield on November 13.  Board Chair Boey also attended these meetings.  There has been a very honest attempt on the part of the executive director and his staff, the President said, to better understand the needs of the universities and to have those needs reflected in the budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2000.  President La Tourette stressed that this is an aggressive budget recommendation that is running in the range of a 7 to 7.5 percent overall increase for public universities opposed to increases that ran 3 to 4 percent in the last several years.  It is also a budget that is based on the executive director's Citizen's Agenda and his attempt to articulate how higher education will contribute to the future of the state, in terms of educational attainment as well as future economic development and the state’s ability to be competitive in the world economy.  The primary point I would like to emphasize, President La Tourette said, is the fact that the IBHE budget includes proposing a 3 percent salary increase to be augmented by another one percentage point which would be financed by the state and matched by the university.  That is a total package of 5 percent. The money to support that one percent is already in the bank at NIU and will come from the university's enrollment dividend.  The objective of the 5 percent increment is to move the public universities' faculty and staff salaries into a higher relative position nationally, with the assumption that the national average increase will be something less than 5 percent.  This is a budget that has been thought out very carefully, President La Tourette said, and it represents a very serious attempt to meet Northern Illinois University's needs and to have us more involved in overall planning at the state level to make sure that our impact as a public institution is as strong and effective as possible.

President La Tourette mentioned that the results of several surveys of employers, public opinion leaders and the public in general would also be presented at Tuesday's IBHE meeting.  These results appear to show that higher education in Illinois is doing a good job in preparing people for the work force.  However, the President said, I think there is room for improvement.  Hopefully, these surveys will be used as benchmarks in the future to see how effectively we can move public opinion from the "good/very good" category more into the "very good" category. 

Chair Boey said that Dr. Sanders noted that legislators can react favorably and understand the kind of budget that reflects inflation.  But when the increase gets to 7 and 7.5 percent, he is going to need help from all of us, the Chair said, and he certainly deserves that help.  Dr. Sanders has shown that he is trying very hard to understand our issues, and we need to support him in our various ways.

University Civil Service Merit Board
There was no report from the University Civil Service Merit Board.

Northern Illinois University Foundation
Michael Malone, Vice President for Development and University Relations, reported that he would be sharing some good news about the annual fund and introducing a couple of the people responsible for that.  He reported that his numbers were current as of November 24, 1998, so in many cases they represent partial returns.  The goals for the annual fund are to continue looking for new donors, to move toward an upgrade strategy, and to increase overall participation percentages.  As we go into years three, four and five, Mr. Malone said, the focus on upgrades is going to become more and more important. The College of Business was 89 percent complete as of November 24.  Comparing this year's results with our first year of in-house calling last year, Mr. Malone said, shows an 86 percent increase in budgets.  Last year, revenue to colleges and departments increased by 58 percent over the prior year. There were 631 new pledges from nondonors with an average gift increase from $55 to $83.  In the College of Business, average gifts for the first time are over the hundred dollar mark.  The pledge rate has increased from 22 to 26 percent of the alums being called.  Bad phone numbers decreased 19 percent. 

The College of Visual and Performing Arts is 84 percent complete.  They have experienced an increase of about 50 percent over last year.  That includes 214 new pledges from nondonors, alums who previously have never given in any way to Northern Illinois University.  The average gift increased from $37 to $47.  The pledge rate shows a 4 percent increase.  Bad phone numbers decreased by 15 percent in this college.  The College of Education is approximately one-third complete.  Yet, with only 33 percent completed, Mr. Malone said, we are at 90 percent of what was raised last year.  That includes 114 new pledges.

Mr. Malone introduced some audience members who shared in the responsibility for this really outstanding news — Mallory Simpson, Associate Vice President for Development; Alberta Solfisberg, Director of Development Operations, who was responsible for putting the Call Center together; and Bob Heuermann, Director of Annual Giving.  But, maybe the most important component of this whole thing, Mr. Malone said, is represented by a special guest, Sarah Otto, one of our top student callers.  Sarah is a sophomore from Rochelle who was a straight "A" student in high school and is now majoring in business management.  She feels that the experience she is gaining with Telefund is helping her in her business career.  A secondary benefit of this program is the number of students we employ who pay for their own college educations.  Sixty percent of all of the costs for running the Telefund are in wages paid to about 200 students employed during the year.  Sarah came with the original group of students trained in September of 1997 and has consistently been one of the top ten callers.  She has personally raised more than $20,000 for Northern Illinois University.  This spring she will become a student caller supervisor leading a team of 20 students and making sure that they are on task and motivated and that their sales skills on the phone are very sharp.  I would like to thank Sarah and all our student callers for the part they play in this successful Telefund, Mr. Malone said.

