Open meetings regarding reaccreditation of the university will be held Monday and Tuesday for students, faculty and staff to voice their opinions.

The meetings, which will be held by the Higher Learning Commission, are one of the final phases of the reaccreditation process.

“This process will help us determine where to go in the next 10 years,” NIU President John Peters said. “I think we will be overwhelmingly reaccredited.”

Accreditation certifies that colleges and universities provide an acceptable institutional quality and incentive for self-improvement.

According to the Higher Learning Commission, for an institution to be accredited, it must have a clear and publicly stated purpose that is appropriate for an institution of higher learning, effectively organize its resources to accomplish its purposes, continue to strengthen its educational effectiveness and demonstrate integrity in its practices and relationships.

The Higher Learning Commission is part of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, the group that accredits NIU. NIU has been accredited through the NCA since 1915.

Standard evaluation is for a 10-year period, which is the maximum amount of time the federal government allows accreditation to remain in effect without another review, said Robert Appleson, associate director of the Higher Learning Commission.

“There are always concerns,” Appleson said. “But none have been considered serious enough to move up NIU’s visit date.”

Members of the review team are chosen from a 19-state region that the NCA services, but they are not allowed to work for the schools they visit, said Virginia Cassidy, associate vice provost for Academic Planning and Development. Usually, members also are not allowed to work in the same state as the one they are visiting, Cassidy said.

The review team is made up of administrators and faculty from other schools that specialize in various fields such as fine arts, finance, business discipline, mathematics, physical sciences, political sciences and health services, Appleson said.

“The team is asked how the institution has dealt with previous recommendations by the last visit team,” Appleson said.

During the last commission visit in 1994, some concerns were raised about the upkeep of campus buildings and compliance with the American Disabilities Act, Cassidy said.

“We got a good start on architecture, and they will be impressed with our progress,” Peters said. “But the budget has really slowed our progress - not stopped it but slowed it.”

Other areas the review team will focus on are enrollment management and the programs offered at NIU, Peters said.

“NIU is a doctoral and research-intensive university,” Peters said. “I think they will tell us to focus on our areas of excellence and ask us what areas we will focus on.”

When bands come to NIU, they are brought in by one of two campus agencies.

The Campus Activities Board and the Convocation Center are responsible for booking and promoting various musical acts. These organizations go through multiple steps to assure the shows are promoted and have high attendance.

The Weekender tracked two such events — Michelle Branch, which CAB presented, and Staind, which the Convocation Center brought in.

In addition to providing a unique look behind the scenes of these two shows, CAB Concert Coordinator John Benson and Convocation Center Marketing Manager Kevin Selover offered insight about the process.

CAB

-+ Sept. 22 — First CAB meeting of the year. Finalized booking Michelle Branch, who previously had been scheduled. "Michelle Branch was a deal that came to us [early] through our connections with the industry. We had to make a decision on her in a matter of a couple days. Otherwise, we would have lost the date." — Benson

+ Week of Sept. 22 — Began first wave of initial advertising prior to tickets going on sale. Utilized the Internet, while fliers and posters were placed around campus — kept a constant watch to make sure things torn down were replaced as soon as possible.

+ Week of Sept. 29 — Began bus advertisements on Huskie Buses.

+ Oct. 1 — Tickets went on sale.

+ Oct. 3 — Press releases and public service announcements were sent to local and regional media outlets announcing the show and that tickets were on sale.

+ Week of Oct. 11 — Began running multiple radio ads on B95.

+ Oct. 13 — Began running daily ads in the Northern Star. "We had some prior coverage here when we first announced the show." — Benson

+ Oct. 22 — Set up promotional tables at Cole and DuSable halls.

+ Oct. 24 — Concert at the Holmes Student Center's Duke Ellington Ballroom. Michelle Branch drew 1,247 students — the largest-attended CAB concert this year. "This is what I had hoped for. It was definitely a success. This was just crazy. We didn't go by the exact formula because [we] were working on promoting four shows at one time. There was a lot of overlap. We usually have much more time to advertise and properly promote the show." — Benson

Convo

-+ Nov. 17 — Contacted by NiteLite Promotions regarding a possible NIU show.

