Vision Statement 1990

In 1999, on the eve of the 21st century, Northern Illinois University will observe the centennial of the enrollment of its first students. As the university prepares to celebrate its first century of service and to move into its second, it has engaged in a period of reflection in order to arrive at an understanding and appreciation of its past, to take stock of its present circumstances and challenges, and to develop a vision for its future.

The society served by higher education is changing as rapidly as it has at any time in this century, internationally, nationally and in the state of Illinois. Foreign governments studied by students only a year ago have been replaced by political systems with vastly different values. Countries that used to be referred to as underdeveloped are now developing industries and technologies equal and sometimes superior to those of the United States, and America now depends for natural resources on countries which once depended on America for aid. These global changes will have a continuing impact on the way American citizens travel, study, work, and do business throughout the world. And, their effects will be compounded by the technological developments which are rapidly changing the very character of the world in which we live. American universities will need to prepare graduates who can understand these new realities and adapt to them in their lives and work.

As it approaches the 21st century, Northern Illinois University will be serving a region which is also changing more rapidly than at any time in the university’s history. Once a broad expanse of farm land, northern Illinois has become a series of interlocking suburbs along interstate highways; the difficulty of travel leads the inhabitants of these suburbs to live, work, and play as close to home as possible. Businesses and industries have moved to these areas, and now the need for public services, cultural resources, and educational programs is growing dramatically. The attractions and benefits of this region are attested to by the rush of other educational institutions to develop or expand programs, and even build new campuses, in order to serve its growing and educationally sophisticated population. Because of its long history of service and the relevance and responsiveness of its programs, no university in the state is better positioned than Northern to be actively involved in the dynamic changes in this region.

Northern’s students have typically come from the northern Illinois region, and its graduates have typically returned to the region to take their first jobs. Today, those students come from many cultures and represent many racial/ethnic groups. A growing number are finding their access to an education constrained by the demands of work and family and the gridlock which has accompanied rapid suburban development. Others must compensate for inadequate elementary and secondary school experiences if they are to reap the benefits of higher education. The varied backgrounds and wide ranging needs of this student population place increased demands on faculty and staff. At the same time, the more diverse racial and ethnic mix of Northern’s students provides the university with the opportunity to create a global community on a campus scale, thereby helping to prepare graduates for life in an increasingly multi-cultural society.

Northern Illinois University must take account of these changes and rise to the new challenges and responsibilities they present if it is to realize its comprehensive mission in the next century. If its graduates are to participate fully in the social, cultural, political, and economic life of the nation, Northern will have to come to terms now with what it will mean to be a university, and a public university, in the 21st century.

In order to accomplish its goals and purposes as an effective university in the decades to come, Northern Illinois University will build on what it has achieved in its first century. It will educate a diverse group of students in many fields at many levels at many points in their lives. It will continue to contribute to the creation and preservation of knowledge and culture; it will teach the ways in which knowledge and culture provide not only the foundation of the future but a context in which it may be at least partially understood; and it will find new ways to apply a rapidly increasing knowledge base. It will provide a wide range of high quality services to many sectors of society. The university must carefully mobilize its resources if it is to accomplish these things in an environment which includes the new characteristics and needs of its student population, new methods of inquiry and technological capabilities for instruction and research, and society’s new needs for services from higher education institutions.

The Education of Students

If the university is to serve its students well, it must understand their needs and circumstances and also society’s expectations regarding the nature of their education. On campus, a substantial majority of Northern’s students will be undergraduates. There is at present a high level of public concern about undergraduate education; this concern has focused on issues of access and cost, the preparation of the workforce, and even the content of baccalaureate programs. In recent years we have experienced an unprecedented public debate, as well as university discussion, about what a liberal education ought to mean and what it ought to include. Because the students the university educates for the 21st century will face life in a period of such rapid change, the role of what used to be thought of as a traditional liberal arts education is gaining a renewed relevance and usefulness in the view of employers as well as academics. A broad-based undergraduate education, which provides students with the ability to read, communicate, and think critically and analytically and which fosters an appreciation for the role of history and culture in human organizations and the role of values in human life, will prepare graduates who will be able to adapt to world changes which we can now only imagine.

