Northern Illinois University is committed to developing active, engaged and informed citizens who become global leaders who work to build a better society. As such, the university is proud to participate for the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, a program that seeks to enhance student involvement in voter education, registration and mobilization.
A steering committee comprised of faculty, staff, students, administrators and community members worked with dozens of additional members of the university and community to create an action plan (PDF) | action plan (DOC).
2024 Goals
Over the course of 2024 the goals for NIU’s democratic engagement action plan is to focus on three primary areas: voter registration, voter education, and voter turnout.
Short-term goals (by the 2024 general election cycle):
- Increase the percentage of students who register from 80% in 2020 to 85% in 2024.
- Have at least 55% of the first-year student cohort become registered voters.
- Process 500 voter registrations through in-person registration tabling events and NIU's online voter registration portal.
- Increase the percentage of students who voted in the general election from 63.8% in 2020 to 70% in 2024.
- Surpass the mean voter turnout rate for all institutions participating in the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement (NSLVE). NIU did not meet this goal in 2020.
- By fall 2024, a book or a movie related to civic learning/civic education/democratic participation will be selected for the Common Reading Experience.
- 60% of students across all cohorts will vote in the 2024 general election.
- Offer at least three formal voter education workshops related to voter engagement work with marginalized communities.
Additionally, the university has the following long-term goals (by 2028 election cycle):
- Voter engagement efforts are tracked and assessed through a co-curricular platform.
- By the 2028 general election, 90% of students will be registered to vote.
- In 2026, NIU will receive the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification again.