DeKALB — Acting President Lisa Freeman addressed the university community in an open forum Thursday, emphasizing the need to initiate new university-wide strategies differing from the tactics used for the past 125 years.

Students, faculty and staff were invited to attend the forum to hear Freeman share her expectations and goals for the future of NIU.

The Board of Trustees appointed Freeman as acting president June 28, 2017, after she served as vice president and provost since May 2014. Freeman became the first female acting president in NIU history, replacing Doug Baker, who stepped down June 30, 2017.

Chairman Wheeler Coleman announced Freeman’s consideration for her candidacy to become the permanent president in a July 11 NIU Official Announcement.

Coleman, who kicked off the Presidential Open Forum, thanked everyone for their participation before informing the audience of the next steps for the presidential search and its adjustments, including meeting with stakeholders and distributing a campus-wide survey.

“Over the last month, one or two trustees at a time have participated in numerous listening sessions with key stakeholders including the Operating Staff Council, the SPS Council, alumni, donors and students,” Coleman said.

Coleman said the adjusted presidential search process included nine listening sessions, with the tenth one scheduled Wednesday with the Faculty Senate.

The captioned video from Freeman’s open forum and a brief survey pertaining to Lisa Freeman becoming president have been shared through email with the NIU community. The survey can be submitted once and will be available until 4:30 p.m. Friday.

“The anonymized survey data and feedback from the listening sessions will be used as input to the Board’s decision regarding NIU’s next permanent president,” Coleman said.

Those unable to complete the survey online or without an NIU email address can request a paper or electronic copy, and instructions are listed on the presidential search website.

University officials, including Freeman urge members of the NIU community to contribute to the conversation regarding her candidacy for becoming the university’s permanent president.

“While you are not required to complete the survey, doing so will help us and help the university on our key decision that we have to make,” Coleman said. “On a separate note, from the presidential search process, NIU will conduct an annual evaluation of its president and post it online.

Coleman said a draft of Freeman’s evaluation is available on the Board’s website and the official evaluation will be made available for review prior to the Sept. 13 Board meeting.

Acting President’s remarks

Freeman said she wanted to take the open forum as an opportunity to share what she could bring to NIU as  permanent president. She said the university’s work in teaching, scholarship and engagement activities are what make NIU special.

“It is really an honor to be here as a candidate for the presidency of this amazing institution,” Freeman said.

Freeman said in her role as acting president she’s gotten to know more students and alumni, hear their stories and see how their experiences at NIU relate to achieving social mobility. She also said their stories resonate with her because they are similar to her own in terms of falling in love with her respective field, which explains her coming to NIU in 2010.

Freeman said her own experience in higher education has made her respect and admire faculty and staff members who work with students throughout their academic journeys. She said the university’s strengths are the foundation of its future, which is something she’s excited about.

“My vision is that NIU will be recognized as an engine for innovation, creativity and social mobility that empowers students, faculty and staff to make a difference in our globally connected world,” Freeman said.

Freeman said internal challenges, regarding resource constraints and a lack in transparency in administrative processes, need to be overcome for the university to realize her vision for NIU and its ability to respond to external threats.

Freeman highlighted economic challenges, demographic changes, the commonality of technology in today’s society and the faltering public confidence in higher education, as external factors posing threat to NIU and other university’s success.

“In this context, our strategies for success and for survival must be true to our institutional vision, mission and values,” Freeman said. “NIU has ideals that define us, and that should not change; our public mission and commitment to access, affordability and quality; our identity as an engaged, student-centered, research university; our aspiration to model inclusive excellence across the university community.”

Commenting on the overall strategies and tactics utilized over the past 125 years,Freeman said the roadmap for the future cannot and will not be the same as it has been,  because although they have served NIU well, they will not continue to prove effective.

“This acknowledgement of immutable values does not mean that we can, or should, keep doing what we have always done the way that we have always done it,” Freeman said.

 

University finances

The budget impasse introduced challenges for the university and was a big factor in the implementation of Program Prioritization.

The goal of Program Prioritization is to build a strong foundation to maintain and improve the quality of academic and administrative programs. Program Prioritization aims to assure programs are reflective of institutional goals and strategies, according to its webpage.

Freeman said the Program Prioritization initiative involved the most time, effort and inclusive participation.

“We successfully implemented that process to align mission and budget and to improve efficiency and effectiveness across our university,” Freeman said. “The final Program Prioritization report has been issued, but we will continue to take on challenges in a thoughtful and collaborative fashion, integrating attributes of Program Prioritization.”

Freeman said these attributes include transparency, accountability and data-informed decision-making. She said members of the Illinois General Assembly noted the positive outcomes of Program Prioritization and the assurance review for the Higher Learning Commission noted NIU’s commitment to improving institutional effectiveness and sustainability.

“Our operating environment presents major challenges associated with demographic, economic and technological changes,” Freeman said. “As a result, we are experiencing significant enrollment challenges and financial pressures.”

Freeman said university officials need to look to new revenue streams, recognizing the importance of not depending on state appropriations as has been done in the past. She also said this imperative increases the importance of philanthropy to engage current donors and cultivate new ones.

“We’ll need to demonstrate our ingenuity, creativity and ability to collaborate with the objective of generating new revenue,” Freeman said. “Through an appropriate focus on revenue generation, we can gain greater control over our own destiny and remain true to our core values.”

 

Enrollment

Enrollment has been decreasing over the years and has become a main focus for the university.

Freeman said she met this summer with NIU’s senior leaders, academic deans and members of the enrollment management team to identify how to increase enrollment and enhance student success. She also said she will be personally involved in driving the enrollment effort.

“A multi-year strategic enrollment management plan will be finalized over the course of the next two months,” Freeman said. “Simultaneously, we will deploy time-sensitive recruitment strategies and tactics. And, we will advance the critical work that is already in progress to close equity gaps and increase retention and graduation rates.”

Freeman said focusing on the enrollment issue is necessary to maintain momentum moving forward and a detailed plan needs to embed NIU’s research vision and enrollment goals. She said the planning process will be collaborative with shared-governance groups and informed by previous successes.

She also said this approach will cause for NIU’s goals, direction and vision to be transparent with stakeholders as well as sharpen the university’s brand.

“I want and need your help to create the blueprint for NIU’s future,” Freeman said.