John Peters
Ray Alden
David Changnon
Carolinda Douglass
by Mark McGowan
Education is a dynamic journey among learners, teachers and researchers that requires a successful communication of knowledge and ideas and a transformation of listener into thinker.
That’s the foundation underneath an ambitious set of “raising the bar” recommendations presented earlier this month to President John Peters, Provost Ray Alden and the Council of Deans by members of NIU’s two strategic planning task forces.
Among the largest proposals is to create an Office of Engaged Learning that would interact with the university’s general education program, provide support systems for a collaborative teaching-learning environment and advance learning through state-of-the-art technology.
Another suggestion to improve NIU’s teaching and learning is to hire more faculty to alleviate impacted programs – something that’s already begun, Alden said, mostly with visiting professors.
Foremost among the recommended move forward, however, is a shift in attitude and action to leave behind “the way it’s always been done” and a cooperation to change together.
What should result is an NIU that is strong, caring and engaged, said Carolinda Douglass, who chaired the Task Force on Student Success. NIU will become a school of first choice in Illinois that provides students with a genuine education – not just a set of experiences for a resume but the tools of critical thinking and the ability to communicate what they know and can do.
“I’m very impressed with the amount of thought, energy and effort that went into the work groups and task forces,” Alden said. “The Council of Deans will review these documents to see how they fit in with the ideas that have come through the colleges and the other university-wide sources.”
The goals to foster and uphold the new and grand vision start with a shift in campus attitudes and policies that will require “buy-in” by the faculty and administration, said David Changnon, who chaired the Task Force on Curricular Innovation.
“If you’re going to have great students and great engagement, it begins with the faculty,” Changnon said. “We have to encourage faculty to recognize that teaching is as important as research, if not more important. Excellence in teaching is something we really want to be known for.”
Earlier work by the initial committee involved in NIU’s strategic planning (2006-07) identified a set of key values and four planning imperatives:
In turn, the task forces on student success and curricular innovation set four goals their strategies would accomplish:
NIU is sensitive to public demands for accountability, Alden said.
“We will have a university where people will have guidance through their curricular paths, finding the majors of their choice and graduating in a timely manner,” he said. “When they get out, they will demonstrate critical thinking and communication skills.”
Goal 1 – to raise student retention and academic success – mandates more coordination of existing student support functions: sharing of electronic data, early identification of students at risk, training of faculty advisers and a voluntary system of accountability.
The recommendations call for NIU to enhance enrollment management by committing to bilingual and bicultural populations, attracting and retaining competitive students and making early outreach to prospective students.
Meanwhile, relief for impacted programs can come not only through hiring more faculty but by offering more curricular options. Assessment also is a priority.
Goal 2 includes an application to the Policy Center on the First Year of College’s Foundations of Excellence, a comprehensive, externally guided self-study and improvement process for first-year students that enhances an institution’s ability to realize its goals for student learning, success and persistence.
Goal 3 involves the proposed Office of Engaged Learning as well as a revision of the general education program.
Changnon and Douglass are among seven NIU representatives who will attend the upcoming American Association of Colleges and Universities Institute on General Education that begins May 30 in Minneapolis.
The delegation also includes Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver; Greg Long, chair of the NIU general education committee; Paul Stoddard, president of the Faculty Senate; Lucy Townsend, a professor in the College of Education; and Jes Cisneros, assistant director of the Honors Program.
“We’re re-examining general education at NIU,” Changnon said. “How do we address change? How do we get faculty and staff to buy in? How do we get them to take greater ownership of their participation in the process?”
NIU will host town hall meetings on general education in the fall.
Goal 4 encompasses policy changes in tenure and promotion, annual review and recognition. It also hopes to enhance pedagogical practice by providing release time for faculty to improve their teaching and developing a pool of master teachers.
In other words, Changnon said, NIU should provide course release time to faculty who wish to improve their teaching or money for those who want to purchase new technology that makes instruction more effective. Faculty should seek out and attend workshops and conferences on effective teaching practices.
“We need a broader view of what education is all about. It’s not all about content. It involves understanding what student learning outcomes the course hopes to achieve,” Changnon said. “If we approach this the right way, teachers will want to do these things.”
He hopes new and younger faculty will understand the need to think about teaching in a different manner.
“We foresee a time in the not-too-distant future when we can encourage the next generation of faculty that effective teaching is not just an elective. It’s part of getting tenured,” he said. “Over time, our task force would like to identify master teachers who will want to participate in this discussion and encourage effective teaching practices.”
Now that the ideas have been planted and their momentum has begun, Changnon and Douglass want to see others nurture the soil and cultivate blossoms on the flower.
Additional task forces should come together to carry on specific ideas, they said, adding that short-term deadlines create excitement. Champions also are needed, whether individuals or groups.
“It’s important we bring in new people who become aware of the need – the privilege – to participate,” Changnon said. “We need to change together, and we can’t expect others to change if we’re not also changing. Everyone’s got to get on the train.”
“The strategic planning process by which a different group of voices is heard is very important,” Douglass added. “I’m less concerned about which strategies are chosen and more concerned that different voices are heard throughout the process.”
Better communication will not only spark discussion on what NIU can do better but what NIU already does well, she said.
“We should support people in their efforts,” she said. “We do more good things than we think we do.”