It’s now even more obvious that NIU students need more academic resources, especially since NIU’s Office of Public Affairs reported that NIU had the largest year-to-year enrollment increase statewide.

The office reported last week that there are 23,512 students at NIU this spring, which is an increase of 1,017 from the same time last year.

NIU Vice Provost Bob Wheeler said while the increase means students need more academic resources, budget cuts have led the administration to reduce the number of tenure-track faculty members.

“Right now, the faculty are stretched about as thin as they can be,” he said, calling that NIU’s biggest challenge. “If we’re going to admit students, we need to educate them and get them a degree in a timely fashion. That’s our responsibility.”

With more students and less money, NIU will have to find a way to better meet students’ needs.

“I think what we have to do, to the best of our ability, is to put resources into upper-division courses in key departments,” Weeler said. “We’re in the process of putting more resources into those key classes so we can offer more classes and meet student demand.”

Wheeler said he hopes students will see more sections of classes listed in the fall schedule book, which comes out in March.

Increasing academic resources will require the reallocation of university funds. Wheeler said NIU’s “financial wizards” are thinking about reallocation decisions. He would not specify which areas will receive assistance, but said officials have identified a number of key departments where the current capacity is not enough to meet student demand.

“We must work diligently to ensure that we have the resources available to provide a quality education for every student we admit,” NIU Provost Ivan Legg said in a press release.

In the face of budget cuts, Wheeler said he’s proud that NIU has protected its core academic commitments, which is accomplished by making cuts “in areas that are not central to our academic mission.”

As an example, he said the vice provost’s office, to which at least 10 other offices report, has cut 3 percent of its $6 million budget.

Wheeler also said the faculty travel budget was cut and utility costs were hedged, but he was reluctant to give other examples of how NIU would cut areas not central to its academic mission.

“There may be additional cuts coming, we don’t know,” he said. “We need to keep paying our gas bill. People have to be in an environment where they can keep working.”

As for NIU’s growth this year, Wheeler cited attractive academic programs and successful retention programs.

“This is quite extraordinary for a spring semester,” he said. “We’ll have close to 24,000 students by the end of the semester, which is quite, quite remarkable.”

He said retention programs are difficult to evaluate but help identify struggling students so NIU can offer tutoring and mentoring services. Also beneficial is NIU’s freshman experience class, UNIV 101. Students enrolled in the class have a higher retention rate than those who are not, he said.

Wheeler said NIU’s now-consistent year-to-year growth is the result of a combination of strong programs that are attractive to students and NIU’s proximity to the highly populated Chicago area.

“Traditionally when times are hard, more students elect to return to school,” he said.