ADDENDUM #6
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING
FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2003
NEWS FROM PRESIDENT BAILEY
Northern Michigan University's View Master marketing project won the gold medal from the Admissions Marketing in direct mail category for schools with enrollment between 5,000 -10,000. A third reel has been produced and is currently being sent to approximately 1400 high schools in our region.
Accreditation Update: NMU participated in an AQIP Strategy Forum in Chicago in late February. The following three Action Projects were identified for Northern to pursue in continuing its accreditation: 1) Develop a comprehensive student outcomes assessment plan; 2) Create a new student identification system and student information web site; and 3) Review and revise NMU's advising process.
NMU's Teaching, Learning and Communication (TLC) initiative became part of the 2003 Computerworld Honors Collection in early April. This honor is presented annually to individuals and organizations that have made outstanding progress for society through visionary use of information technology. The 2003 Honors Collection will be archived in libraries, museums and academic research institutions around the world as a resource for those who hope to use information technology to build solutions that benefit society.
ENROLLMENT UPDATE
We had projected a 3% gain in overall enrollment for Fall 2003 and we believe that we are on track to reach our projected and budgeted Fall enrollment of 9,300. However, we do believe that most of the increase will be due to retention of students from previous large freshman classes. While this is a concern because of its potential impact on our 2004 and 2005 enrollment targets, the Fall 2003 numbers look very positive.
This spring NMU has undertaken a focused market research project aimed at enhancing enrollment in Summer College. The Offices of Continuing Education and Institutional Research are working with the School of Education to develop an integrated strategy for promoting NMU's Summer Institutes to more than 5,000 educators in Oakland County. The goals of this project are to increase awareness of and enrollment in NMU's summer programs as well as to help establish a database for future electronic marketing. If successful, this project will serve as a model that we can export to other "targets of opportunity" in our prime service region.
The 8th Annual "Celebration of Student Research and Creative Works" was held on April 16 in the University center. Students presented the results of their independent scholarly and creative works in a variety of formats including poster sessions, oral presentations, performances and displays.
I am pleased to report that the Head of our Military Science Department, John Vickers, was recently promoted to rank of Lieutenant Colonel – Congratulations to Lt. Col. Vickers.
I am also very pleased to announce that NMU's Athletic Training Program received its initial accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Program (CAAHEP) for a five-year period.
FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION NEWS
From Athletics: Congratulations to NMU Student-Athlete Chris Cook who became the first American since 1993 to win the men's 20k classical race at the NCAA Skiing National Championships.
ALUMNI NEWS
Some of the highlights from activities over the past few months include:
A restructuring of the Alumni/Development office to accommodate budget issues and continue the streamlining of operations to better serve alumni and donors;
The NMU Alumni Association Board of Directors elected a new President, Rick Popp ’88, and Vice President, Barry Axelrod ’69, who both took office January 1, 2003.
The NMU Alumni Association began a new partnership with MBNA Bank for a new NMU affinity credit card. The marketing plan for the new card includes two mailings that have already been distributed, in January and February. An on-line promotion is available at the NMU Alumni Association web site.
The Association conducted an alumni survey sent to 1,900 alumni. This survey was also available online. More than 1,000 alumni responded. A report on the results will be given to the Board of Trustees at its August meeting.
The Alumni Association continues to heavily market the new “free email for life” benefit to alumni.
Alumni events that have taken place recently include: a hockey reception in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during the Christmas tournament that attracted 170 people; a basketball reception in Green Bay, WI with the NMU basketball team and approx. 75 attendees; three separate events in Florida during spring break; and a Mid-Michigan reception (Saginaw-Bay City-Midland) with approximately 40 Michigan legislators, NMU alumni and community members.