DeKALB – NIU President Lisa Freeman reaffirmed NIU’s core goals for 2026 before University Council on Wednesday.
Freeman, as she did for Faculty Senate last Wednesday, reiterated NIU’s 2026 goals, explaining the need for goals to be “constructive as opposed to defensive,” and a sincere commitment to learning and constant improvement.
“I mean not performative. Doing things that sound bold call attention to yourself where words never go to action, that’s not taking our valuable time and energy and minds and using it to really improve the institution,” she said.
Freeman outlined the six core goals as being:
- Empowerment and shared responsibility
- Student recruitment, success and experience
- Academic excellence and curriculum innovation
- Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging
- Research, scholarship, artistry and engagement
- Resource development and fiscal responsibility
Freeman acknowledged NIU’s approach to parking was outdated and needs to be changed. In particular, she mentioned the apportionment of parking lots across campus.
“It’s a historical model that doesn’t recognize the way our campus work patterns changed post-COVID,” Freeman said. “It doesn’t recognize the fact that we have more commuter students now. It doesn’t recognize a lot of the changes that just happened in terms of workforce dynamics.”
She expressed the desire to form a group to dedicate time and effort into brainstorming solutions to the issue.
“I’m going to be looking to form a shared leadership group to kind of tackle some of the questions, research some of the things that are going on,” Freeman said.
The next University Council meeting will take place at 3 p.m. on Dec. 3 in Altgeld Hall, Room 315.