Chair Boey said it was important to have reports like this from time to time.  The university operating budget is around $250 million a year.  Forty percent of that comes from the state and 60 percent has to come from somewhere else.  The Foundation is certainly playing a bigger and bigger role in development and fund raising, Chair Boey said, and that is very serious business nowadays in all the universities throughout the country.

The President announced that the water retention project funds had been released by the Governor's Office.  This was prompted, in part, by a question from Trustee Moser at the November Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee Meeting.  There are some problems yet with the Capital Development Board in actually initiating the project. 

On Monday night, December 7, the Village of Hoffman Estates approved the plan for the development that will include NIU's new facility there.  NIU has been given high ranking by the Illinois Board of Higher Education in the recommendations they will be making next week for capital projects, especially in recommending funds for the planning of that facility.  At a lower priority on that list is $10 million for the entire facility. 

The President announced that he would be sending a letter out to the university community as a result of advice received from various people and some thinking he had done about the Provost's position.  After examining the situation, President La Tourette said, it appears to me that it is a little late in the year to conduct a successful search.  In national searches there is a time period for announcements that has to be honored, and there are certain affirmative action steps that have to be taken.  It appears that we cannot get organized until sometime in February, he said, and that would probably be too late in the academic year to have a successful search.  So I plan to follow the procedures used in 1992, which resulted in the appointment of Dr. Moody as Acting Provost.  I will be seeking advice and nominations, the President said.  The letter will include the list of criteria or guidelines used six years ago when the same process was initiated.  The President hopes to conduct this process and complete the solicitation of advice, comments and nominations by 5:00 p.m. on January 11, 1999, in order to be in a position to discuss the appointment of an acting executive vice president and provost with the Board at its scheduled meeting on January 14.
A little later in the meeting, after a presentation from Mike Malone about NIU's recruitment marketing program for students, President La Tourette said, I will provide an update on a discussion I had with the Finance and Facilities Committee on November 17 on a number of issues coming up on campus:  the need for additional recreation space and facilities, the need for parking, the issue with OCR and Title IX, and some other considerations.

Agenda Item. 8.a.(2) – Work Order System Replacement
This recommendation also came from the November 17 Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee meeting.  The President asked Board approval to replace the work order system with a projected budget not to exceed $600,000.  This will allow the university to be much more effective in dealing with internal billings as well as scheduling the work on campus.  Chair Boey asked for a motion to approve the work order system replacement project.  Student Trustee Sosnowski so moved, seconded by Trustee Grans.  The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 8.a.(3) - Fiscal Year 2000 Tuition Recommendations
A 3 percent average overall increase was recommended for undergraduate tuition, with a continuation of the schedule that encourages students to take additional hours.  President La Tourette said he had already mentioned to the Board and the university community that the new tuition schedule appears to have been highly successful.  In measuring the registrations in Fall 1998, compared to registrations in Fall 1996, there was a shift of 500 additional students taking 15 hours or more, correcting for the change in enrollment over that period of time.  This is a very good response from students.  The overall tuition increase is 3 percent, the President said, though we are continuing to make it more attractive for students to register beyond 12 hours, so they will then graduate in four years or a shorter period of time than they would have otherwise.

The graduate tuition increase was $10 per credit hour to bring NIU's tuition more in line with other public universities, not only in the state but in the region.  That is an 8.6 percent increase.  This is the second year of an increase of this nature.  In the case of the College of Law, an 8 percent increase, which is five points above the 3 percent base increase.  Funds that are generated above the base increase would go to the Law Library and computer support services for students in the College of Law.  These are also vital investments for maintaining accreditation with the American Bar Association.  In looking at this increase, President La Tourette said, we continue to maintain a tuition level in our Law School well below the level that the UI has in Champaign-Urbana.

