Members of the two task forces met in room 203 at 9:00 am. Four members of the Student Panel on Campus Climate Issues provided information relating to their experiences at NIU. The dialogue between students and task force members covered many topics including the role and impact of the general education program on their academic development to the importance of becoming involved in extra-curricular activities to staying at NIU. The information provided was useful to both task forces and students, staff, and faculty were reminded to participate in the “Campus Climate” survey that will begin on Monday, February 11.
At approximately 10 am, Carolinda Douglass made some informational announcements for both task forces then David Changnon gave a power point presentation outlining four primary overarching goals and their related strategies. Discussions on these goals/strategies continued for most of the next two hours with task force members providing input. There was generally agreement that these goals generally encompassed the most important issues facing the two task forces. At the end of the presentation, Douglass and Changnon asked that task members submit their notes, including suggested changes and modifications, by Tuesday, February 12, so they can be integrated into the presentation.
Each of the two task forces were provided with a more detailed report of “subgroup” goals/initiatives/strategies and asked to review and modify them and identify actions associated with “benchmarks” or a timeline (i.e., short-term term activities that could include a committee on campus obtaining and reviewing information over the next two years to long-term goals such as a need building a “learning emporium” by 2015). These subgroups should also identify where possible potential individuals or groups who could “champion” their activities. This subgroup information needs to be submitted to the necessary task force chair by Friday, February 22 in an email attachment.
Finally, Douglass and Changnon reminded task force members that if they need specific resources (e.g., travel to examine various institutions, conference calls, etc.) they should make those known as soon as possible. Furthermore, first drafts of subgroup reports need to be submitted to Task Force Chairs by March 7. The meeting ended at approximately noon.