NIU President Doug Baker is urging students to attend a new batch of Bold Futures Workshops this spring to create a plan for improving student enrollment and retention.

With Illinois funding not being distributed appropriately to education and going to other places that plea for it, Baker wants to create plans to achieve better student enrollment by facing challenges that affect the NIU community as well as future students, said Brad Hoey, director of University Marketing.

The spring workshops will be Thursday to March 25 for returning students and March 28 to April 2 for newcomers. More than 650 people attended the last workshops in October.

“For the returning students to the workshops, we’re trying to find our areas of strength, our challenges, and then taking a step forward, to hear people’s ideas,” Hoey said.

The workshops are open for registration, and even now, people are still signing up, Hoey said.

“This is an ongoing event, and we hope for students to try and put their ideas into creating a better campus environment and student experiences,” Hoey said.

Newcomers will be introduced to the workshops, get caught up with current issues and will help returning members address the challenges NIU faces when dealing with enrollment, Hoey said.