The personal, social and intellectual maturity of NMU students is the ultimate benchmark of the achievement of the university's mission. A high-quality university education creates lifelong learners, contributing citizens and thoughtful neighbors. NMU will develop those programs and employ those practices that maximize the opportunity for all students to succeed in their university experience and to lead a productive, meaningful life.

A. Goal: A Liberal Studies Program that provides students with the abilities and knowledge necessary for lifelong learning and effective citizenship in a challenging and rapidly changing world.

Priorities:

1. Complete the process of creating a Liberal Studies Program that aligns with the mission, goals, skills and abilities approved for the program by the Academic Senate (2007).

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

In winter, 2007, the NMU Academic Senate approved a set of "abilities" and "understandings" meant to form the basis for the Liberal Studies Program. The Liberal Studies Committee continues to discuss various models for the Liberal Studies Program that will effectively reflect those fundamental goals.

2. Provide professional development opportunities for faculty that will assist in the implementation and effectiveness of the new Liberal Studies Program.
3. Create an infrastructure that integrates the Liberal Studies Program with the First Year Experience and other student support services that improve retention.

B. Goal: Develop a new academic advising system that integrates the advising assets of academic departments and student services to contribute to a new, effective retention management network--similar to our enrollment management network.

Priorities:

1. Develop and implement a quality advising system in each college that will meet the needs of students, enhance retention and lead to increased graduation rates.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The Student Services and Enrollment division has implemented the Curriculum, Advising and Program Planning (CAPP) degree evaluation tool. CAPP is an advising tool that allows students and their advisors to produce a degree audit on demand to assist in academic planning and enhance progress toward graduation.

 

The Academic and Career Advising Center collaborated with AdIT to provide ‘advising tools' for academic deans and department heads, enhanced ‘adviser tools' for faculty advisers (e.g., Adviser Tab on MyNMU) and underwent review of career planning activities and process for undeclared students.

2. Establish articulation agreements with community colleges that effectively evaluate and improve the transferability of liberal studies and other courses and credits and that will be attractive to transfer students.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

With the leadership of Associate Provost Bill Bernard, a template and procedures for developing articulation agreements with community colleges have been developed and discussed with deans and department Heads.  The College of Professional Studies has established two new articulation agreements to date -- one in Criminal Justice with Alpena Community College and one in Engineering Technology with Northeast Technical College (Wisconsin).

 

As academic departments complete articulation agreements, The Admissions Office has created Web content within NMU's transfer site to note articulation agreements, so when prospective transfer students and community college staff look at their school from www.nmu.edu/transfer, if there ARE articulation agreements in place, they will be apparent.

 

The Admissions Office was a key participant in developing and updating information in the Michigan Transfer Network (www.michigantransfernetwork.org)

 

The Admissions Office created a new transfer brochure to better reflect transfer-friendliness and scholarships.

 

With the leadership of Colonel Todd Gile, department head in Military Science, a partnership with Gogebic Community College has been developed that provides the Basic ROTC Course at GCC and then offers transfer into the Advanced Course at NMU.  The purpose of the program is to increase the number of ROTC students who transfer from GCC to NMU. 

 

The provost and Academic Cabinet hosted a one-day NMU campus visit in fall 2008 for the new Bay Community College Vice President for Instruction and Student Learning Edward Ogle and Dean of Instruction Chris Holmes.  The purpose of the visit was to initiate a more collaborative relationship between NMU and Bay Community College and to accelerate the establishment of new major-specific articulation agreements.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Department/Office

Public Safety and Police Services now has agreements with Lake State, Bay, Finlandia and Gogebic that recognize and honor the 12 credits from the Regional Police Academy.

3. Identify and utilize quality assessment measures to improve the effectiveness of academic advising.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The Academic and Career Advising Center has developed outcomes assessment measures to improve the advisement of undeclared, and academic probation students.

4. Utilize the Center for Native American Studies, the Multicultural Education and Resource Center and the Office of International Programs to recruit, retain and grant degrees to students.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The NMU Admissions Office, with cooperation of the Multicultural Education and Resource Center (MERC) initiated a new collaboration during 2008-09 with Admissions Promise, an organization whose goal is to increase the number of students of color who attend college.  The project brought high school juniors from Minneapolis and Milwaukee for a multi-day visit to the NMU campus.

 

With the support of a Wildcat Innovation Fund grant, April Lindala, Director of the Native American Studies Program, is implementing the "College Prep Medicine Wheel Academy," a project to encourage Native American students to explore and enroll in professional preparation programs in nursing and other health professions.          