Finally, summer tuition rates, will be $110 per credit hour up to 12 hours for undergraduates with no charge beyond 12 hours, and for graduates, $126 per credit hour up to 12 hours, but no additional charges beyond 12 hours.  These recommendations reflect the Board's wish to hold down increases in tuition at the undergraduate level and to continue to emphasize affordability at the same time we are emphasizing access and quality in our academic programs, the President concluded.

Student Trustee Sosnowski commended the President and the administration on this tuition recommendation.  Three percent is a very fair number, he said, especially considering the need to be competitive in salaries across the university and to keep technologically updated.  At the same time, the Student Trustee said, we still remain fiscally conservative, not overburdening students with high tuition costs.  Chair Boey asked for a motion to approve the Fiscal Year 2000 Tuition Recommendations.  Trustee Siegel so moved, seconded by Trustee Myles.  The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 8.a.(4) - High Speed Network Access for On-Campus Student Housing
President La Tourette introduced the high-speed network for on-campus student housing, which was very thoroughly reviewed at the November 17 FFO Committee meeting.  The President asked Board approval of a purchase order not to exceed $690,000.  In reply to a question from Trustee Siegel, Systems Associate Vice President John Tuecke answered that university involvement in this project did not result in any ownership rights to the product.  It did, however, result in rather significant discounts in the purchase of these products.  Trustee Myles made a motion to approve the high-speed network access for on-campus student housing.  Trustee Grans seconded the motion.  The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 8.a.(5) Requests for Degree Authority at Off-Campus Sites
This request was for three program approvals at off-campus sites.  The programs included the Bachelor of Science in Technology (Industrial Technology) in the Elgin Community College District; the Master of Science in Education in Instructional Technology in the Elgin Community College District; and an M.A. in Communicative Disorders in the DuPage, Blackhawk, Elgin, Lake, Moraine Valley and Rock Valley Community College Districts.  These three items were reviewed by the Academic Affairs, Student Affairs and Personnel Committee and recommended to the Board for approval.  This reflects our continuing attempt to provide programs off campus for people who generally are place-bound, working or have  family obligations, President La Tourette said, so that they can continue their education to either increase their proficiency in their existing positions or move on to other positions or careers.  Chair Boey asked for a motion to approve the three requests for degree authority at off-campus sites.  Trustee Siegel moved to approve the motion, seconded by Student Trustee Sosnowski.  The motion was approved.

Agenda Item 8.b.(1) – Periodic Summary Report of Transactions in Excess of $100,000
The Board has delegated the President authority to approve transactions in excess of $100,000, but less than $250,000.  The President periodically reports to the Board on these items.  A list of 12 purchase items, one lease and two capital improvement projects was presented.  Trustee Myles said he noticed that quite a few transactions were for advertisements in the Chicago Tribune and wondered if there was any reason why all the advertising was going to that one newspaper.  President La Tourette said that the people who tend to take, for example, the MBA, are very frequently readers of the Chicago Tribune, especially when looking at the Executive MBA.  The ad is carried in all of the editions of the Tribune, so there is coverage in the downtown Chicago market as well as throughout the suburbs.  He added that he was doubtful the ads would be as cost effective if they were spread around to several papers.  Trustee Myles said he had nothing against the Chicago Tribune, but added that there was a substantial market in the Chicago area that does not read the Tribune and suggested that the university perhaps look at other newspapers.

Agenda Item 8.b.(2) – Semiannual Progress Report of Active Capital Projects with a Budget Over $100,000
This report listed a number of outstanding projects that are underway along with the status of each.  In the last FFO Committee meeting, Trustee Moser asked about funding for the water retention project.  As a follow-up to that inquiry, the Governor's Office has released the money for that project, although there are some particulars to be settled with the Capital Development Board before the university can begin the project.

Agenda item 8.b.(3) – Annual Report of Cash and Investment
President La Tourette said he thought the university was doing a very good job with its cash and investments.  He reported that the average annualized rate of return on all investments was running about 5.7 percent.  That is a pretty good rate in the market for those investments that meet the standards we are required to meet, he said.

Agenda Item 8.b.(4) – FY98 External Funding for Research, Public Service and Instructional Projects
President La Tourette called the Board's attention to page 40, which showed the increases in external funding since 1994.  As Dr. Zar indicated at the FFO Committee Meeting, the President said, we have had a good increase every year in this decade.  In 1998, external funding was just under $30 million.  The following pages showed a breakdown of federal funds, state funds, corporate awards and all other sources of funding.  President La Tourette said that other public universities were listed under the state awards category because in some cases NIU is jointly involved in grant projects where these institutions have control over the main project while NIU has a subcontract with them to do a certain amount of work. It is very important that we recognize the effort faculty and staff make in generating these funds, the President said, because they are important to the university's mission in instruction, research and public service.  And in many cases, they make the critical difference in developing and maintaining strong programs at our campus.