+ Nov. 19 — Meeting to discuss the plausibility of a Staind concert. Conducted market research to determine how many tickets would need to be sold to cover the cost and to determine the group's popularity. Contacted Staind's management with possible concert dates. "The Convocation Center is the home to Huskie athletics, so they get first priority to the building. That means that there are times that we have to pass on acts that would be a good fit." — Selover

+ Nov. 25 — Offer was accepted by management and the date was finalized.

+ Dec. 11 — Show was announced through mass e-mails and an announcement was placed on the Convocation Center's Web site and on the Lincoln Highway marquee.

+ Dec. 12 — Met with the promoter to discuss a marketing plan. "Every show is marketed differently depending on the act. With this show, rock radio stations were the best way to promote the show. That is where a majority of our marketing dollars were allocated, but for other shows, we use more newspaper ads." — Selover

+ Dec. 30 — Started promoting the concert at NIU basketball games.

+ Jan. 1 — Began radio promotion on 104.9 XFM, Q101, 94.7 The Zone and the recently reformatted 96.7.

+ Week of Jan. 5 — Radio stations began ticket giveaways.

+ Jan. 7 — Began ticket presale.

+ Jan. 8 — Placed posters around campus. "Putting up posters on campus is a great, cost-effective way to let the students/faculty know about upcoming events." — Selover

+ Jan. 9 — Tickets go on sale to the general public. "We are always prepared for a line. The lottery system keeps people from camping out overnight." — Selover

+ Jan. 12 — Ads ran in the Northern Star and in NS*Radio promotions.

+ Jan. 13 — Created a press release announcing SOiL and Three Days Grace as the show's opening acts.

+ Week of Jan. 21 — Tickets were given out on "WXRX & Staind weekend."

+ Week of Jan. 20 — Tickets were given out on "Q101 & Staind weekend."

+ Jan. 23 — Video boards at the Holmes Student Center and the Student Recreation Center started showing advertisements for the show.

+ Feb. 5 — Set up a booth at the Holmes Student Center to promote upcoming events.

+ Feb. 8 — Early in the afternoon, WXRX did a live broadcast with Staind to encourage everyone to attend the show.

+ Feb. 8 — At 9:15 p.m., Staind took the Convocation Center stage.

The state of Illinois will decrease the amount of funding to the State University Retirement System by 13.8 percent in fiscal year 2005.

SURS will lose more than $41 million because of the influx of $1.4 billion received July 2, 2003, from the sales of $10 billion in bonds last year. The bonds were sold to benefit the state retirement system by paying down liabilities, said Dan Slack, SURS general counsel and associate executive director.

Sale of the bonds will allow the state to make pension contributions for the next four years and reduce the amount of money coming from the General Revenue Fund by $215 million, Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced in his state budget address Wednesday.

“It is a nice and welcome infusion of funds into the system,” Slack said.

He said the reduction won’t have a short-term effect, but if SURS is not funded properly, there will be a long-term effect.

“We are saddling our children with problems we should be funding now,” Slack said.

The 13.8 percent decrease in funding reflects a reduced state pension liability, not a reduction in the support system, said Steve Cunningham, NIU associate vice president of Planning and Human Resources.

“Any time there’s an opportunity to pay down liabilities of the pension system, it is a good thing,” Cunningham said. “If the liabilities are less, the state has the opportunity to have money for other issues, like less cutting and pay raises.”

Future cuts in funding may change how the system is structured.

“One thing we can see happening is to run a much less generous program,” Slack said. “It would be tiered by when you joined the public system. This is the risk if the budget isn’t in place.”

Past budget cuts are what got the the SURS system to where it is today, said Larry Sallberg, NIU Annuitants Association treasurer.

“If they put the money in properly in the 1980s, it wouldn’t be this way today,” Sallberg said.

Slack agreed and said, “It would have been funded at 100 percent if funded properly, but now our goal is to have our assets up to 90 percent by FY 2045.”

At least one department on campus has been affected by retirements. The sociology department had a trickle of retirements dating back to 1998, including three full-time faculty members last year, department chair Kay Forest said.

“They realized that after you put in 30 years, and in one case 39 years, unless there is a compelling reason to stay, it is better to join the retirement system,” Forest said. “None of the ones who retired last year left because they thought the ship was sinking; there were new career opportunities that pulled them away.”

While SURS funding may affect future retirees, it had no effect on history professor Elaine Spencer’s decision to retire.

“I had other things in mind. It wasn’t a factor in my decision to retire,” Spencer said.