Northern Illinois University
Recreation and Wellness
Division of Student Affairs

Vision

Inspire the community to lead active, engaging, and healthy lifestyles.

Mission

University Recreation and Wellness supports personal and academic success by providing outstanding recreation and educational experiences that are inclusive, stimulating, and encourage a lifelong pursuit of wellness. The department fosters community cohesiveness by facilitating opportunities for engagement, leadership, development, and collaboration.

Goals

1. Foster an inclusive community which values wellness.
   1. Identify underrepresented groups in each program area and increase overall participation by 5%
   2. Develop 4 new initiatives/activities focused on enhancing inclusiveness.
   3. Establish a culture of health and wellness.
2. Recruit, appoint, retain, and develop a diverse, talented, and mission-driven staff.
   1. Establish a unified recruitment and hiring process for the department.
   2. Create 5 new staff training modules (required for all staff) to complete (i.e., on-boarding, leadership, customer service, professional development).
   3. In program areas where there are underrepresented populations, increase the population overall by 5%.
   4. Develop 4 new leadership/professional development opportunities.
3. Proactively manage facilities and equipment to effectively foster changing community needs.
   1. Evaluate students, faculty, staff, and community needs and identify 5 ways to accommodate new needs.
   2. Develop a visual beautification program for the main facility that inspires engagement (i.e., murals, wrap pillars, etc.).
   3. Develop a five-year capital renewal plan (i.e. equipment and facilities).
   4. Completely adapt 2 spaces to address program, safety, or security deficiencies.
   5. Establish equipment repair standards (i.e. 90% of equipment in good working order; 7 days that equipment will be repaired).
4. Ethically and efficiently manage resources to maximize the recreation experience.
   1. Identify 5 inefficiencies and improve 3 inefficiencies.
   2. Develop 3 new revenue streams or funding strategies to support operations, programs, and services.
   3. Increase revenue from existing programs by 10% and sunset 5 programs that lack participation.
   4. Develop a systematic assessment plan to effectively measure success (satisfaction, impact, and learning, etc.) and identify needs.
   5. Purchase an integrated recreation software system.
5. Support participant success through involvement, learning, and partnerships.
   1. Increase participation by 10% overall (by increasing participation in each program area).
   2. Establish 5 programs or activities that assess learning to convey participant impact.
   3. Increase the number of internship opportunities overall by 20% and 10% of for-credit internships.
   4. Establish 5 partnerships that make a significant contribution to Recreation and Wellness.