Was this discussed last week when NIU announced its lowest enrollment in 34 years --19,000 students last spring to 18,519 students this spring?
Board of Trustee members are asking for more details "..and not just random bullet points."

http://northernstar.info/campus/board-as...797d1.html

I'm sure some of the progress they've made has been dialed back by good old Rauner and friends.

Luckily they brought in more freshman and transfers than last year.

There's still the issue that Illinois is the largest exporter in the U.S. of college students. When adjacent states offer in-state tuition rates then Illinois kids look elsewhere. I live on the east coast and when we took my daughter to numerous school visits, including Virginia Tech, NIU definitely stood out at as being the friendliest. Also, the dorms and athletic fields were vastly superior to all of the schools we visited. I wonder to what extent are we contacting prospective student across the state and border states by sending them post cards, emails, etc to come visit the campus. Honestly, I'm at a loss because my wife and I love the university and the DeKalb area. (And, we both have been very successful in our professional lives due to NIU's academics).

Does this possibly have anything to do with raising admission standards?

Meet with 100 counselors from the suburban schools and they will be brutally honest with you why their students are not attending NIU.
Meet with 100 students from the suburban schools and they will be brutally honest why they are not attending NIU.
Meet with 100 parents from the suburban schools and they will be brutally honest with you why their kids are not attending NIU.
The reputation (perceived/real) of NIU is horrible.

Tell me why ISU is busting at the seams with students with highest test scores ever and we are going down hill fast?

It is more than post cards folks.

There's no doubt that Dr. Baker and the recruitment team need to fix it. There needs to be some sort of marketing blitz to get the perception that NIU is a dangerous school turned around. Get into the suburbs and downstate and get those counselors talking to kids about NIU, show that it's not dangerous to go there. Change the mindset. It won't happen overnight, but start now or NIU will be EIU in terms of student population. The BoT should be having a fit about this. There is no acceptable reason why student population should continue to fall as dramatically as it has. Keep the kids in state and at NIU.

From what I've been told, a lot of other schools, including out-of-state schools, are cheaper than the Illinois state schools.

I don't know if this is related in any way, but I swear that half of the student population at WMU is from the Chicago area. I don't know how/why we get so many Illinois kids...

Well Chicago State and EIU are really feeling the budget pinch. Will EIU survive. Any budget approved will not give higher education more money. They are the last in line for hand outs.

(02-09-2016 09:57 AM)UnknownScout Wrote:  There's no doubt that Dr. Baker and the recruitment team need to fix it. There needs to be some sort of marketing blitz to get the perception that NIU is a dangerous school turned around. Get into the suburbs and downstate and get those counselors talking to kids about NIU, show that it's not dangerous to go there. Change the mindset. It won't happen overnight, but start now or NIU will be EIU in terms of student population. The BoT should be having a fit about this. There is no acceptable reason why student population should continue to fall as dramatically as it has. Keep the kids in state and at NIU.

You can do a multi million dollar marketing blitz....or knock down any subsidized housing that is smack in the middle of campus. That won't happen, so perceptions will remain

(02-09-2016 11:11 AM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  I don't know if this is related in any way, but I swear that half of the student population at WMU is from the Chicago area. I don't know how/why we get so many Illinois kids...

Especially when out of state cost of attendance is $37k at WMU vs $26k instate at NIU.

(02-09-2016 11:58 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  

(02-09-2016 11:11 AM)ColinApocalypse Wrote:  I don't know if this is related in any way, but I swear that half of the student population at WMU is from the Chicago area. I don't know how/why we get so many Illinois kids...

Especially when out of state cost of attendance is $37k at WMU vs $26k instate at NIU.

WMU has bigger oars? NIU needs to clean up the campus more too, they have done well in that category, but we have a long way to go.

It is the college advisors at most of the high schools that determine our reputation. They are the ones that should be the marketing targets. We need to re-educate them. They read the paper and get the rather biased reporting out of Chicago.

(02-08-2016 11:46 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  I'm sure some of the progress they've made has been dialed back by good old Rauner and friends.

Let's not forget the teflon don of Ill Mike Madigan...

It's more than perception. The reality must be changed.
NIU must, somehow, do its' best to restore the NIU of the 60's, 70's and 80's.
Political correctness or kool-aid is not the answer.
This requires MAJOR work.
We have earned our reputation, unfortunately.
Whatever progress NIU football has made over the course of the past two decades, NIU...the school and campus part of that football team has regressed equally.
We now feel less University of ____ (name your leafy college campus) and more Chicago State U.

.....or you can eliminate the subsidized housing smack in the middle of campus.

For the record, I am going to keep saying this. It isn't me that cares as much about it, but the fact is A LOT of people talk about "the village". I gave up defending it and am now convinced until you reduce and knock down subsidized/section 8 housing that is in the middle of campus....the perception is going to remain.

(02-09-2016 03:47 PM)blackhawk Wrote:  It's more than perception. The reality must be changed.
NIU must, somehow, do its' best to restore the NIU of the 60's, 70's and 80's.
Political correctness or kool-aid is not the answer.
This requires MAJOR work.
We have earned our reputation, unfortunately.
Whatever progress NIU football has made over the course of the past two decades, NIU...the school and campus part of that football team has regressed equally.
We now feel less University of ____ (name your leafy college campus) and more Chicago State U.

While I don't disagree, this is a sobering, bitter pill to swallow.

(02-09-2016 03:56 PM)JB04 Wrote:  .....or you can eliminate the subsidized housing smack in the middle of campus.

For the record, I am going to keep saying this. It isn't me that cares as much about it, but the fact is A LOT of people talk about "the village". I gave up defending it and am now convinced until you reduce and knock down subsidized/section 8 housing that is in the middle of campus....the perception is going to remain.

You can keep saying it to your grave. I would suggest moving on to a different solution. This property is entrenched and, is not going anywhere. Any effort to "deal with it" will be met with a lawsuit from HUD.

Said very well, DeKalb.
I have fought the obvious for years, but it's too blatant.
If you were to capture a video and recreate the culture of NIU in the decades past....You'd be shocked at the current state.
It's awfully depressing.
Again, this is not a tweak here and there...this is MAJOR.
Things began changing in the 90's and it's spiraled down...now, out of control.
The reality must change...then we can all work on our perception.
NIU has been a wonderful university for most of us. Our leaders at Northern must be bold...really bold and take back the university.
New York was saved many moons ago by some guy named Rudy (sorry if this losing people), so, NIU can be had, as well.