NMU BOARD OF TRUSTEES – ACADEMIC AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
December 2010
ACADEMIC AFFAIRS ROAD MAP UPDATE
The Road Map to 2015 was introduced in March 2008. The Academic Affairs Division, with the leadership
of the Provost and members of the Academic Cabinet and with contributions by outstanding faculty and staff,
continues to move forward with many aspects of Road Map implementation. This December 2010 update,
while not an exhaustive listing, provides highlights of progress made since the last report in September 2010.
Innovation
Priority: Consolidate and/or reduce the number of undergraduate majors and streamline baccalaureate
programs to enhance quality and efficiency.

The Educational Policies Committee (a group of faculty and academic administrators who serve in
an advisory role to the Provost) has approved a set of eleven “best practices” criteria for reallocating
resources for academic programs. The EPC is now using those criteria to evaluate recommendations
for academic program growth and elimination.

In 2009 the Criminal Justice Department began encouraging bachelor degree majors to graduate with
an associate degree on their way to earning their bachelors degree. This collaborative effort between
the Criminal Justice Department and the Registrar’s office resulted in marked increases in two-year
graduation rates, in addition to ‘ensuring’ a degree for student who may leave the university prior to
obtaining their four-year degree. Both two-year programs ladder nicely into the Bachelors degree
program and the department is in the beginning stages of making this process automatic for all fouryear students.

The BSN redesigned curriculum in the School of Nursing was implemented this fall. The redesigned
curriculum enables students to complete the BSN portion of the program in five academic semesters.
The first three semester’s students complete their prerequisite courses. One of the reasons the
program shifted to requiring more of the prerequisites to be completed, was to increase retention
once students are admitted to the BSN program.
Priority: Integrate global engagement and diversity learning experiences throughout the academic
curriculum.

The School of Nursing offered a graduate course for its Family Nurse Practitioner students in
summer 2010 in Honduras. The students were able to provide hands on patient care, with each
student seeing up to 30 patients/day. The course was directed by two faculty who are advanced
practice nurses: Sheri Giordana, DNP, FNP-BC and Terry Delpier, DNP, PNP.

The Office of International Programs and the Provost’s Office reached an agreement with
Universidad de Matanzas Camilo Cienfuegos UMCC. Under this agreement, with the license of the
United States government, NMU students will be able to spend up to a year in Cuba studying
intensive Spanish and choosing courses from any of the six different colleges at UMCC.
Universidad de Matanzas is one of the top five universities in Cuba. With this agreement, NMU
becomes the 15th American university to have an agreement in Cuba. NMU will be the first
American university working outside Havana.
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
The International Programs Office and the Provost’s Office co-sponsored, for a third year, the NMU
International Photo Contest. Forty-two NMU faculty, students, and alumni submitted 124 photos
and ten winners were selected in five categories; Local People-Local Customs, Children of the
World, Naturally Northern, Landscapes and Scenes, and Lights and Shadows.

The NMU International Performing Arts Series, under the direction of Daniel Truckey, Director of
the Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center, finished its third performance of the 2010-11 season on
November 5 with a concert by the Irish-American fiddle master, Liz Carrol. So far, this year’s series
has had over 1,000 people attend and performers have conducted workshops for local students at Big
Bay, Marquette, Munising, Negaunee and Republic schools.
Priority: Utilize corporate partners to increase internship opportunities for students.

Engineering Technology is working with the National Weather Service to identify an intern to work
through the school year helping to maintain NWS equipment across the Upper Peninsula.
Priority: Explore and act upon opportunities to expand programs in nursing and allied health to meet the
growing demand for professionals in health care and related fields.

The Military Science Department recruited six top Midwest high school students to the NMU
Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.
Priority: Explore and act upon graduate programming (certificate, master’s, doctoral) in areas of
recognized strengths, needs and opportunities.

The College of Business, in an effort to meet student interests and regional needs, is working with
other departmental units on campus to explore the possibility of offering specializations within the
current MBA program. This effort looks to respond to the strengths of other, non-business
programs.

The College of Business is finalizing an initiative that will help non-business majors complete an
MBA in one year. The program is called the “Momentum MBA”. Non-business majors taking a
business minor and a few select electives will be prepared to start the Momentum MBA immediately
following graduation.
Priority: Develop and implement a plan for substantially increasing federal, state and private grants to
NMU.

Military Science secured four federally funded ROTC scholarships for deserving cadets; currently
have five more ROTC scholarships in the approval process; and secured an additional State of
Michigan National Guard scholarship.

