The institution’s resources, structures, processes and planning are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities.
The institution’s resources, structures, processes and planning are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities.
IU Northwest’s resources, structures, and processes are sufficient to fulfill its mission, improve the quality of its educational offerings, and respond to future challenges and opportunities. Through shared governance and engaged faculty and staff, we have been able to meet the ongoing challenges. Constituencies across campus work collaboratively to fulfil our mission. Similarly, the institution’s planning processes consider an array of perspectives, both internally and externally. The most prominent illustrations of this approach are the campus strategic plan, IUN2026, and its subsequent alignment with IU’s strategic plan, IU2030.
The campus is committed to continuously improving its educational offerings. The personnel at IU Northwest are qualified and trained to do their assigned jobs. Performance management programs for staff and annual reviews for faculty, as well as opportunities for professional development, ensure that our faculty and staff are prepared to support our institution's operations.
The campus’s administration uses data to reach informed decisions that are in the best interests of IU Northwest and its constituents. A rich information infrastructure exists and is available to the institution’s leadership (at all levels). Snapshots, dashboards, and reports are among the various ways data are presented and utilized by the administration as well as campus constituents to develop collaborative solutions to ongoing campus concerns.
Budgets are but one area where data comes into play when making decisions to respond to future challenges and opportunities. Budgets are prepared to support general operations that align with the campus strategic priorities and support programs and student success. Processes are in place for budgeting and for monitoring the campus’s finances and have been managed effectively, despite declining enrollment. Achieving our educational purpose is our north star when it comes to fiscal allocations. The campus processes for linking budget and strategic planning with student achievement and operational improvements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to our educational purpose as a regional, public university.
There are no sources.
Through its administrative structures and collaborative processes, the institution’s leadership demonstrates that it is effective and enables the institution to fulfill its mission.
5.A.1: Shared governance at the institution engages its internal constituencies—including its governing board, administration, faculty, staff, and students—through planning, policies and procedures.
The administrative structure at IU Northwest ensures collaboration and communication across units. The Chancellor is the chief executive officer of IU Northwest and is responsible for the administration and management of the campus. The chancellor reports to the Vice President for Regional Campuses and Online Education at IU, who is a member of the IU president’s cabinet. The Trustees of IU (BoT) comprise IU’s governing body. Established by the state legislature in 1820, the BoT has shaped the growth of the university since its beginning (see C.2).
The Chancellor is supported by the Chancellor’s Cabinet, which includes the Interim Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (EVCAA); Interim Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management (VCSAEM); Vice Chancellor for Finance (VCF), Executive Director for Facilities and Operations; the interim Vice Chancellor for External Affairs; and the regional campus Chief Information Officer (CIO). The cabinet meets to address issues (local and system-wide) as well as formulate policy.
The Chancellor employs multiple approaches to foster shared governance. For example, in weekly cabinet meetings, the Chancellor and cabinet members provide updates as well as share and discuss concerns and new ideas. In addition, the Board of Advisors (BoA) meets four times per year, allowing the Chancellor and the Cabinet to receive insights from community leaders. The purpose of the BoA is to be an active conduit of information to the northwest Indiana community and from the community back to the administration at IU Northwest. The BoA accomplishes this by actively participating and collaborating with the leadership at IU Northwest to develop strategies that mutually benefit the community and the campus.
The Chancellor and EVCAA (p.3,15-16) update the state of the campus at each Faculty Organization (FO) meeting. During these sessions, all are welcome to ask questions of the Chancellor and EVCAA during their reports. The FO executive committee meets monthly with the Chancellor and EVCAA. The FO president and vice president and the EVCAA meet monthly as well. Additionally, the IU Northwest FO president is a member of the IU Faculty Council (UFC), the University Council Executive Committee, and the Regional Faculty Caucus (RFC), the faculty presidents from all regional campuses. The RFC meets three times a month, including monthly with the Vice President for Regional Campuses and Online Education. The UFC Executive Committee meets monthly, including the President of IU. The UFC meets each month during the fall and spring semesters, including the President of IU, the Chancellor from IU Indianapolis, the Provost from IU Bloomington, and the Vice President for Regional Campuses and Online Education. Executive Vice Chancellors of the regional campuses sit on the Academic Leadership Council (ALC) and meet regularly to discuss university academic policies and collaborative opportunities.
