NIU Today

To All NIU Employees: I cordially invite you to join me at a town hall meeting at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium in the Holmes Student Center. This is my first all-hands meeting as president, and its purpose is to discuss one of the most important events of the year:...

NIU President Doug Baker’s call for stronger connections between the university and its host community has generated dozens of ideas from enthusiastic supporters of both town and gown. In just 12 months, the number of active “communiversity” projects has more than doubled, with many more ideas waiting in the wings. Rather than limiting new initiatives,...

During the 2013-14 academic year, Northern Illinois University has made significant initial progress on the keystone goal of student career success, and I look forward to continuing to help our wonderfully talented employees and students achieve bold futures. Our shared successes depend on each of us working together – in concert with alumni and community...

Earlier this week at DeKalb’s State of the City event, I spoke about the tremendous opportunity for collaboration between Northern Illinois University and our community to promote our common interests. High on this list is the goal of creating a welcoming environment full of spaces and activities for students that create memories and the desire...

Renowned physicist Swapan Chattopadhyay, currently director of the Cockcroft Institute in England, has accepted a joint appointment to Northern Illinois University and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory. The appointment is effective Sept. 1. Chattopadhyay has helped break new ground in the fields of accelerator and beam physics, having made significant contributions to the development of accelerators...

When we send our children off to campus we want to know what is being done to help ensure their safety. As president of Northern Illinois University and a father of two daughters, I am personally and professionally committed to making NIU a safe and welcoming place. Let me provide a few examples of how...

This week, I attended the Association of Governing Boards conference with trustees John Butler and Marc Strauss in Washington, D.C. I also attended the APLU Council of Presidents summer meetings, which focused on important topics affecting higher education such as improving student retention. On Tuesday, I enjoyed meeting with six of NIU’s D.C. interns who...

During Monday evening’s DeKalb City Council meeting, aldermen approved a five year agreement for the city to provide fire protection services to the university. As part of the agreement, NIU is contributing $275,000 towards the purchase of an aerial ladder truck. This agreement illustrates — as did the recent full scale emergency safety exercise and...

The Illinois Science & Technology Coalition (ISTC), a not-for-profit organization focused on growing the state’s innovation economy, today announced that NIU President Doug Baker will serve as chairman of the ISTC Board of Directors. Baker replaces outgoing board chair Eric Isaacs, provost of the University of Chicago and former director of Argonne National Laboratory and...

Some uncertainty regarding the state’s budget appropriations has been removed as the Illinois General Assembly approved a $35.7 billion budget last week that provides $93,189,500 to NIU – a decrease of $223,100 (0.24 percent) from last year. The budget bill awaits the signature of Gov. Quinn. While this relatively flat appropriation offers a bit of a...

On Saturday, Gov. Pat Quinn will join us in recognizing the 99 graduates of the College of Law during NIU’s last commencement exercise of the spring. However, we will continue to welcome the high school class of 2014 from area schools in DeKalb at the NIU Convocation Center for their own commencement exercises. My hope...

Today, I write regarding some important developments regarding pension reform in the state of Illinois. Wednesday, a circuit court judge issued a temporary restraining order against implementing the pension reform law enacted last fall until the court can rule on the constitutionality of those measures. On Monday, the State Universities Annuitants Association reached a tentative...