In his first State of the University Address since the Feb. 14 tragedy, NIU President John Peters focused on enhancing student success both in the classroom and in the world.

Last week, NIU learned it would receive two federal grants totaling nearly $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education, aimed at enhancing emergency preparedness on campus and expanding mental health services.

A grant of $568,000 will be utilized to help the university improve, test and share its emergency response plan; a $397,000 grant will fund new counseling and mental health positions in the Counseling and Student Development Center and the Office of Employee Relations and Training, creating an increased availability of short-term counseling, outreach and consultation for university faculty and staff.

Part of the plan centers around the creation of a “living” emergency operations plan, a secure online version of the plan, which would replace the hard-copy guide the university utilizes. The grant will also fund a comprehensive evaluation of campus security, expanded emergency response training for University Police officers and simulated training exercises.

CURRICULUM OVERHAUL

For the first time in 25 years, NIU is reviewing and overhauling its baccalaureate program and core curriculum.

“We will be creating cross-college programs that provide more ‘landing spots’ for students who are not able to enter their first choice of academic major,” Peters said. “We need to be more flexible and customize our majors to create more options for students in a fast-changing environment.”

Peters also announced “Foundations of Excellence,” a program intended to improve the experience of first-year students.

“Our studies tell us that the reasons students give for leaving NIU can often be addressed through early identification and intervention,” Peters said. “Our effort to help all students succeed is, and must continue to be, a hallmark of the NIU experience.”

Peters also announced an expansion to “engaged learning” opportunities, which include study abroad programs, participation in research projects, internships and volunteer and service work, among other things.

DISTRICT 428 PROJECT

NIU has entered into an agreement with DeKalb School District 428 to jointly plan and launch a new DeKalb High School, Peters announced. The project is part of NIU’s P-20 (preschool through graduate school) initiative.

“Together with our district partners, we will make history quite literally from the ground up,” Peters said.

Faculty, staff and administration from both institutions evaluated academic and environmental conditions at the high school before plotting the framework of the partnership.

“Today, NIU is more deeply involved in the educational life of this region than at any other time in our university’s history,” Peters said. “Because we are so involved in the public schools that send us students, we are far better prepared to meet their needs when they arrive at NIU.”

The new DeKalb High School will be a 400,000 square foot building sitting on 76 acres on Dresser Road. The school will feature a capacity of 2,500; the current school, though only built for a capacity of about 1,400, has an enrollment of over 1,700, according to the NIU Office of Public Affairs. The school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2011.

NIU will also work with the district to transform Chesebro Elementary into a completely bilingual school, Peters said. NIU professors, pre-service teachers and experienced teaching staff will provide instruction using progressive strategies in both English and Spanish. About half of Chesebro’s student population is Latino, according to the NIU Office of Public Affairs.

PROFESSORS HONORED

Three NIU professors were honored at the State of the University Address by being the first to be awarded Board of Trustees professorships.

Anthropology professor Dan Gebo, history professor Narayan Hosmane and chemistry professor Christine Worobec were honored at the address; Gebo was the only one in attendance, as Hosmane is overseas on a research project and Worobec was teaching class.

The professorships “bestow campus-wide honor, generous stipends and additional graduate student support to faculty who have obtained national and international reputations for their scholarly work, demonstrate a strong commitment to teaching and engage students,” Peters said.