Regional Campus Retreats, convened by the Office of Regional Campuses and Online Education occur annually with participation of campus chancellors, executive vice chancellors, deans, and faculty leadership to collaborate on targeted issues. In 2024, the issues were finances, the AASCU Student Success Initiative, K-12 partnerships, and IU Online. In 2023, the target was retention and an analysis of a case management strategy for retention. In 2022, the focus was on serving students in our region. Additionally, the chancellor communicates with campus via email updates (examples). As needed, town halls are also conducted to allow the campus to provide input on various issues. For example, town halls have been convened to discuss: the new strategic plan in October 2021, November 2021, and February 2022; research release time in November 2022; and the IU 2030 and IU Northwest Strategic Plans in April 2023 (example emails).
IU Northwest academic policy creation derives from the collaborative working relationship between Academic Affairs and the Faculty Organization (FO). The FO is the governing body of the faculty. The FO has an executive and super- and standing-committee structure designed to address issues related to faculty affairs, curriculum, diversity and inclusion, academic policies, student affairs, admissions, enrollment, facilities, and financial management. The Chancellor and EVCAA have standing space on the agenda. Other administrators across campus attend regularly and present when a topic of relevance arises. Recent examples of shared policy/process creation include the revision to General Education, defining Survey and Curriculum Committee processes, and revision of the Campus Promotion and Tenure Guidelines.
Deans, faculty, staff, and students have representation in the shared governance at IU Northwest through the following groups: Northwest Council, Strategic Enrollment Management Group, Deans Council, EVCAA Council, Diversity Advisory Council, Staff Advisory Committee, and Student Government Association.
The IU Northwest Council, chaired by the Chancellor, is comprised of representatives across campus (administrative, faculty, staff, and students), and meets monthly to share information, propose policy, and address issues. The agendas for the meetings are available online to the campus along with a suggestion form for topics and standing items to be discussed by the Chancellor and Cabinet as well as regular reports from Student Government (examples). The Northwest Council served as the steering committee for the strategic planning process on campus.
The Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) committee emerged in 2020 from the Retention Strategies group to address issues related to enrollment, student recruitment, and retention. The group, co-chaired by the EVCAA and the Interim VCSAEM, is comprised of faculty as well as members of the administration, student affairs, enrollment services, institutional research, marketing and communication, and students. The group meets twice a month to strategize and set enrollment priorities based on enrollment analytics. In addition, it is responsible for overseeing and recommending policies and operational improvements related to the student experience. This group was instrumental in developing components of the strategic plan focused on recruitment, retention, and graduation. Block schedules (see 4.C.2), the RedHawk Info Hub, Re-enrollment Days, and EdSights (see 3.D.3) began in SEM.
The EVCAA convenes the Deans Council, which meets every two weeks and the EVCAA Council (EVCAA’s other direct reports), which meets once a month with the Deans Council. The groups address administrative issues related to faculty affairs, program operations, student success, financial management, enrollment, and other issues that might arise.
The Diversity Advisory Council meets monthly to prioritize and report campus-specific concerns about faculty, administration, staff, and student diversity issues as well as celebrate diversity and inclusion on campus. They also contribute to the IU annual report on diversity in compliance with Indiana state law IC 21-27-4-4.
The Chancellor created a Staff Advisory Committee in 2021, prompted by the results of the system-wide survey on staff engagement (see 1.C.3) and subsequent town hall meetings. Feedback from those meetings indicated that staff would like more voice in campus operational and policy-related issues. Their charge is to provide input regarding how IU Northwest staff can participate in the advancement of our mission, vision, values, and strategic goals. The members meet monthly to address issues, organize events, and ultimately increase engagement. One representative from this group serves on the IU Northwest Council. They routinely interface with the Chancellor.
