AQIP Accreditation Update

One of the three strategic action projects identified by the NMU community as part of the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP) has been successfully completed.

“We’re progressing nicely,” said Teresa Hunt, interim assistant vice president for academic affairs.

The three strategic action projects came out of a campus conversation day with faculty and staff in 2002, which was one of the first phases of the ongoing AQIP accreditation process.

The project that was first completed involved the creation of a student identification system not based on Social Security numbers, and an interactive student Web site to reduce office visits and paper exchange for NMU students.

“Everybody at NMU has an NMU IN and the student Web site is up and running,” Hunt said.

The second action project entails the revision of the current student advising system to make it more functional and attractive to students, faculty and staff.

“For a year-and-a-half a diverse committee from student services, faculty, ASNMU and others have evaluated the process of advising at Northern,” Hunt said. “We’re looking at how Northern has historically advised students, how other institutions advise students, and we’re looking at surveys we did with students and faculty.”

The committee plans to make a series of recommendations to the campus community by the end of the winter semester, according to Hunt.

The committee of the third action project focuses on further development and implementation of a university-wide outcomes assessment plan. Currently committees are looking at three different groups: service offices, academic programs, and liberal studies. The project is slated to be completed in May 2006.

“The groups have come together to set goals and benchmarks on how to reach those goals,” Hunt said. “There’s a lot of material to look at. The chairs of the three groups have worked very hard.”

Hunt said in the near future, a new action project will be identified and selected with the help of the campus community.