NIU COLLEGE OF BUSINESS STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL XII MEETING MINUTES Sixth Meeting (Academic Year: 2008‐09) ~ Friday, April 24, 2009 ~ 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. STRATEGIC PLANNING COUNCIL XII (SPC) SPC Members: Tim Aurand (MKTG Faculty), Ann Carrel (Director, Executive MBA and Professional MBA Programs), Joe Cullinane (MKTG Executive‐in‐Residence & President – Joe Cullinane Enterprises, Inc.), Anthony D'Andrea (Director, Development, Senior Gift and Estate Planning Officer – COB), Michelle De Jean (Director, COB Marketing), Charles Gowen III (MGMT Faculty), Sonja Herington (Director, Global Affairs & Special Projects), Matt Krop (GRAD Student Rep – ACCY), Len Lundstrum (FINA Faculty), Lori Marcellus (Director, Undergraduate Studies in Business), Paul Prabhaker (Associate Dean, College of Business), Denise Schoenbachler (Dean, College of Business), Tanuja Singh (MKTG Chair), Wayne Smith (iTest Quality Partners Inc.), and Phyllis Zerull (BSBA Program Advisor) SPC Members Unable to Attend: Mary Allen (MGMT Secretary), Curtis Batterton (UGRAD Student Rep – OM&IS), Virginia Cassidy (Vice Provost), Doug Clinton (ACCY Faculty), Emily Cronauer (Academic Counselor – President, Staff Council), James Johnson (FINA Faculty), Gyu Kim (OM&IS Faculty), Brian Mackie (OM&IS Faculty), Jane Mall (Director, COB Experiential Learning and Corporate Relations), Sarah Marsh (MGMT Chair), Christine Mooney (MGMT Faculty), Ron Parrish (MGMT Instructor/Business Rep), Charles Petersen (OM&IS Faculty), Andy Rasmussen (IT Technical Associate, COBTech), Bob Riggle (MKTG Faculty), and Tim West (ACCY Faculty) Guests: Lia Gillet (Director, Alumni Relations), Lenita Hepker (COB Assistant to Dean), Lynn Neeley (MGMT Faculty) Minutes Approval Chuck Gowen made the motion to approve the minutes from the March meeting. Paul Prabhaker seconded. Minutes were approved as presented. Fall Retreat The Dean made an announcement of the upcoming retreat planned for the fall semester. The purpose of the retreat will be to discuss the SPC initiatives. Some initiatives have now become instilled in the college, while others have morphed into different initiatives. During the retreat we will look at all the initiatives, as well as the report from the AACSB Maintenance of Accreditation Peer Review Team, to identify what initiatives the college should concentrate on during the next few years. SPC XII Meeting ~ April 24, 2009 Page 1 Reports from Strategic Initiative Action Teams: Curriculum Innovation – Reported by Lori Marcellus • The Curriculum Innovation Action Team is currently focusing on enrollment management and increasing the yield rates of students. o Held a brain storming exercise in February, 2008 to tackle the question, “ How can we create emotional connection with NIU to attract and retain students?” ƒ Over 120 ideas were generated, the results report with the top ideas selected can be found in Appendix 1 of this report. • Gathered information from ELC students and departments. o Will analyze for an upcoming SPC meeting. o The challenge is to increase the yield number of applied and accepted by 25% for new freshman and transfer students. Entrepreneurship – Reported by Lynn Neeley The College is looking to create an Entrepreneurship minor and Certificate Program in Social Entrepreneurship. The College has taken a number of steps in developing this program: • Four faculty members were sent for training at Syracuse University Experiential Classroom. • Discussion of entrepreneurship courses available for non‐business students were initiated with colleges and departments outside the College of Business: Engineering, Computer Science, and Textiles, Apparel, and Merchandising Departments. • Exploration of “business world” experiences for students and community involvement with local business, Resource Bank and SCORE chapter. • Three NIU student teams entered the Idea to Product (I2P) competition; one team qualified for regional semi‐finals. • Dr. Don Kuratko, expert in the entrepreneurship field, came to the COB on March 31, 2009 to visit and consult with the COB on the entrepreneurship initiative. • Data was collected on the top‐10 entrepreneurship programs (majors and minors) from several universities. • The College continues to broaden alumni involvement to speak, coach, and judge student final presentations in MGMT 437, Entrepreneurship course. One College…One Team…One Focus – Reported by Lenita Hepker • Hosted a Monday night diversity event with guest speaker from the “Lost Boys” organization. • Continue to run the COB Face of the Week during the regular academic year. • Held the first COB Girls Night Out. • Student Organizations have shown interest in creating cross‐functional events. • Will continue to hold the COB Fall Picnic in August as a COB networking event. SPC XII Meeting ~ April 24, 2009 Page 2 •
Looking at creating a service day for faculty, staff, and students. Branding – Reported by Denise Schoenbachler • There has been a shift in placement and direction in trying to hit the Chicago market. o Marketing in magazines. o Held MBA boot camps. Endowment – Reported by Anthony D’Andrea • Focusing on getting the College named. • A number of donors want to give money for student scholarships, not professorships. • Donors want to see tangible gifts, not endowments. • Need to get more alumni in the classrooms to help cultivate the relationships. • KPMG committed to a $500K professorship endowment. • An Accountancy alumnus included an endowed professorship in Accountancy in his will. o Currently, the COB has secured two endowed professorships, one outright pledge and one testamentary. • The College has raised nine endowed scholarships towards a goal of 25. • Fundraising growth for 2008‐09 was 19% based on last fiscal year’s goal. o Total gifts and pledges were $2,483,174.00 toward the goal of $2.5M. o In FY09, $470,617 in gifts and pledge payments was added to the COB Endowment. Global – Reported by Paul Prabhaker • The four buckets of International o Study abroad opportunities o International partnerships o International projects o Business development • Regions and Markets o China o Turkey o France o Egypt o Spain o Others • Types of International Initiatives o Globalizing the student academic experience ƒ Faculty‐led Study Abroad ƒ MBA/EMBA International Study o Globalizing the faculty academic experience ƒ Attendance at “Globalization” workshops/seminars ƒ Faculty‐led Study Abroad SPC XII Meeting ~ April 24, 2009 Page 3 •