The Student Government Association (SGA) advocates for and represents the student body. Their constitution specifies their annual elections, as well as their relationships with the Dean of Students, Student Life, and the Chancellor’s office on issues important to the students. It also keeps the campus connected with the All University Student Association, which represents all SGAs across the IU system. Each academic unit has an SGA representative in addition to the other elected at-large members in order to provide a formal working relationship between the academic deans/units and the SGA. The SGA members share concerns with the administration, serve on campus-wide committees (Northwest Council, SEM, DAC, Strategic Planning) and give students input on the planning that occurs on campus. In addition, the Chancellor and VCSAEM meet monthly with the President of the SGA. They discuss student engagement, including best practices to enhance campus climate.
To assess effectiveness of leadership, all academic leaders, from the dean level and above are reviewed every five years via a collaborative process involving key stakeholders (Dean, EVCAA). The Dean of COAS was reviewed in 2019, SOBE in 2021, SOE in 2023, and the EVCAA was reviewed in Spring of 2024.
5.A.2: The institution’s administration uses data to reach informed decisions in the best interests of the institution and its constituents.
A rich information infrastructure is available to the institution’s leadership (at all levels) to inform decisions at IU Northwest. IU Institutional Analytics (IUIA) provides access to self-service report tools that provide official university reports on admissions, enrollment, financial aid, outcomes such as DFW rates, retention, degree completion, graduation rates (snapshot of categories of data and reports available). Campus constituents use these interactive tableau reports. Each report allows for drill down, filtering, and exporting the data in various ways such as full-time/part-time, department level, major, ethnicity, class status, gender, and academic standing. Not only can one obtain data for the campus, but the system also provides comparative data over time for all IU campuses. Metrics are used for various progress reports such as KPIs related to the strategic plan, budgeting, staffing, enrollment management, and student success. A set of dashboard data used extensively by the deans are the AM360 dashboards. They are designed specifically for university decision makers to measure, compare, and analyze trends regarding the health of their units. They cover topics such as course utilization, faculty trends, credit hour generation, and revenue and expenses. The AM360 dashboard data are a significant component of all full-time faculty position requests in order to demonstrate program needs.
The administration monitors the Point in Cycle report in the months leading up to the start of each semester, which details overall enrollment and credit hour totals. They also monitor the re-enrollment report, which measures progress toward re-enrolling all current students who are eligible to enroll. This report can provide not only summary level data, but can drill down to student class, major, multiple demographic variables, and finally individual students. These reports allow executive leadership, deans, program and department chairs, advisors, and student support specialists to monitor progress towards budgeted credit hour targets. During the leadup to each new term, the Chancellor, EVCAA, Interim VCSAEM, and Director of Academic Advising meet weekly to evaluate the data from these reports and then create appropriate outreach (calling, email, text) and/or incentive campaigns to encourage enrollment. The Student Advising Center (SAC) and Financial Aid Office utilize data provided by faculty in the Student Engagement Roster (SER) to provide targeted outreach to students needing academic support. Individual advisors are notified when students receive SER feedback. Tableau reports generate lists of students who receive negative SER feedback from multiple classes allowing the SAC to provide more global support, including student success coaching. The Financial Aid Office uses these reports to identify students who have not attended classes, an important consideration for continuing to receive financial aid. These reports also allow administrative assistants to reach out to faculty who have not completed their SER feedback, especially for first-year students.
Two processes that rely on substantive, regular use of data to make decisions in the best interests of students are course verification and pre-requisite checking prior to every term. The Office of Financial Aid, Student Advising Center, and Office of the Registrar collaborate on these processes. The Registrar generates a list of students who are enrolled in classes for which the pre-requisites have not been satisfied prior to the start of each term. The Student Advising Center uses this list to reach out to the student(s) and their advisors, and the Registrar withdraws students from the courses if required. The most recent lists provide an illustration of the new use of pre-requisites to preserve spaces in online courses for online students. However, in-person need was higher than anticipated so students were allowed into online courses to fill the need, despite initial pre-requisite checking. Course verification is a financial aid process to ensure that students are enrolled in classes that will count toward their degree. Batch degree audits are run, and a spreadsheet is generated every term. If a student is enrolled in a course that does NOT count for their program plan, the advisor reaches out to the student to assist with making corrections, and if unsuccessful, the spreadsheet is forwarded to Financial Aid.