Producing such graduates requires that the university place a high priority on undergraduate teaching and that faculty give continuing attention to the undergraduate curriculum and classroom instruction. Experts indicate that most people will have as many as seven different jobs throughout their careers. Consequently, a college education can no longer prepare graduates for their entire life’s work. Graduates must instead be able to learn on the job and also be motivated to seek additional education throughout their lives. An undergraduate education which leads students to participate actively in their educational experiences, to learn how to use the great variety of available information resources, and to value learning as an on-going activity will prepare students who will be effective in their professional lives. In order for this to happen, faculty will have to engage in developmental activities that will allow them to meet these changing needs of students, whether in terms of revising courses or using new instructional technologies in the classroom.

A greater commitment of university resources to the development and maintenance of a technological infrastructure will be necessary to support the kind of programs the university will want to deliver in the 21st century. Students will expect to have access to such technology at the university, for they will have grown up with it. If Northern does not provide up-to-date technological resources for them, they will not enroll. Additionally, students in the future will increasingly have a highly-developed visual orientation. Contemporary instructional technologies which take account of this change will be essential if we are to teach these students most effectively. Equally as important, students must be taught to understand technology’s implications and its limitations. Off-campus students, whose mobility is limited by both time and distance will count on the flexibility afforded by electronic media and rapid electronic transmission; and they will be attracted to institutions which recognize their needs and are clearly committed to meeting them. An acceleration in the integration of technology into the instructional mission of the university will have an impact on faculty, as they will need to develop new ways of integrating computers and other technology into their classrooms and curricula and to assist their students in making maximum use of new information technologies. It will also make demands on staff who will continually need to update their expertise in order to support this technological development.

Another important component of educating students for the future will involve increasing their interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary perspectives on the world. Higher education has been criticized in recent years for having adopted too narrow and rigid a set of disciplinary boundaries, and it is true that departments and programs in universities tend to be organized by discipline. Faculty, however, are making more and more use of the perspectives of multiple disciplines in their teaching and their scholarly and creative endeavors, and they are beginning to work in interdisciplinary teams.

As a result, the boundaries of disciplines themselves are becoming more elastic. The university has included an interdisciplinary studies component in its general education requirements for years, and it offers a number of interdisciplinary programs. In the future, it will be even more important for the university to facilitate interdisciplinary interaction among faculty and staff; to support high quality multi-disciplinary programs, research, and service; and to foster the ability of students to think and explore across disciplines. This will produce graduates who will be able to draw connections among the parts of their education, to apply what they have learned in a variety of settings, and to function in teams and collaborative situations at work and in their communities.

The university’s educational mission will be greatly affected by the increasing diversity of the student population, in terms of race and ethnicity, gender, and age. Additionally, students will seek education in different modes, time frames, and locations. These changes in the make-up and the needs of the student population will place new responsibilities on the faculty and the staff to provide instruction and academic support, sometimes in new formats, for students from a greater mix of cultural and experiential backgrounds. This will not always be easy, but it should be rewarding and stimulating.

By the year 2000, demographic changes in Illinois make it likely that more than one-third of the university’s undergraduate students will be African-American, Hispanic, and Asian; and an increasing number of its graduate students will come from these groups. This growing diversity of the student population will increase not only the demands on faculty in classroom situations but also the need for advising, support services, and financial aid. Some of these students will be under-prepared for college work, and they will need comprehensive tutoring, counseling, and advising. Support programs and activities are now in place at the university, but they may require development and expansion as the number of students needing academic assistance increases. Mentoring programs and other forms of interaction with faculty and staff will contribute to the persistence and graduation rates of these students. The increased need for financial aid for students from low income backgrounds, a disproportionate number of whom are minorities, will require that the university seek funding beyond that currently provided by the federal and state governments. The ultimate graduation of increased numbers of minority students, with baccalaureate, professional, and graduate degrees, will be important to the future of American society and to the economic, social, and political well-being of the state.

About one-third of the university’s present undergraduates enter as transfer students, and nearly one-half of those receiving baccalaureate degrees come to the university as transfers. As college costs continue to rise, it is likely that more students will seek low cost paths to an undergraduate degree, and community colleges may provide the initial two years of baccalaureate education for an increasing number of traditional age students. The community colleges in

Northern’s service region attract a large number of well-qualified students, who then successfully complete their undergraduate studies at Northern. It will be important for the university to articulate its programs carefully and to continue to engage in other forms of cooperation with these schools in order to recruit these students.