ƒ Executive Education Opportunities o Globalizing the COB revenue stream ƒ International Business Projects o Globalizing the COB academic curriculum ƒ Joint Degree Programs ƒ Double Degree Program Specific COB Global Accomplishments o Study Abroad Academic Partnerships ƒ University of Bordeaux (France) ƒ Beijing Technology and Business University (China) ƒ Hacettepe University (Turkey) ƒ Nankai University (China) ƒ San Jorge University (Spain) ƒ Dublin Institute of Technology (Ireland) ƒ University of Applied Sciences (Austria) o International Projects (competitive bidding) ƒ Chinese Government cohort training program (four months). ƒ Turkey Ministry of Interior training program (six months). ƒ Egyptian Government National Management Institute training program (10 year contract). o International Conferences ƒ Co‐hosted an international conference with Consulate of Turkey at NIU, DeKalb, November 2008. ƒ Looking at hosting an Energy Conference in conjunction with Hacettepe University in 2011. o Next Steps/Goals ƒ Move COB’s strategic global efforts from SPC initiative to a mainstream COB character attribute. ƒ Shift from entrepreneurial approach to a corporate/institutional approach. ƒ Look at becoming a CIBER school (Center for International Business Education and Research). • Grant opportunities ƒ Global minor/certificate options for students Follow‐up Mission/Vision Statements The Dean acknowledged her appreciation to Sarah Marsh for conducting the March meeting. She also thanked the group for their work on the mission and vision statements. She will look at the recommendations and plans to bring suggestions to the fall meeting. SPC XII Meeting ~ April 24, 2009 Page 4 SPC Meeting Calendar Members of the SPC discussed moving the SPC meetings from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. to a time frame in the morning. Members will be surveyed with their preference: 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.; 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (lunch meetings); or keep the meetings from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. SPC Members are also to email Sonja Herington, sherington@niu.edu, with their preferences for the September retreat day: September 11, 18 or 25. Thanks to Members The Dean thanked all the member of the SPC whose terms are up and will be rotating off of the council: Mary Allen Tim Aurand Curtis Batterton Ann Carrel Virginia Cassidy Doug Clinton Joe Cullinane Anthony D’Andrea Charles Gowen Jim Johnson Gyu Kim Matt Krop Charles Petersen Meeting adjourned at 3:54 p.m. Next SPC Meeting will be September 11, 2009. SPC XII Meeting ~ April 24, 2009 Page 5 Appendix 1 SPC Meeting April 24, 2009 Results from Curriculum Innovation Action Team •
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Background: o Last SPC meeting the Dean suggested that the Curriculum Innovation action team take a look at Enrollment Management to find out why students choose NIU, how can we create more of an emotional connection to NIU, and what can be done to help raise the yield rate for actual admits based on the findings Action Items completed o In Feb., a brain storming exercise was completed with a group consisting of the COB dept. advisors was conducted. They tackled the tough question ƒ “How can we create emotional connection with NIU to attract and retain students?” ƒ Over 120 ideas were generated ƒ Top ideas were selected: • Guaranteed internships ‐ MAS program in Springfield does this ‐ GPA required • Make Chicago more accessible for visits • Free tuition for the first year (high achievers) • More $ for Scholarships • Engage City of DeKalb and NIU to have more of a sense of community, i.e. free outdoor concerts, festivals for NIU, better restaurants, quad activities in MLK Commons students • Mentors for every student‐ once students are here ‐ business professional and/or student o similar to MGMT student mentors for 310(student to student buddy program) FMA has shadow day w/ executives • Better Housing! • Career Services in COB • More welcoming Barsema Hall environment i.e. fireplace, lounge, couches, carpet, COMFORT!! • Free laptop with attendance • Shadow Program for HS students to connect with students, professors, classes (personal invitation) • Alumni to participate in recruiting students • Better orientation for students with better and more activities • Free study abroad (NIU to buy an apt. complex in China or Spain for students) o
In March, focus groups of roughly 50 ELC student were asked two questions (questions and top results are listed below) SPC XII Meeting April 24, 2009 Appendix 1 Page 1 Appendix 1 ƒ
Question 1 – Why did you choose NIU/what wer e some of the deciding factors? • Cheap, paying for college on their own • Family and/or friend went to NIU…word of mouth • Close to home • NIU was their second or third choice (fall back school) • Reputation of College of Business and programs • Barsema Hall • Recommended by Community College advisors • Close to Chicago and business community • Informative open house and advisors ƒ
Question #2 – What can NIU do to recruit more students? o Do a better job of communicating and selling the benefits of COB o Give physical tour s of the building at open houses o Update NIU’s landscaping in general (Better signs, quad area, looks outdated) o Parking awareness for visitors who do not visit on open house days o Improve downtown area Since this information was collected the SPC Action team has not met to build upon this information to generate additional strategies to increase the admission yield rate. SPC XII Meeting April 24, 2009 Appendix 1 Page 2