NIU Today

Step 1 – Get your thoughts together Before you even begin writing your narrative, put pen to paper and answer the following questions. This will get you thinking about how your area fits into the overall University operation. These responses will help you write your rough draft. 1) What is your program elevator speech (in...

NIU’s Program Prioritization process has been informed both by internal discussion and external advice. In mid-October, NIU hosted eight panelists from universities that have already undergone Program Prioritization. Those panelists organized and administered the process at their institutions – but they also wrote and evaluated program narratives. What follows is some of their advice on...

What do evaluators look for when they read your program narrative? What are best practices for task force members relative to rubrics and scoring? And what outcomes can NIU look forward as a result of Program Prioritization? These and many other questions will be addressed Wednesday, Oct. 14, and Thursday, Oct. 15, when a panel...

NIU’s Program Prioritization efforts are picking up speed with the election of new task force co-chairs and launch of the Prioritization Plus data platform. George Slotsve, associate professor of Economics, and Alan Clemens, instructor in Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, will co-chair the Academic Task Force, while Matt Streb, professor and chair of Political Science,...

More than 200 members of the NIU university community have taken part in Program Prioritization training in recent weeks. Members of the Academic and Administrative task forces spent two days with trainer Larry Goldstein in early September, solidifying processes and establishing their own ground rules for the work ahead. Among those determinations were establishment of a...

President Doug Baker and a team of Northern Illinois University’s senior leaders delivered an upbeat message during a town hall meeting Wednesday afternoon in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium. Despite challenging times, they said, things are looking up. “There are a lot of universities that would love to be in the position that we’re in,” Baker...

NIU’s Program Prioritization Coordinating Team has released the administrative program inventory, providing the list of administrative programs to be evaluated and ranked early next year. Some 251 administrative programs will be assessed by a 21-member administrative task force beginning in January. The inventory is the result of several months’ worth of planning and work, including...

NIU’s Program Prioritization Coordinating Team has released the academic program inventory, providing the list of academic programs to be evaluated and ranked early next year. Some 224 degree programs, minors, certificates, course/unit areas and centers will be assessed by a 22-member academic task force beginning in January.  The inventory is the result of several months’...

Forty-three members of the NIU campus community have been named to task forces charged with ranking university programs. Nineteen faculty and three instructors will serve on the academic task force, while four faculty, 11 supportive professional staff and six operating staff will rank administrative programs. All colleges and divisions are represented on the two groups....

With more than 100 nominations received for service on two program prioritization task forces, the group charged with picking final task force members has been expanded to include three additional faculty, one member of the operating staff, one member of the Supportive Professional Staff and one student. Together with the provost, chief financial officer and...

NIU faculty, staff and students may now submit nominations for membership on two task forces that will evaluate academic and administrative programs.  Nominations will be taken from March 16 to April 10, and may be submitted online at www.niu.edu/program-prioritization, or printed and sent to the Office of the Provost, 215 Altgeld Hall. The Academic Programs...

Gov. Rauner today in his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2016 has included a significant reduction in the state’s higher education appropriation. While the magnitude of his proposal is certainly of concern to us and greater than we had hoped, it is important to note that this is the beginning of a legislative process that...