One year has passed since NIU and Rock Valley College partnered to offer students NIU bachelor’s degrees in Rockford.

As of last year, NIU President John Peters, alongside RVC President Roland “Chip” Chapdelaine, agreed to have NIU faculty teach courses at the Rockford campus with the graduates receiving an NIU degree.

Virginia Cassidy, associate vice provost of Academic Planning and Development, said this program is designed for first semester juniors who already have their associate’s degrees and want to further their education.

“This is a part-time program which has late afternoon and evening classes,” Cassidy said. “It is designed for the non-traditional students that work and have a family and can go after work to class.”

Anne Kaplan, vice president for administration and university outreach, has confirmed the number of students enrolled in the current semester is 270, which is about the same carryover as last semester.

“I am extremely pleased with the two institutions,” Kaplan said. “We developed this program for those students who cannot transfer and are in an area of study that they don’t really enjoy. In between the cleaning and the baby-sitters, the trip between Rockford and NIU is a very long ride. We were aiming to help this population of students.”

The seven bachelor programs being offered are allied health, nursing, industrial technology, computer science, education, family and child studies and general studies. Business was being considered last year, but Kaplan said the program is not ready for it.

“There is great interest in the community for business,” Kaplan said, “But, there are a lot of issues surrounding it as well. There is a high demand for it on campus, and it really comes down to it being a college-based decision. If the college of business agreed to it, I’d do it in a minute.”

As for branching out to other campuses, Cassidy said there are early discussions in the works.

“This is our pilot,” Cassidy said. “We are working out the processes with Rock Valley, making sure that the right people are working with the right people.”

Kaplan agreed.

“Rock Valley is our model, but at some point, we would need some additional funding for the other programs, especially coming in at the state level.”

The Higher Education Corporate Act has been funding the Rock Valley program, and if the program stretched to other campuses, state funding would be essential. With the unstable state budget as of now, Kaplan isn’t sure what might happen.