As part of its Great Journeys strategic planning process, Northern Illinois University (NIU) has launched a project to improve the effectiveness of its recruitment and retention efforts for both traditional and non-traditional Latino students. This externally focused project complements ongoing internal NIU efforts to recruit and support Latino students by strengthening relationships with nearby Latino communities and collaborating on strategies for increasing student success in college. In the first phase of this project, three community-university partnerships will be mobilized in Rockford, Aurora, and Cicero/Berwyn to address both short- and long-term opportunities to support college-going behavior by Latino students and their families.
This three-year project is being supported through NIU’s Office of the Provost and is being advised by a 20-member work group representing a range of NIU’s departments and colleges. It is being coordinated by NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies. Other outcomes include: (1) engaging at least 50 NIU faculty and staff directly with Latino communities; (2) identifying improvement opportunities for NIU’s recruitment and support of Latino students; and (3) increasing full-time traditional Latino undergraduate enrollments and those of adult part-time, off-campus students.