Another aspect of the growing diversity of the student population will be the greater age range of students. In addition to the residential undergraduate student attending college full-time immediately after graduation from high school, the university will serve a growing number of adult students returning for a previously deferred college degree, employed professionals seeking additional education, and older students—sometimes retired—studying for personal enrichment. Many of the university’s current undergraduate students enroll on a part-time basis; many commute to campus; and many maintain substantial employment while enrolled. In recent years, the fastest growing segment of

Northern’s undergraduate population has been women over 30. As a college education becomes a prerequisite for more and more jobs, an increasing number of students, men as well as women, at a variety of stages in their lives, will enroll in degree programs. This diversity of age and life circumstances will require that faculty respond to a greater variety of backgrounds and motivations on the part of their students. Additionally, the growing enrollment of part-time students, already ten percent of the undergraduate student body and a majority of the graduate population, will require the reorientation of many university programs and services.

At the graduate level, the university’s students are primarily non-residential. Two-thirds are enrolled in graduate and professional degree programs, and about 38 percent of these are enrolled full time. Nearly 63 percent of the on-campus graduate students commute to campus. With such a sizeable part-time commuting graduate population, the university will need to do all that it can to accommodate students’ career and family responsibilities. As traffic congestion makes travel to campus increasingly difficult for this commuter population, more extensive use of off-campus locations will be necessary in order to serve them. It will be important that the university’s off-campus sites include library facilities or connectivity and computer laboratories to support a high quality graduate educational experience.

As things stand now, too few of our graduate students are minorities, especially given the urgent need to prepare minorities for leadership roles in society. Too few of the graduate students in mathematics, the sciences, and engineering are women, especially in the light of workforce needs projected for the 21st century. Too few of our doctoral students are preparing to teach in the nation’s universities and colleges, given the widely predicted shortages we face within this decade. If we are to contribute to the education of the professionals society will need in the 21st century, we must find ways to attract more minorities and women to our programs, particularly those in the sciences, mathematics and engineering. If we are to play a role in addressing the faculty shortages which are already upon us, we must begin now to increase the production of doctorally-qualified graduates who are interested in joining the professoriate.

Northern’s original doctoral mission reflected the importance the state placed on preparing a new generation of college faculty. As the university enters its second century, it must affirm that mission and continue to produce professionals with a commitment to college teaching. In many departments, graduate assistants have responsibilities that make them essentially junior colleagues. We must provide them with a supportive environment and with training which will prepare them for the full range of their professional duties.

Finally, we must be mindful of the fact that the students we educate will inevitably become our alumni. The university should be graduating students whose college experiences—academic, cultural, social, and recreational—have established the basis for a lifetime commitment to the institution and its purposes. Such alumni would send their children to Northern, recommend it to their friends and business colleagues, provide internship and cooperative education experiences, represent its needs in the legislature, support its cultural and athletic programs, hire the university’s graduates, and contribute to its continued development and well-being. Since many of our students are transfer students, commuting students, part-time students, and international students, we must attend to their particular needs in ways that will promote the same strong institutional ties that students who enter the university as freshmen, live on campus, and attend classes full time are more likely to develop. This might include extending the hours of service offices, establishing drop-in centers and lounges, and developing new forms of communication to reach them.

The Discovery and Application of Knowledge

American universities in the twentieth century have combined the task of educating students broadly with the research function of the nineteenth century German universities. American public universities have added to these two traditional roles the teacher training responsibilities of the early normal schools and the technological outreach of the land-grant institutions. Research in the modern public university reflects these multiple roots. It is both pure and applied; and particularly in institutions built on a normal school foundation, it extends as well to investigations of educational and professional processes, the nature of learning, and the improvement of teaching and professional practice. As we approach the 21st century, the definition of research seems to be expanding again to take fuller account of the multiple roles played by the professoriate and to find new ways to think about the scholarship involved in making new connections between fields of study, in incorporating new methodologies into the curriculum, and in facilitating active learning on the part of students.

Northern Illinois University believes strongly in the importance of the relationship between its teaching mission and the research and artistry carried out by its faculty. Almost all of its faculty teach both undergraduate and graduate students, and their teaching is nourished by their involvement in research, other scholarly activities, and artistic production and performance. The university is convinced that faculty actively involved in the discovery of new knowledge and processes are best able to convey to students at all levels the value of the life of the mind, to instill in students genuine enthusiasm for learning, and to provide them with the most current information and perspectives.