Agenda Item 8.b.(5) – Compensation Policies for Promotion in Academic Rank
The President said that Mr. Cunningham and Human Resource Services looked at the funds provided to faculty at the time of promotion from assistant to associate professor or from associate to full professor.  It was found that NIU was somewhat on the low side when compared to either the Mid-American Conference or NASULGC.  This recommendation to phase in increases over the next three years, President  La Tourette said, would bring NIU up to approximately 14 percent above the survey results on the average.  This plan would then be reviewed every four years so that the university can remain competitive in our salary adjustments for promotion.

Agenda item 8.c.(2) – Recruitment Marketing Results - Presentation
President La Tourette made a brief presentation with Mr. Michael Malone, Vice President-Development and University Relations, on recruitment marketing results.  I think you will be interested in some of the comments that Mr. Malone will make about marketing the university, the President said, and this may, address the question that Trustee Myles raised on where and how does the university spend its money for advertising or marketing.
Mr. Malone first showed the challenges in recruitment advertising for NIU:  a limited budget, major market pricing, competitive core market, crowded media market, and a broad comprehensive university mission.  The response to these challenges included developing a unifying theme, providing a "call-to-action," focusing ads in limited but saturated flights, finding the right media mix, and making the ads outcomes oriented.

"NIU Works!" is the overarching theme that was developed in cooperation with DDB Needham, a major advertising agency in Chicago, Mr. Malone said, where we were lucky enough to find a core group of alumni from the CEO on down who helped develop that theme.  The people in the group who worked with me were actively involved in the creative management of the McDonald's account, the Volkswagen account and the Alberto-Culver account.  They contributed a lot of hours getting right into the heart of what NIU is good at and how we might be able to communicate that to our publics.  I think that theme works on a lot of different levels — "NIU Works!" for students, "NIU Works!" for the region.  We think the theme fits the character of the institution.  It is used on lots of different things from tee-shirts to ads to brochures and posters.  And it really does describe Northern and its history, Mr. Malone said, hardworking, connected to the concerns of the region, the nation and the world.

A "call-to-action" provides readers with a way to respond to an ad.  Our call-to-action has been targeted to open houses.  We do four open houses a year, Mr. Malone said.  We geared our call-to-action to the actual physical visit to the campus, which is considered one of the key factors in deciding where to go to college.  We targeted those open houses, and the saturated but limited flights occured two weeks prior to each open house.  That is when we try to flood the market as best we can with the budget we have.

The media mix is, basically, what Trustee Myles was asking about, Mr. Malone said.  Do you put all of your eggs in one basket?  Well, if you had to put all of your eggs in one basket, the Chicago Tribune would be a good basket in the Chicago media market, he said.  But, it is not the only basket, and we do use a variety of different media — print, radio and TV.  Our key messages speak to graduate satisfaction.  Ninety-three percent of recently surveyed NIU graduates do consider their time here well spent.  Ninety-seven percent say they would choose Northern again.  Affordability:  "It won't cost you an arm and a leg … but an NIU degree will give you a 'leg up' in the job market."  This speaks directly to one of the four concerns identified by the admissions recruitment people.  Employability:  "NIU grads strongly encouraged to apply" with a copy of a help wanted ad.  A recent survey of NIU graduates shows 95 percent are employed during graduate school and 80 percent work.  That is a clear outcome ad.  Quality of student life consistently rates high on the decision-making factors that students use in choosing a college.  "There is more to do than watch the corn grow" in an ad that talks about speakers, entertainment, clubs and things that make a residential campus a vibrant learning community.

Outcomes-oriented ads had to be adjusted for students and parents.  You speak in a little bit different way if you think the student is your only audience.  Mr. Malone continued.  One ad — "Whatever your style … NIU fits." — with a picture of students in all kinds of different dress runs exclusively in high school newspapers and community college newspapers.  Now the same theme with a slightly cleaned up group of students wearing their NIU sweatshirts out in front of the campus — "Students talk about Northern." — runs for a more general audience.  We kind of tailor the same message, with a different approach.  Career Statistics:  Again, hitting on outcomes — "NIU Works, and so do our graduates."  We were lucky enough to get a great candid at a commencement a couple of years ago of a young woman proudly displaying an "I got a job" sign on top of her mortarboard.

