Recent News
Dear Campus Community:
The IU Northwest Strategic Planning Team recently held its Fall Retreat. The Retreat’s primary focus is to continue developing a continuous improvement process that will ensure IU Northwest maintaining its status as one of Northwest Indiana’s leading universities.
When the Strategic Planning process began, the Team established Outcomes to be achieved by the year 2010. As we progress toward our deadline, the team continues to monitor the status of its work, and during the Fall Retreat, status reports were presented for each outcome (status reports on all outcomes will be made available in early 2008). Additionally, outcomes were set for 2008.
As this year draws to a close, we eagerly anticipate the upcoming visit, in early 2008, by the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) team. To refresh your memory, AQIP is the comprehensive accreditation and self-evaluation process that focuses on enhancing the operations of colleges and universities through quality improvement. Teams of faculty and staff, at IU Northwest, have worked diligently on various category levels and an update can be found on the IU Northwest AQIP website.
Other topics discussed during the retreat, designed to create an environment where faculty, students and staff feel good about their work and achievements included:
- Enrollment: The university is currently developing a realistic plan designed to provide a format to achieve an enrollment of 6,000 students within the next five (5) years. One method suggested to aid with the increase in enrollment would be to improve our ability to retain students.
- Disaster Planning: The university, in the past, has had three (3) plans for emergency situations – a) a basic emergency plan for each campus building b) a weather plan and c) a crisis plan. We have streamlined and improved the planning process and are developing a comprehensive Crisis Management Plan that will respond to all emergencies. Training sessions are a part of the plan to ensure that all persons on campus are knowledgeable should an emergency situation presents itself. This process will also encompass a procedure to get clear, concise and accurate messages to all audiences.
Additionally, the IU system has contracted with an outside vendor to develop a method of notifying all audiences (IU Notify) if there is an emergency on our campuses. As you might imagine, this system will require all of our help to ensure the latest contact information is included and updated, when appropriate. Through IU Notify, all audiences when proper information is on file, can be contacted via email, text messages, cell telephone, home telephone, etc.
- Campus Diversity Plan: With a goal of increasing the diversity of faculty, staff and administration, a Diversity Portfolio Peer Review Project was launched in 2006 via the Enhancing Minority Attainment (EMA) Conference. This project was implemented in 2007 using the peer review process and resulted in findings and recommended actions for each IU campus across four (4) common dimensions: (1) institutional leadership (2) curricular and co-curricular transformation (3) campus climate and (4) representational diversity. All campus portfolios were compiled and summarized by the EMA leadership team.
Each campus’ portfolio is now being used as the foundation to develop and move forward with a diversity plan. A team was established on the IU Northwest campus to develop a plan. The first stages of an IU Northwest Diversity Plan which includes strategies, objectives and procedures with accountability is being prepared.
- Human Capital: A Human Capital plan is often looked upon as succession planning; the ability to react to changing conditions while identifying opportunities for improvement. Based on the need to look ahead due to natural procession, the next five (5) years will be a time for IU Northwest to consider major changes and growth.
Human Capital Planning is charged with developing a process and a plan that:
- Supports the mission of IU Northwest and its strategic direction
- Reflects IU Northwest’s commitment to diversity in all facets
- Recruits, retains and develops faculty, staff and administrators with knowledge, skills and values that ensure IU Northwest is a vibrant institution addressing the needs of campus constituents and the communities we serve
- Supports excellence in learning, scholarship and service
- Ensures leadership development and succession planning
- Includes the capacity to react to changing conditions and opportunities for improvement
- College of Health and Human Services: A review of the status of activity associated with this new initiative included discussion on structural reorganization:
- Process moving forward to identify a Director for the School of Social Work
- Determining when/if IU Northwest will introduce new health programs
- Financial and fundraising priorities
- Marketing priorities
- Student Health Center to provide services to IU Northwest students.
Many of you have no doubt read newspaper accounts on a possible merger, mentioned by the Indiana Commission on Higher Education, between IU Northwest and Purdue University Calumet. The Commission works closely with public and independent colleges and universities, coordinating, planning and budgeting for higher education in Indiana. Nothing definitive has been decided. However, being proactive, Strategic Planning team members have formed a small committee to identify a plan for pre-discussion of this issue.
Status reports on all 2007 Outcomes will be made available in early 2008. The next Strategic Planning meeting will be held in February 2008. Should you wish to make suggestions to the Strategic Planning Team, An online Suggestion Box is available for your use or place your comments in any of the Suggestion Boxes located throughout the campus. And, when you are able, take a look at the current Strategic Planning Team, several new members have been added.
Sincerely,
Toni Lieteau
Associate Vice Chancellor
University Relations