Northern is fortunate in its location in close proximity to two national laboratories, several major universities and distinguished research libraries, multi-national corporations which seek applied business research, many industries with major research and development needs, and a population base of growing cultural sophistication. University faculty thus have access to state-of-the-art research facilities, opportunities for collaboration with business and industry in developing research applications, and a substantial audience for exhibits and performances. The university’s location has been an important factor in the recruitment of faculty, many of whom find that these resources enhance their development as teachers and scholars.

University faculty will continue to make significant contributions in scholarship and artistry. Some will engage in pure research, resulting in new discoveries. The dissemination of such discoveries will add to the intellectual wealth of the nation and the world. Other faculty will develop applications of existing theories and knowledge in order to make the results of scholarship available to the public. Many faculty will engage in cooperative interaction with colleagues in non-academic settings; and this cooperation with business and industry personnel, health professionals, school officials and teachers, and other public servants will provide university faculty with opportunities to contribute directly to the solution of pressing social, economic, and technical problems; to test and update their own professional currency; and to improve their teaching. The research that results from these interactions will create jobs, stimulate technological innovation, and add to the economic wealth of the region and the state. Faculty in the arts will perform and exhibit their creative work, providing an important cultural resource for the region.

Many significant changes in the nature of research in recent years are due to the impact of new technology, and this will continue to be the case. Just as new technologies support instruction in the university, they enhance research by allowing researchers to communicate with those working on similar projects anywhere in the nation and, increasingly, the world. In some disciplines, new technologies provide the ability to simulate research conditions and thus allow researchers to carry out experiments for which the university would not otherwise have the supportive infrastructure. In other disciplines which formerly had few equipment needs, computers and other technology are becoming a crucial part of both instructional and research activities. Projections indicate that by the year 2000, as much as 98% of all new information will be disseminated in electronic form. Furthermore, the amount of information generated in the decade of the 1990s will exceed that which has been generated in all of history to this point. These facts have major implications for library development, equipment acquisition, and the recruitment of professional staff. The university will have to provide appropriate technological support if faculty are to maintain currency as teachers and researchers and to provide state-of-the-art applications to business and industry. Developments in connectivity will make it possible for faculty to be members of a world-wide community of scholars, and this possibility can only enhance their effectiveness as teachers and their contributions to society.

Service to the University’s Multiple Constituencies

Universities serve their societies when they educate a new generation of citizens, scholars, and professionals; when they create and disseminate new knowledge; and when they preserve, analyze, and interpret the knowledge, creative works, and artifacts of the past. Public universities, claiming as they do a portion of the state’s resources, have an obligation to devote some of their energies to the solution of problems of particular importance to the people of the state. The state of Illinois has identified as problems of special urgency economic development, job-related training, technology transfer, the globalization of the economy, access to higher education for underserved populations, and improvements in elementary and second school education.

Northern has a long history of service to the northern Illinois region. Faculty, departments, and colleges have well-established links with area business and industry, cultural institutions, regional schools, clinics, hospitals, libraries, municipal governments and local newspapers. Most (91%) of the university’s graduates take their first job in the region, and 75% of our living alumni make northern Illinois their home. The university’s contribution to the economic development of its region is clear. But the region is changing rapidly, and its need for new and more varied educational services is expanding. As the university moves into the 21st century, its role in the region will have to change as well.

To meet the challenges of the coming decade, the university will have to expand on its existing partnerships with regional businesses, industries, agencies, schools, and community colleges. It will have to provide the high quality advanced training and continuing professional education which will be needed by a sophisticated workforce in an information-based economy and a changing global context. It should consolidate its off-campus programs in a small number of well-equipped and conveniently located sites where it can experiment with alternate means of educational delivery to supplement traditional instruction. It should become a cultural center for the region, attending to the interests of residents who will no longer rely solely on the city of Chicago for cultural resources.

When it works with educational, service, cultural, and economic institutions in the region, the university brings to these interactions the knowledge, analytical and technical skills, detachment, and objectivity which are the hallmarks of higher education. Northern can benefit greatly from such relationships and from the new opportunities they will provide for research and consulting, for technology transfer, and for contacts with potential students. Equally important, these complex and productive relationships with the region provide another important kind of evidence of the university’s contribution to the state, supporting its claim to being in fact the University of Northern Illinois.

Carrying Out the Vision

If it is to accomplish its goals in the 21st century, the university will have to mobilize its resources, evaluate and perhaps restructure its existing programs and support services, and develop a strong institution-wide commitment to the multiple roles it has chosen to play in the state and the nation.