Finally, alumni testimonials are very common, basing the school's image advertising on alumni testimonials.

The Chicago Tribune education supplement is overrun with ads from other institutions.  That is why NIU is not there for general student recruitment advertising.  Compared to some Chicago private schools, they have at least eight times the advertising budget of NIU.  If we compete with them in their game, we are going to be swamped because we cannot be in there often enough.  It is very expensive and extremely cluttered.

We have been in print in a lot of different publications — the Aurora Beacon News, Elgin papers, the Sun-Times, and Friday sections of the Tribune, the Daily Herald, the Sun-Times, the Rockford Register Star and a number of other papers.  Our open houses are usually on school holidays, Mr. Malone said, because we are basing our call-to-action on the fact that these are families that have to make decisions about what to do with this day off.  We are competing against a movie or a trip to a museum or going to Medieval Times.  It is not necessarily a university-versus-university choice on a day off for a family.  We have been successful in running full-page ads.  Besides the Sereno ad, we also run other ads featuring people such as Donna Wiseman, the Morgridge Chair, throughout the papers in this two-week flight.

In radio, parents and students have to be targeted differently.  If you have ever fought with your teenager over radio stations and presets in your car, Mr. Malone said, you know that they do not ever listen to the same station that you do.  Mr. Malone played samples of radio ads geared for parents and students.  We have done television, although the network affiliates in Chicago are way out of our price range.  Rockford is in our price range and we have done television in Rockford.  Mr. Malone played a television ad featuring NIU interns at Sundstrand Corporation in Rockford.

We have used focus groups to test concepts.  At the open houses, parents and students stop and fill out a survey card saying where they heard the ad, then we give them a couple of new ads and ask them to pick their favorites.  Probably the most important result, however, is how many customers we bring into the store.  Our open houses have been very successful in the last few years since advertising began.  Comparing attendance with no advertising in 1994-95 to attendance with advertising in 1995-96 shows an increase from 2,740 to 4,058.  Advertising was begun in the spring of that year.  The first full year of advertising was 1996-97.  Another jump to an attendance of just over 6,900 was seen in 1997-98, Mr. Malone said, as we began to fine-tune the message.

We also look at the impact the ads have had on NIU's image.  We take this from the students that select NIU as a school to send their ACT scores.  They answer a series of questions as part of the ACT.  The number of students who selected NIU and also said good academic reputation was important has gone up.  Students who selected NIU and thought that graduates get good jobs is very important, Mr. Malone said, and that number went up pretty dramatically from 39 percent to 55 percent.  A good social reputation is very important and is creeping up from 20 percent to 25 percent.  Our distinctive competency vis-a-vis some large public universities is that our top faculty actually teach undergraduates and often teach freshmen.  So we did a series of ads featuring NIU faculty who have research and professional accomplishments on a par with any in the world, yet teach freshmen and undergraduates.  Spot ads were done with John Simon from Accountancy and Donna Wiseman from Education among them.

We also need to refine and tweak our media plan, Mr. Malone went on to say.  Because athletics broadcasted several games on Fox this year, we had a chance to put PSA's on the Fox Sports Network broadcast of NIU football games.  Mr. Malone showed two public service announcements featuring NIU alumni Manny Sanchez and Sheila Talton.  Three versions of that ad with two different pairs of alumni in each version ran as PSA's.  We then took those same PSAs and modified them to become commercials for cable TV placement, Mr. Malone said, which is a market we can afford.  Mr. Malone showed cable television ads featuring NIU alumni Manny Sanchez and Peter Burchard.

And that is where we are right now, Mr. Malone summarized.  We started with print.  We added radio.  We have added some TV into the mix.  We are still basically working with the same budget.  I wanted you to know what the strategy was and to know why we were doing what we were doing.  We are really trying to go with very limited but saturated flights right before open houses so that we can measure the effectiveness of our ads.