 

The Office of International Programs has implemented a business plan aimed to increase the number of international students enrolled at NMU.  Representatives of NMU participated in student recruitment trips to Canada and Latin America during 2008-09 in an effort to recruit international students from those regions.  With support from a Wildcat Innovation Fund grant, Z Z Lehmberg, Department of English, is providing leadership for "The Asian Initiative," a project to increase enrollment of international students from China.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Department/Office

Office of General Counsel provided advice related to international student recruitment.

5. Implement recommendations for the improvement and expansion of the NMU Honors Program.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

During the 2007-08 academic year, a provost-appointed Honors Program Task Force examined all aspects of the Honors Program. With the leadership of Dean Terry Seethoff, the task force made numerous recommendations for program improvement. A consultant from the National Collegiate Honors Council visited campus in April,2009 and also submitted a report and recommendations. Michael Broadway, associate dean of Arts and Sciences, was appointed honors director and has moved forward, in collaboration with the Honors Advisory Board, to implement recommendations from the Task Force and the consultant. 

With Broadway's leadership, applications for the Honors Program have increased by 10 percent compared to last year at this time. 

 

In collaboration with David Wood, Department of English, Broadway will conduct a Canadian Studies and Shakespeare course in Summer 2009 in Canada for honors students.  The Canadian study abroad experience is funded in part by a gift from a retired NMU faculty member.

 

The Admissions Office worked with the Honors Program in developing new recruitment initiatives.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Department/Office

The Foundation began the process of securing a major gift to implement an "Honors Program" type of scholarship in the College of Business

6. Increase access to and understanding of financial aid by creating new online interactive tools that simplify the financial aid process for prospective students, parents and others.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The Financial Aid Office and Communications and Marketing have collaborated on a project to create an interactive tool that guides students and parents through the financial aid process in a step-by-step fashion.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Department/Office

A new financial aid toolbox has been built and is expected to be live on the NMU Web site in time for the start of the prime high school recruiting period, which begins in late September (and may be live for the start of the NMU fall semester).  The toolbox includes: an interactive cost comparison for up to 5 schools, which demonstrates "out of pocket" cost differences; an NMU step-by-step financial aid process guide; the cost calculator (which has been on the Admissions site); an audio/visual tool for filling out the FAFSA; and some video presentation by financial aid staff.  To be added in the fall is a video piece on satisfactory academic progress.

C. Goal: Integrate the highest possible level of information technology skills and competencies throughout the university.

Priorities:

1. Provide a wide variety of professional development opportunities to expand the information technology skills of faculty, staff and students.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

With the leadership of Darlene Walch, dean of AIS, Eric Smith, director of Broadcasting and Audiovisual Services and Matt Smock, director of Instructional Design, Technology and Media; the Course Technology Innovation Program (CTIP), funded by the Wildcat Innovation Fund, has been implemented. The program involves 15 faculty in a yearlong series of activities with the goal being to support participants in successfully integrating new instructional technologies in their teaching.  A one-week workshop was conducted in June 2009 to initiate the project.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Finance

Banner optimization is continuing as a result of participation in the Banner user group meeting.  Seniority reporting, life insurance administration, EPAF, and several screen process improvements will be implemented over the next several months.

2. Provide new opportunities for faculty and staff to develop and implement high-quality online academic programs.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The Office of Instructional Design, Technology, and Media (IDTM) in Academic Information Services, with the leadership of director Matt Smock, is providing individualized consulting, support, and resources to enable faculty to successfully implement best practices in online instruction.   With this support and with the enthusiastic leadership of many faculty  the number of courses and programs being offered either entirely or partly online and opportunities for online learning for both on-campus and off-campus students continue to steadily increase.

 

Broadcasting and A/V Services completed an upgrade to MediaSite Live this year and promoted it to individual departments as a way to aid in the delivery of course content (audio, video and graphics) to off-campus students.  System adoption became more universal and to-date over 2,000 programs have been recorded and stored on MSL servers.  Currently over 49,000 individual users access content within the system.  This work was coordinated through the Course Technology Alliance (CTA) which is comprised of members from AIS and LRD. 

 

Additionally, a cooperative LRD/AIS project is underway to create a technology corridor in the LRC.  The corridor includes Broadcasting, A/V, Media Services, CITE and Academic Computing services in a way  that facilitates "one-stop-shopping" for students and faculty who need assistance with technology and streaming media for course work.  In May of 2009, AIS and LRD received Wildcat Incentive Funds to assist and train a faculty cohort group in using advanced course related technology.  This year long project is providing year-long intensive training and assistance to 15 faculty who have committed to using significant (and appropriate) technology applications in their on-campus or on-line courses.