Chief among these resources are the university’s faculty and staff. Hiring patterns in higher education over the past thirty years have resulted in very limited recruitment of faculty in some disciplines and an uneven distribution of university personnel by age. In all likelihood, the university will experience a sizable number of retirements in the next ten years, often in disciplines and professional areas in which competition for new faculty and staff will be intense. The need to recruit new faculty and staff will coincide with new demands on university personnel for increased mentoring and advising activities, the adaptation of new technology to instructional and support activities, and the delivery of higher education in new formats and at new locations. While competitive salaries are an obvious and critical factor in the recruitment of qualified personnel, the university will need to consider other aspects of the working environment which might improve its ability to hire excellent faculty and staff in the coming decade.

Differentiated loads and greater flexibility for individual faculty members in establishing their responsibilities could help the university attract faculty with special talents in teaching, research, or service. Many different talents will be needed in the university of the 21st century. The university may need to draw on a greater range of academic and experiential backgrounds in recruiting faculty and staff in the future. Contractual arrangements which spread faculty assignments over the entire year may be attractive to some faculty and would also assist the university in ensuring a quality summer school program, an important aspect of its educational commitment to part-time students and professionals in the state’s elementary and secondary schools. Individualized benefits packages, including the possibility of child care, tuition reimbursement for family members, assistance with spouse placement, job sharing, flexible hours, and access to computing facilities and to continuing professional development opportunities will appeal to all staff.

Finally, increased recognition of the value the university places upon the full range of contributions faculty and staff make to carrying out its mission will be a key ingredient in creating the kind of academic community the university wants to be in its second century.

The university should also draw on the contributions that all staff can make to student mentoring programs and to the creation of an environment in which students learn not only in the classroom but through their work experiences, their participation in university athletic activities and cultural events, and their interaction with a variety of role models. In an era of intense competition for students as well as for public and private support of higher education, it will be important that faculty and staff in all areas of the university make students, their families, and all members of the public feel welcome on campus and well served by university programs, offices, and activities.

In addition to a dedicated faculty and staff, the university’s campus and its facilities are also resources which must be maintained and developed if they are to serve the institution well in its second century. An attractive campus and well-maintained buildings have great appeal, not only to current campus residents but to alumni and townspeople as well. Past decisions to preserve green space, plant an impressive variety of trees and shrubs, control traffic, and purchase adjoining acreage have served the university well. When new facilities are constructed to respond to the need for new academic, cultural, and recreational services, they will be clustered so as to maintain the functional affinities of academic units, link the east and west campus, and strengthen the ambiance of the campus as an environment for learning. The sense of community which will be fostered by an attractive physical environment will need to be supported by the development of a communications backbone which will facilitate linkages among campus units and interdisciplinary cooperation, as well as rapid access to information for faculty, staff, and students.

The University of Northern Illinois: Regional Impact, National Distinction

All campus constituencies—faculty, staff, students, alumni, and friends—must continue to articulate the university’s unique identity in ways which will make clear its distinctiveness among the higher education institutions in the state. The history of its development and the dramatic changes in its service region have led the university inevitably to a multi-purpose mission. The university combines a comprehensive undergraduate program with a large graduate program and an established and growing research and public service capability. It maintains a large residential campus, while it welcomes an increasing number of commuting and non-traditional students. It was established as a regional university in an area of the country which is becoming ever more complex and cosmopolitan. The resulting demands upon the university are multiple, and they require multiple responses:

