Established in 1979, the University Resources for Women (URW) is dedicated to improving the campus climate for women at Northern Illinois University. URW is a resource center providing a variety of services ranging from provision of information, services and programs to organizing national level conferences, directed at improving the quality of life of women. It provides counseling to clients with needs and delivers workshops and support services in a wide variety of fields. Since its establishment, the major objectives of University Resources for Women were:

•  to facilitate the re-entry of the mature woman into the University by provision of re-entry counseling and referral to appropriate internal and external services and support units, thus easing the transition to student status.
•  to provide a centrally-located facility where women students can gather socially, hold meetings, and take advantage of the other special services devoted to their needs.
•  to cooperate with and coordinate existing programming for women on this campus, thereby facilitating communication among offices and organizations and minimizing duplication of services and programming.
•  to support the recruitment and retention efforts of the University relative to older, adult women who are potential or enrolled students.

In an effort to achieve these objectives, URW staff provides workshops, seminars, networking, short-term counseling, and support groups on career development, life transition, personal effectiveness, academic skills, and leadership development.