Trustee Myles complimented Mr. Malone on his presentation, but said he still wanted to make the point that advertising should be opened up in publications that will reach the whole population in the area and not just one specific segment.  Media advertisement such as radio and television should also cover a wide variety of the populace.  He mentioned a minority publication, the Chicago Defender, in addition to a publication mentioned by Trustee Siegel, the Southtown Economist, and radio stations that would cover a broader segment of the Chicago-area population as possibilities to be tapped for student recruiting advertisement by NIU.  Mr. Malone said that the media mix, especially getting at specific markets, is what the university is trying to do through some cable buys and print.  A small budget increase would give us the opportunity to cover that base, he said, and go after very specific markets with messages tailored to those markets.

Presentation – President La Tourette
I would like to make a presentation, President La Tourette said, as a follow up to the Finance, Facilities and Operations Committee meeting on November 17.  What I am going to try to do is give you a presidential perspective on some of the needs and issues the university will be facing in the next five to ten years.  In some cases, these needs are almost immediate and have to be met rather quickly.  In other cases, these issues will become more critical a few years out.  I am trying to look at several potential projects to see how we can achieve the greatest return on whatever investment we decide to make.

There are several issues emerging that the university will have to deal with.  First, there is the issue of on-campus parking due to the increased number of commuting students.  The second issue is OCR requirements for compliance with Title IX and the need to look at the possibility of a track facility.  Also, the President said, in a few years we will have to make a decision about an increase in the Recreation Center.  That facility was originally an approximately 100,000 square foot building to which we recently added about 28,000 feet.  The suggestion made by the Finance, Facilities, and Operations Committee was that we look more carefully at these issues and develop appropriate analyses with the idea that we might want to look at a single solution for some of these issues and then bring that back to the Board.

First of all, the President said, we looked very carefully at our parking situation.  A comparison was made with the existing four-deck facility on Normal Road.  To replicate that deck facility in the parking lot next to Evans Field House would place it close to both faculty and staff offices as well as classrooms, particularly for students commuting in for classes.  We would have a gain of 851 spaces on Lot 20 by replicating the existing parking structure.  The facility would have only one entrance and exit on Lucinda, and 800 vehicles using a parking facility in that area would tie up traffic.  That is an area very heavily used by students to move from the West Campus to the Center Campus.  The cost of that facility, projected from our experience with the existing deck, would be about $9.3 million to build and equip.  Looking at operating expenses for the existing facility, an annual budget of about $103,000 is estimated.  Amortization, which includes principle and interest, plus the operating expenses would total a little over $800,000.  One of the problems in dealing with parking is that the state does not provide funds for parking or parking decks.  In some cases, it does not provide any funds for roadways.  What we would have to do then is put the full burden of the construction and operation of a parking deck on the existing parking enterprise, which is really an enterprise operated with a bottom line revenue expenditure based on between 12,000 and 13,000 permits on an annual basis. Using the midpoint, 12,500, President La Tourette said, would mean a $64 a year increase in parking fees if a deck like this were built and funded through increased parking fees.  The current rate of $70 a year for faculty would rise to $134.  For students, the current rate of $55 would go to $119.

As we have looked at this possibility, President La Tourette said, we have also thought about the 3,000 parking places that would be constructed with a convocation center.  A convocation center could be built with 3,000 adjacent parking spaces, with shelters and a shuttle service available for a $10 to $13 increase in parking fees per year.  Increasingly I am hearing from the student body, through Mr. Sosnowski, through the president of the Student Association, through SWAN (Students Who Are Nontraditional), and through other students commuting to campus, that there is not enough parking available, particularly early in the morning from eight to twelve.  Most of the students commuting in as undergraduates are commuting in the morning.  And, as historically has been the case, most of the graduate students who commute come in late afternoon and evening.