• The rapidity of social, political, economic and technological change means that the university should provide a broad-based undergraduate education which will prepare students in all majors for a lifetime of learning and adaptability.
• America’s changing role in the world requires that its citizens understand other cultures and relate easily to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The university’s programs should incorporate an international and multi-cultural perspective whenever possible.
• The changing nature of many academic disciplines will mean that the university will need to encourage interdisciplinary interaction in both research and teaching.
• The increasing diversity of the university’s student body means that teaching, advising, and student services will have to be adapted to accommodate students from different ethnic groups, at different ages and stages of their lives, and with a variety of family and employment responsibilities. The university should make particular efforts to recruit more minority and female faculty and staff to serve this diverse student population.
• The demand for qualified personnel in mathematics, the sciences, engineering, and all levels of the teaching profession means that the university will need to recruit students to these fields in greater numbers. The university should reaffirm its commitment to the preparation of university professors.
• The increasing importance of technology in teaching, learning, and research will mean that the university must invest in the infrastructure which will be required to support connectivity to databases, resources, colleagues, and students at locations throughout the region and around the globe.
• The demands of society for well educated citizens and employees, coupled with the effects of a rapidly expanding knowledge base, mean that the university should provide graduate-level professional programs and opportunities for continuing professional education in a broad range of fields.
• The university’s growing part-time, commuting, and non-residential graduate population requires that selected programs be delivered at off-campus locations which are convenient for students and equipped to provide access to the library and laboratory resources on which good graduate education depends.
• The changing role of institutions of higher education in expanding suburban and metropolitan areas requires that the university reaffirm its mission as a regional institution and assert its claim to being the University of Northern Illinois.
• The complex and cosmopolitan nature of the region Northern serves will require a faculty of national and international quality, capable of anticipating change and able to meet regional demand for applied research, technology transfer, collaboration with business and industry, and a more extensive cultural presence in communities outside the city of Chicago.
• The anticipated shortage of faculty and staff in a number of disciplines will mean that the university will have to allocate its personnel dollars with great care, augment them where possible, recruit creatively, and pursue alternate staffing options.
• Public expectations regarding the contributions higher education can make to economic development, to the solution of pressing social problems, and to the enhancement of area services and cultural opportunities will require the university to maintain and expand its links with business and industry, schools, clinics, governments, and cultural institutions in the northern Illinois region.
• Growing public demand for increased accountability in higher education will require that the university manage its resources effectively and devote appropriate attention to state-level priorities.

A good university is known for many things, but the most important aspect of its image is its quality. A good public university is expected to respond to major public issues and concerns, but its ultimate recognition will depend upon its responding well. Northern Illinois University accepts the responsibilities of its multiple mission. It will be in the 21st century a progressive partner in the development of the region and the state in which it is located and an academic institution which maintains the highest standards of excellence in the pursuit and transmission of knowledge. The university celebrates a century of solid achievement and plans for a second century of service to the state and nation, confident that in its dynamic history lies the foundation of its capacity and willingness to meet the new challenges of the century to come.

Vision Committee

Michael Aung-Thwin
Center for Southeast Asian Studies

Kendall Baker, Chair
Vice President & Provost

Judith Bischoff
Department of Physical Education

Deborah Cassidy
Department of Human & Family Resources

Joan Greening
Career Planning & Placement Center

LaTonia Hutson
Undergraduate Student

Anne Kaplan
President’s Office

Shey Lowman
Printing Services

Norman Magden
School of Art

Daniel Reynolds
College of Law

Robin Rogers
Department of Chemistry

Andrew Rollins
Graduate Student

Jule Scarborough
Department of Technology

Lynne Waldeland
Provost’s Office

Martin Williams
Department of Economics

Harold Wright
College of Business

11/5/90

APPENDIX I

Schedule of Presentations

VISION COMMITTEE

Spring 1990

January 17: Charge and general observations – John La Tourette, President

January 26: External governance and legislative environment – Kenneth Beasley, Assistant to the President

February 1: Development issues, including the nature of the region, the corporate climate, and fundraising potential – Tom Montiegel, Vice President for Development; Existing External Academic Relationships – Anne Kaplan, Executive Assistant to the President; Lynne Waldeland, Assistant Provost for Academic Development and Planning

February 8: Don Norris, external consultant, M & H Group, Inc. Educational services for metropolitan hypergrowth areas

February15: Demographics – Nick Noe, Director, Office of Institutional Research; Undergraduate Admissions and Recruiting Strategies – Lou Jean Moyer, Associate Provost, and Dan Oborn, Director of Admissions

February 22: Graduate Admissions and Recruiting Strategies – Jerry Zar, Dean of the Graduate School

March 1: Support Services for Special Populations – Tendaji Ganges, Director of Educational Services and Programs; George Gutierrez, Director of University Resources for Latinos: Sharon Howard, Director of University Resources for Women; Admasu Zike, Director of the Center for Black Studies

March 8: Student Support Services and Student Life Issues – Barbara Henley, Vice President, Student Affairs; Personnel and future staffing needs – Kendall Baker, Nick Noe, Dave Conrad, Director of Personnel