3. Establish a "think tank" to encourage new ideas and pedagogies that will leverage the university's technical expertise and high-tech corporate partners in order to bring external resources to the university.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

With the leadership of Dean Terry Seethoff, this priority is in development.

4. Establish benchmarks for technology literacy for all NMU graduates and develop a plan to achieve them.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The AIS Ad-Hoc Committee on Information Literacy and Technical Competency has reviewed technology literacy standards from the State of Michigan and from the Association of College and Research Libraries.   The committee is also reviewing the ETS Skills Assessment Tool to assess its compatibility with NMU's environment.  

5. Create an enhanced infrastructure that will continually expand the availability and variety of new technological tools and services for NMU students, faculty and staff.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The Registrar's Office, with the leadership of Registrar Kim Rotundo, is implementing an electronic transcript service for students that will allow the University to send transcripts as an attachment through a secure network. 

 

The Registrar's office worked with AdIT to create an automatic download of academic information regarding student athlete performance from BANNER to CAi software, which is what is used by NMU and the NCAA for athletic eligibility.  In the past, this information was entered by hand. 

 

The Registrar's Office worked with AdIT to develop a new system on Banner to allow students to select which directory information they want to be confidential instead of the all-or-nothing method that was used in the past.  This is being implemented in August with our annual FERPA announcement.

 

The Financial Aid Office implemented a new electronic system of issuing Perkins Loan Master Promisary Notes to students eliminating paperwork and streamlining the process for students.

 

The Career Services Office has developed an online resume service to assist students in posting their resume online to all prospective employers.

 

With the assistance of College of Business Professor Sandra Poindexter and Communications and Marketing, the Provost's Office completed the development of a new Provost's Office/Academic Affairs Web site in summer 2009. A needs analysis was conducted with goals established to include:  the presentation of a quality image to internal and external viewers, the reflection of the mission statements of the division and the university as well as Road Map themes, the provision of a resource-rich site for the campus community and the creation of a transparent communication of the roles and responsibilities of personnel in the Academic Affairs Division.  The website will become live approximately August 1.

 

Significant progress has been achieved in implementation of WNMU-TV and WNMU-FM digital conversion projects including needs assessment, timelines, legal and regulatory considerations, funding and fundraising, grant submittals and supervision of a three-phase, $4 million project construction. New digital technologies developed under this goal will increase program quality and channel capacity that aid in facilitating additional programming opportunities and experiences for students.Funding for this initiative was secured through federal grants. On June 12, 2009 WNMU launched new DTV transmission capabilities and added two additional broadcast channels capable of serving NMU's public and instructional missions.  The final phase of the WNMU's DTV transition includes updating studio production facilities to digital.  This digital conversion also includes WNMU-FM's IBOC digital transmitter replacement providing improved signal reliability and multi-channel capacity for serving future instructional and programming needs. 

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Finance

Developed the ability for students to securely enter banking information online that gives the university the ability to deposit overage checks of financial aid directly to bank accounts.  Reduces the lines in student services during rush periods and allows for quicker access to funds by students.  We have also been encouraging greater participation by students in electronic payroll deposits.

 

Expanded confidentiality options for students by providing five different options for confidentiality on the Banner system.  This benefits students in that they will be able to allow service learning and academic information to be released but still restrict physical contact information.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Department/Office

Office of General Counsel assisted with contracts with the City of Marquette and Marquette Township to expand NMU's wireless reach.

 

The Internal Auditor worked on several projects to support this priority, including a new ReportNet program that identifies unsubmitted purchasing policy expenses; new microprocessors and support software (CBORD) for transactions; and selection of a new purchasing card vendor. 

 

Recreation participants can now sign up for different program offerings online, making it much more customer convenient.

6. Develop a "virtual" campus that provides reliable, convenient access to online courses and other essential student services.

2008-09 Road Map Update - Academic

The Registrar's Office is working on the development of several online services including electronic submission for incomplete ("I") grades and automated communication to both students and faculty regarding the terms of those "I" grades.

 

The Student Services and Enrollment division has developed an Online Orientation program, virtual advising system, and an online student services Web site to assist online students.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Finance

AdIT developed an automated process for incomplete grades.  The automated process provides automatic electronic notification and alerts that pertain to due dates for students, registrar, and faculty, to better monitor completion of coursework after the semester ends.

-Superior Edge System – interactive system that allows students to record time for work that qualifies towards the "edges" and alerts for timing of project due dates.

 

2008-09 Road Map Update - Department/Office

Public Safety and Police Services has made the on-line transition with several training programs for faculty/staff and will expand offerings in the future.