The second issue President La Tourette brought to the Board's attention was the fact that the university is very likely to establish women's track in order to be in compliance with Title IX.  Reconstruction of the existing outdoor track has been investigated.  That can be done for $300,000 or $400,000.  A grant can be used to secure some of the materials.  That cost probably could be handled within the university's existing float of funds for repair and maintenance within the bond revenue area without any impact on student fees.  However, in adopting women's track, we should adopt not only outdoor but indoor track and combine that with the cross country program to have the maximum impact on the increase in women participating in intercollegiate athletics.  That brings us to consideration of an indoor track facility, the President said, which would be available for other sporting events and other training activities for other intercollegiate programs as well as for intramural programs.  The new building would be a steel-frame roof and wall structure similar to but a little bit more upscale than the addition to the Recreation Center.  It would have to be about 50,000 gross square feet to contain a competitive track and other facilities, such as lighting, lockers, heating and special equipment.  In looking at the recent addition to the Recreation Center, we know that the cost for a 50,000 square foot facility would run about $5.8 million.  Then the indoor track would have to be added in.  So, the President said, what we are really talking about here is an approximately $6.8 million facility that would cost a little over $800,000 a year to operate, using 6 percent or less for interest rates in making these estimates.  The impact $800,000 would have on student fees for 18,000 FTE students, President La Tourette said, would be approximately $45.  This would allow us to build an indoor track that would comply with Title IX, allow us to have a competitive indoor/outdoor program as well as cross country, and provide training facilities for intercollegiate athletics and intramural sports.

The third issue under discussion was an addition to the Recreation Center.  Based on our experience with the most recent addition, another 28,650 square feet would be added, which is the size of the section added a few years ago.  Again, President La Tourette said, it would look very much like the facility we have there and would be similar to the facility we would build for an indoor track.  One of the problems is that it would take up most of the rest of the parking available and create an access problem to the Recreation Center.  Calculations would be very similar in cost for 28,000 square feet at $116 per square foot, or a total of $3.3 million.  The annual cost of principle and interest plus O&M would be about $412,000.  Again, dividing by 18,000 FTE students would mean an approximate $23 increase in student fees.

To summarize, the President said, if we looked at each one of these issues and adopted a reasonable approach to each, building separate facilities to address the parking issue, the track issue and the Recreation Center issue, the impact on students would be a $64 increase in parking fees, $45 for the track facility, and $23 for the Recreation Center, or a total of $132.  For the parking deck, all faculty and staff who register vehicles would also be included in that $64 increase in parking fees.

Now, I want to look at the alternative, President La Tourette said.  Again, this is all very tentative.  We are getting a much better handle on each of these projects separately and still have to do quite a bit of analysis, but one of the really important benefits that would come from a convocation center is that there would be a lot of other value beyond just addressing these problems.  First of all, 3,000 parking places would be added.  The center would be located on the West Campus, west of either the soccer field or west of the new mall that is cutting through that section.  It would be eight or nine minutes walk from the parking location to DuSable or to Graham Hall, where a number of the students would go.  So, it would not be out of the parameters that schools are using now in terms of developing remote parking where people are expected to walk no more than 10 minutes to have access to either the office or class.  By having a shuttle service, moving people from the parking lot to their offices or to the classrooms would be much quicker.  An indoor track could be included in the convocation center project, which would already have the support facilities needed for a 50,000 square foot separate track facility.  In addition, the intercollegiate sports area could be relocated from Evans Field House, thereby opening up the Field House for recreation and providing at least as much space as would be generated from building a second addition to the Recreation Center.  The President noted that  significant savings could be realized if the university pursued a single project because fewer bond issuance fees would be incurred and overall interest rates would be better for a larger scale project.

To summarize where we are now, President La Tourette said, a convocation center would provide an anchor to the West Campus renovation and redevelopment.  Activities that could benefit from a convocation center might include job fairs and eventually convocations, commencement activities, sporting events, entertainment for students and the community, trade shows, conferences and conventions.  So, as we look at it, the President said, it becomes increasingly more attractive to try to address these issues through one solution – an outstanding convocation center.

President La Tourette said he would like to continue this analysis, hone the figures further and come back to the Board with a final comparison between remedying these issues separately and addressing them all in one project.  Replying to a question from Trustee Siegel, President La Tourette said that his analysis would include information about the size of the convocation center, how it will be structured, seating capacity, cost, etc.  Trustee Grans added that we should also look at the income from all of those situations and see what kind of impact they have on the cash flow process. 

Agenda Item 9.b. - Potential 1999 Meeting Dates for the Board of Trustees
Trustee Siegel suggested that since April 15 tends to be a difficult date for some people, the meeting date be changed to the following week on April 20 or April 22.  Chair Boey said the schedule would be looked at and brought back in January.

There being no Other Matters, Chair Boey asked for a motion to adjourn.  Trustee Siegel so moved, seconded by Trustee Grans.  The motion was approved.  The meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon M. Mimms
Recording Secretary