March 22: Facilities, space and the operation of the university – James Harder, Vice President for Business and Operations; Eddie Williams, Vice President for Finance and Planning; Tony Fusaro, Assistant Provost for Budget and Space; Intercollegiate Athletics – Gerald O’Dell, Director

March 29: Support services for research and instruction – John Tuecke, Associate Vice President, Systems; Steve Marquardt, Director, University Libraries; Linda Schwarz, Director, Office of Sponsored Projects

PRESENTATIONS BY DEANS OF INSTRUCTIONAL COLLEGES

April 5: Liberal Arts – James Norris

April 6: Business – Richard Brown; Engineering – Romualdas Kasuba

April 12: Education – Charles Stegman; Professional Studies – Peggy Sullivan

April 13: Law – Leonard Strickman; Visual and Performing Arts – Stanley Madeja

April 20: University-wide units: Graduate School – Jerrold Zar; International and Special Programs – Daniel Wit; Continuing Education – William Young

April 26: Dave Juday, Chair of the Board, Ideal Industries, Sycamore; Jerry Smith, Vice President, Castle Communications, DeKalb

May 11: Ed Bales, Director of Education-External Systems, Motorola University

APPENDIX II

VISION COMMITTEE BACKGROUND MATERIALS

Master Plan Policies of the Illinois Board of Higher Education, 1989

NIU Scope and Mission Statement, 1986

NIU Academic Planning Statements, 1990

NIU Campus Master Plan Executive Summary (Sasaki, 1988)

Speech to Presidents of AASCU Doctoral Granting Institutions, John La Tourette, 1988

Speech to DuPage Area Association of Business and Industry, John La Tourette, 1988

“Planning for New Educational Models in Hypergrowth Metropolitan Areas,” Panel Presentation, Society for College and University Planning, 1989

“Technology: Serving a Grand Idea,” Richard L. Van Horn, President, University of Houston, 1986

“Enrollment Trends and Student Characteristics in the 1990s and Beyond,” NIU analysis, Nick Noe, 1989

“Meet Jane Doe,” American Demographics, 1989

“Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” American Demographics, 1988

“All Our Children,” American Demographics, 1989

Organizational Chart, Illinois System of Systems

“Report to the Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation on Evaluation and Conclusions Resulting from Hearings on the Effectiveness of Illinois System of Higher Education Governance (SR460),” December 4, 1989, J. Carroll Moody, Executive Secretary of the University Council

Corporate Guide to Services, Northern Illinois University, September, 1989

Summary of Findings and Recommendations, The Western Suburban Regional Academic Consortium’s (WSRAC) Strategic Needs Assessment Project, November 1987

Off-Campus Credit Course Inventory, 1986-89

BHE Inventory of Approved Degree Programs, including off-campus sites

“Science and Technology Expertise at NIU, with Particular Reference to Interests in DuPage County,” Memo from Jerrold Zar, November 24, 1989

“Off-Campus Activities of Illinois Universities and Colleges,” BHE report, March 26, 1984

“Forming a Partnership of Business, Government and Academia for Collaborative Progress,” WSRAC Brochure

1989 Strategic Plan, Corridor Partnership for Excellence in Education

NIU environmental scan, January 1990

NIU Proposals, FY91 Higher Education Cooperation Act (HECA)

List of public and private universities north of I-80

“Revisions to the Board of Higher Education Policies Related to The Review and Approval of Off-Campus Programs of Public Universities, Independent Colleges and Universities and Out-Of-State Institutions,” BHE, October 3, 1989

“Improving the Quality, Accountability, and Productivity of Illinois Higher Education,” BHE Committee on Scope, Structure, and Productivity of Illinois Higher Education, January 18, 1990

Comparative private giving data

Checklist for the capital campaign

“Developing Metropolitan Regions and Universities for the 21st Century,” Donald M. Norris, Vice President, the M & H Group, Inc., February 8, 1990

Report on Higher Education Services and Economic Trends in Rockford, NIRAC study

“Clouded Economy Prompts Colleges to Weigh Changes,” Chronicle of Higher Education, January 31, 1990

Highlights from Executive Summary, NIU Image Study – Kane and DuPage Counties, conducted by Public Opinion Laboratory, 1987

NIU Enrollment and degrees granted data, Fall 1989

State Universities Admissions Requirements

Memo on admissions management, Dan Oborn, June 7, 1989

Admissions staff projects, FY90

1993 High School Course Requirements for Admission to Public Universities, 1989

Model Associate in Arts and Associate in Science Degrees, July 1988

Northern Northern Illinois University Office of Admissions, May 1989

Data on graduate enrollment and demographics, Jerrold Zar, Associate Provost and Dean of the Graduate School, February 22, 1990