Military Science continues to leverage the Simultaneous Membership Program (SMP) through the
National Guard and Reserve units throughout upper Michigan to fully fund cadet’s education while
providing them the opportunity to gain valuable experience in an Army unit prior to graduating and
commissioning.
Meaningful Lives
Priority: 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.
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
Director of Admissions Gerri Daniels presented information to high school guidance counselors at
the annual Promoting the Publics events regarding the Financial Aid Toolbox, the electronic Career
Pathways field trips, the personalized links tool (www.nmu.edu/myadventure) and the ability for
counselors to request online information about their students attending NMU and to request NMU
materials.
Priority: Develop a “virtual” campus that provides reliable, convenient access to online courses and other
essential student services.

All 20 of the School of Education graduate courses will be available online for winter 2011 to better
serve the professional and career needs of educators in the region and throughout the world.

The Registrar’s Office is working with the National Student Clearinghouse to implement an online
degree and enrollment verification process. Students will be able to go to a web site and print an
enrollment certificate. Employers will be able to use this site to verify that students have earned a
degree.

Financial Aid and Communications and Marketing collaborated with Communication and
Performance Studies during the winter 2010 semester to develop student-created videos describing
the Satisfactory Academic Progress policies and appeals process using student athletes. The videos
may be viewed at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Sq4SaDxhc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=098z-77Zp-A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GPl4SnkCRM
Priority: Establish benchmarks for technology literacy for all NMU graduates and develop a plan to achieve
them.

Under the direction of Dr. Mollie Freier (Library), NMU participated in Project Information
Literacy, a national research study of college students’ information-seeking behaviors conducted on
25 campuses around the U.S. This research, supported by the MacArthur Foundation, is being
conducted by investigators at the Information School, University of Washington. Truth Be Told:
How College Students Evaluate and Use Information in the Digital Age (a progress report) was
released November 1, 2010 and is helping to inform NMU library faculty about students’ research
strategies and behaviors.
Leveraging Campus Attributes
Priority: Provide training opportunities at all appropriate levels to improve the responsiveness and
effectiveness of office operations.

Admissions staff Chrissy Carr and Nichole Veirs served on the planning and presentation committee
for the Michigan Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (MACRAO) New
Counselors Workshop. This provided them valuable experience in program planning and
training/mentoring new professionals in the field.
Priority: Enhance the portfolio of academic programs, research and other activities that leverage the
university’s location in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
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
The College of Arts & Sciences has initiated a fellowship program for Arts and Sciences faculty who
wish to conduct research regarding an aspect of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The goal of the project
is to increase research productivity in an area central to the Road Map to 2015. Fellows will present
the results of their research at the annual Sonderegger Symposium and will also submit their work
for publication in appropriate journals.
Priority: Work to enhance opportunities, funding and events that strengthen and increase current university
areas that focus on the Upper Peninsula—Center for Native American Studies, Center for Upper Peninsula
Studies, Beaumier Heritage Center and NMU and Central Upper Peninsula Archives.

The NMU Native American Studies Program, in collaboration with the School of Nursing, the
Department of Clinical Sciences and Marquette General Hospital, presented another session of the
Native American Medicine Wheel Academy. The purpose of the Academy, funded by a Wildcat
Innovation Fund grant, is to increase the number of Native Americans who choose to pursue a career
in Health Care. The November 2010 Academy hosted 25 Native American prospective students
from Michigan and Wisconsin. Participants, among other activities, interacted with the School of
Nursing’s high fidelity human simulators, learned how to take vital signs such as blood pressure and
pulse, and heard a presentation by a Native American dentist.

The Beaumier U.P. Heritage Center and DeVos Art Museum hosted the 2010 Upper Peninsula
Folklife Festival on September 10-11. The festival featured dozens of performers and folk artisans
and drew over 400 spectators. The DeVos Museum featured its exhibit of folk art by Niel Haapala
and conducted craft workshops for children during the event.

University Archivist, Marcus Robyns, finalized an agreement to permanently house and preserve
governmental and court records from the City of Marquette and Marquette County, making these
primary resources available for research.

University Archivist, Marcus Robyns, secured a commitment from retiring U.S. Representative Bart
Stupak to donate his papers to the NMU Archives. This significant collection of papers augments an
already well-established research collection of political papers relevant to the Upper Peninsula.

