DeKALB | President Doug Baker and Provost Lisa Freeman discussed important updates about the state of NIU’s budget, enrollment and Program Prioritization during a Town Hall meeting 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the Holmes Student Center, Regency Room. The meeting lasted an hour and ended with an audience question and answer.

Budget

NIU was given $91.1 million in state appropriations for Fiscal Year 2015. In FY16, the budget was reduced by $26.4 million. The partial budget NIU received for FY17 is $48.3 million, Baker said.

NIU received this level of funding because of the year-long budget impasse that resulted from state lawmakers disagreeing with Gov. Bruce Rauner on a budget for FY16. Until the budget passed in June, state budget appropriations could not be dispersed, including funding for higher education.

“I think this lays the context for us that we need to be making some serious changes at the institution,” Baker said. “We are doing that. Over the last three years, we have reduced our expenditures by about $45 million dollars.”

Baker said it is difficult to sustain higher education for the students anywhere in the state with the level of funding NIU is receiving, but administrators plan on spending the budget on necessities like the Holmes Student Center renovation.

NIU will potentially spend a portion of its $192.7 million auxiliary fund, which can only be used towards facilities, to renovate the first and second floors of the Holmes Student Center.

A budget of $20 million has been set aside for the project, which can’t begin until the Illinois Board of Higher Education potentially approves the project during its 1 p.m. meeting Tuesday at St. Xavier University. The Board of Trustees approved architectural planning for the renovation during a June 16 meeting.

“A more vibrant student center will make a good edition to this campus and a more engaging place,” Baker said.

Enrollment

Baker said the decreased enrollment is another issue affecting revenue, as student fees and tuition are NIU’s main source of income.

NIU had a 66 percent retention rate of freshmen and sophomores in 2013. Since then, NIU has hosted ‘Bold Future Workshops’ and round-table discussions that contributed to the 7 percent raise in retention rates, Baker said.

However, NIU’s enrollment fell 5.5 percent this fall, with the biggest decline being the freshman class.

“We can control our destiny, and I think we can affect those enrollments and get them turned around,” Baker said. “In addition to retention, we need to work on recruitment. I am convinced we can dramatically change our enrollment profile, and the College of Law showed us how to do that this year.”

The College of Law experienced an increase in enrollment, which Baker said is because of the hands-on conversations with prospective students who were thinking of attending NIU.

Baker said within admissions, NIU has worked to better train counselors, adjusted the recruitment areas and improved the management computer system.

“We are also working hard in the marketing area,” Baker said. “We have decided to spend more time on community college campuses.”

NIU’s transfer retention rate is 90 percent. In addition, an NIU baccalaureate program launched this fall at Rock Valley Community College in Rockford. This program offers three bachelor’s degrees and one master’s degree in engineering.

Program Prioritization

Freeman discussed Program Prioritization during the meeting and said the task forces gave NIU opportunities to discuss and address their suggestions.

Program Prioritization uses task forces to create reports that review 223 academic programs and 236 administrative programs to influence the allocation of university funds. The reports were based on narratives submitted by program leaders in November, according to an April 26 Northern Star article.

“The Program Prioritization task forces are not sitting on a shelf somewhere,” Freeman said. “There is a lot going on. We are creating structures for tracking Program Prioritization outcomes and for linking our priorities to the budget.”

Freeman said the task force action plans are being analyzed and revised through a series of conversations through the president and vice president to make the recommendations sufficient.

“In progress, we asked all of the colleges to submit their requests for faculty hiring for next academic year,” Freeman said. “One of the criteria they were asked to consider in the framework was the Program Prioritization task force recommendations.”