“Toward the Year 2007: A Vision Statement,” Illinois State University

“Plans for Increasing the Participation and Achievement of Underrepresented Groups,” Northern Illinois University, September 1989

“Challenges to Test the Mettle of Academe’s Best Leaders,” Chronicle of Higher Education, February 28, 1990

“Educators Foresee High-Tech, Specialized Teaching by 1999,” Report on Higher Education Research, January 24, 1990

“The Educational Services and Programs Model,” March 1989

“Educational Services and Programs—An Overview,” Office of Educational Services and Programs, January 1990

“Report on University Resources for Latinos,” George Gutierrez, March 1, 1990

“Services and Programs for Students,” Division of Student Affairs, Northern Illinois University

NIU Faculty age/retirement data, Provost’s Office, 1989

Information on numbers of doctoral recipients and salaries by field

“The Ph.D. Shortage: The Federal Role,” A Policy Statement of the Association of American Universities, January 11, 1990

“Personnel and Future Staffing Needs for the Twenty-first Century,” NIU Civil Service Office, March 8, 1990

“Decline in the Factories of Academe,” Michael R. Czinkota, Chicago Tribune, March 1990

Northern Illinois: The University in the 90s, presentation to the Board of Regents, March 1990

“An Action Agenda for Illinois Higher Education: Improving Quality, Cost Effectiveness, and Accountability in the 1990s,” BHE Committee on Scope, Structure, and Productivity of Illinois Higher Education, March 6, 1990

List of supportive professional positions, Fall 1989

Current Civil Service Job Classifications

History, analysis, and distribution of operating staff personnel (prepared by Shey Lowman, Chair, Operating Staff Council)

“Northern Illinois University Campus Master Plan Status Report,” Division of Finance and Planning, January 1990

“Five Year Plan for Repositioning of Intercollegiate Athletics at Northern Illinois University,” February 2, 1990

“Vision Committee Presentation,” Memo from Gerald O’Dell, Director, Intercollegiate Athletics, March 22, 1990

External Funding Analysis, Office of Sponsored Projects

Presentation, University Libraries, March 29, 1990

Organization chart and schematics, Computing Services

“The Work Force of the Future,” Perspectives, April 1990

From Dean Brown:

College of Business Strategic Plan

College of Business items to add to the environmental scan

Minority Mentors Partnership brochure

Brochures on off-campus MBA and continuing professional education seminars

General brochure on the College of Business

From Dean Kasuba:

College of Engineering and Engineering Technology Mission Statement

Undergraduate Programs 1989-90

Background information on the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology

From Dean Stegman:

College of Education Mission Statement

College of Education Strategic Plan

“The College of Education in the Modern Land Grant University,” Charles Stegman

Peterson’s Guide Entry for the College of Education

“A Profile of the American Eighth Grader,” Descriptive Summary, National Education Longitudinal Study, 1988

From Dean Wit:

A Development Strategy (“Vision”) for International Programs in the 1990s, Daniel Wit

Organizational chart of the Division of International and Special Programs

From Dean Young:

Demographics information on DuPage County

“Some Colleges Thrive in Student ‘Drought’,” Chicago Tribune, April 10, 1990

“Training: Bridging the Gap,” Chicago Magazine, January 1990

Summary of the Vision Committee Open Forum with Campus Community

“Let’s Not Perpetuate Our Mistakes of the Past as We Prepare a New Professiorial Generation,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Paul Lacey, Professor of English at Earlham College, April 18, 1990

“Teaching vs. Research,” Chemistry & Engineering News, Rudy Baum and Ward Worthy, April 16, 1990

University organizational charts

“Universities Must Treat Adult Education as a Fundamental Part of their Mission,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, John Brademas, May 2, 1990

“The Case for Change,” the report of the Commission on the University of the 21st Century of the Commonwealth of Virginia

“Vision – 21st Century, Northern Illinois University: A View from the Private Sector,” Ed Bales, Motorola University

“A Case for Including Technology Transfer Activities as Part of the University Mission,” Larry Sill, NIU Technology Commercialization Center, April 1990

“Reaching Students, Reaching Resources: Using Technologies to Open the College,” Academic Computing, April 1990