During 2010, the Center for Upper Peninsula Studies published several books related to the Upper
Peninsula:
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Native Americans of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: A Chronology to 1900; Russell M.
Magnaghi (History faculty & Director of CUPS)
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula Immigrants and Their Occupations As Seen in the 1910
Federal Census; Russell M. Magnaghi (A CD publication)
Northern Michigan University: A Personal History, 1899-2010; Francis Roy Copper
Kentuckians in the Upper Peninsula; Bruce K. Cox
The Reichard Farm: Pioneering in Menominee County; Nancy D. Kennedy
Community Engagement
Goal: Increase collaboration with local communities, schools, governments, development groups and other
partners to enhance community and economic development in the Upper Peninsula.

The College of Business has just completed its first round of competition for the Fourth Annual New
Business Venture Competition. Nine thousand dollars in cash prizes is available and the final, public
competition will be held on April 7, 2011.
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Goal: Include all units of the campus in the process of community engagement; that is, collaborations
between the university and its larger communities (local, state, regional, national, global) for the mutually
beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.

The Physical Education Teacher Education program in Health, Physical Education and Recreation
(HPER) has developed relationships with PK-12 public and private educational institutions in
Marquette County. Each semester NMU students work with several classes providing needed
improvements in the Physical Education experience for students.

The City of Marquette has received funding to install a current meter at Picnic Rocks in an attempt to
make swimming safer in this area. This project was developed by Engineering Technology students
Craig Wiseman and Scott McLain in their senior projects class last year. In addition, Eric Smith,
Director of NMU Broadcast & Audio Visual Services, is serving as NMU’s representative on a
Water Safety Task Force for the City of Marquette. The group will make recommendations for
improving water safety in the city along the shoreline of Lake Superior.

In coordination with the 652nd Engineer Company and the US Army Recruiting Command, NMU
Military Science supported the NMU/MTU football game ball run from Marquette to Houghton.
Cadets ran the 100 miles between campuses to show their school spirit and build spirit de corps.

The Center for Upper Peninsula Studies has developed an oral history project with Marquette
General Hospital to interview 50+ retired hospital personnel (nursing staff and physicians) to
document the history of the hospital. The Center is also developing a series of oral interviews with
residents of Drummond Island to document the history of early Finnish settlement on the island and
the Tom Monaghan (Domino’s Pizza) resort of the 1980s. Student interns are hired to transcribe and
edit the tapes produced by these oral interviews.
Priority: Significantly increase the number of NMU students who participate in the Superior Edge,
academic service learning and other leadership development opportunities.

Make a Difference Day on Saturday, October 23; saw 1,264 NMU students representing 111 student
organizations complete 183 service projects.

The NMU Volunteer Center has been working with Kris Day, a NMU alum and the Director of
Student Activities at University of Michigan-Dearborn to arrange a "service exchange." Two vans of
NMU students (15-20 students) will travel to Detroit and do service work in metro Detroit on
Monday, January 17 (Martin Luther King Day). On the weekend of February 18-20, UM-Dearborn
students will travel to Marquette. They will see some of the Marquette area and volunteer at the UP
200 Sled Dog Race. The purpose of the exchange, in addition to the service provided, is to expose
some NMU students who have had little or no exposure to urban settings to a major metro area and
in turn to acquaint some students who have only known urban life to a rural setting.

The NMU Student Nurse Association conducted a fundraiser in October 2010 for the Marquette
Children’s Museum. Over $2000 was raised to support Museum activities.
Priority: Implement and fund strategies to increase the number of students and employees from underrepresented and nontraditional groups.

The Provost’s Office, in collaboration with Human Resources, has implemented a new training
program for faculty search chairs and academic department heads. The purpose of the program is to
prepare search chairs and department heads to conduct faculty searches in accordance with best
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practices, including those that are most likely to result in a diverse pool of applicants and greater
success in the hiring of faculty from under-represented groups.

Senior Admissions Counselor Kari Garcia has been appointed to the Illinois Association for College
Admission Counseling (IACAC) Human Relations Committee. The mission of the committee is to
serve as a catalyst-heightening awareness, consciousness and sensitivity to the issues of culture, race,
human rights, gender, age, and other differences in the admissions process.

Director of Admissions, Gerri Daniels, and Associate Director of the Multicultural Education and
Resource Center, Shirley Brozzo, are creating a publication designed for both Admissions and
MERC to use in the recruitment/retention process for students of color. The project is funded by a
Wildcat Innovation Fund grant.
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