The campus Institutional Analytics and Institutional Effectiveness (IAIE) collect and analyze local survey research, produce supplemental reporting required by federal and state government agencies, assist with accreditation reviews, enrollment projections, strategic planning metrics, and other internal and external requests. The Institutional Effectiveness and Research (IER) office was established in 2010, and it worked with a central University Institutional Reporting and Research (UIRR) office to provide data and analysis for campus decision makers. They provide essential data guidance to the entire campus. In 2022 IER staff reporting were centralized to a newly reorganized IR group called Institutional Analytics (IA), but they still are housed on our campus and provide data and analysis to us. The office holds key positions on many campus committees to provide data analysis and insight including the SEM Group, Northwest Council, Strategic Planning Steering Committee, EVCAA Council, ED grant leadership committees, and the Student Sucess Team.
IAIE administers all campus-wide annual surveys including the Alumni Survey, Graduating Student Survey, and Academic Advising Point of Service Survey. Data for each of these surveys is shared to relevant persons and at relevant meetings, including the Northwest Council, FO, Deans and Department Chairs/Program Directors. IAIE oversees the annual administration of the National Survey on Student Engagement (NSSE) and HERI Faculty Survey (every three years). This data is used to reflect upon campus strengths and opportunities. These data are discussed at Northwest Council, FO and Dean’s Council.
IAIE produces local reports with narrower parameters that are used for decision making in particular projects. For example, the ACEs program for conditionally admitted students was evaluated by IAIE, and the outcomes for students were not strong across multiple years. This led to the formation of a taskforce that redeveloped the ACEs program (relaunched as the Redhawk Scholars in 2024) based on analysis and research from the HLC SSA working group. An analysis of Degree Audit (AAR) usage and retention was presented to SEM in 2023. The findings indicate use of the degree audit by undergraduates contributed to higher retention and graduation rates and that conditionally admitted and general studies students especially benefitted from increased usage of the AARS. As a result, first year seminars and general studies and Redhawk Scholars advisors are increasing coverage of AARs to better support students to graduation.
Despite this, work done through the HLC SSA uncovered a gap in our ability to systematically evaluate and improve the effectiveness of many of our student success interventions. The newly formed Office of Student Success and its full-time Director will expand our capacity to gather data that will inform decision making by various groups regarding student success, initiatives on campus, and particularly the SEM group. The formation of the Office was a direct result of our participation in the HLC SSA. We currently have three active student success grants (TRIO, DHSI-INVEST, and HSI-STEM TRIUNFOS) and just received word that we were awarded a FIPSE-CARES Basic Needs grant. All have required multiple data analyses which serve as the basis for development plans, as well as the KPIs for each grant. Our IAIE office plays a significant role in the submission and maintenance of these federal grants.
5.A.3: The institution’s administration ensures that faculty and, when appropriate, staff and students are involved in setting academic requirements, policy and processes through effective collaborative structures.
Academic policy starts at the departmental/program level, with faculty responsible for academic requirements and standards, curriculum and instruction, graduate admissions and shared governance (p.11-13) of academic policies, faculty hiring, and promotion and tenure. These activities are administered by chairs/program directors at the departmental/program level and by deans at the college level. College deans monitor their units to assure alignment with university priorities. The Deans Council meets bi-weekly and addresses administrative issues related to the operations of the academic enterprise, including collaborative development of programmatic policies, operational procedures, budgetary allocations, and faculty policies (illustrative examples). The President of the FO is a member of the Deans Council to provide the faculty perspective. Other members of campus are invited as needed to collaborate on issues that go beyond the academic sector. Deans’ activities are overseen by the EVCAA, who sits on the Chancellor’s Cabinet and works with the deans and the Cabinet to collectively ensure university activities and resource allocations are directed appropriately.
Curricular additions and changes follow a defined process of review and approvals that are part of an integrated approval process within IU (see 3.A.1 and 4.A.4.). The Campus Survey and Curriculum committee minutes document that curricular items were discussed and approved via the appropriate campus approval processes and IU APPEAR entries document their path to final approval by the ALC, BoT, or Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) as appropriate.
Faculty exercise their authority over academic requirements, policies, and processes through the standing and super-committee structure of the FO. The super-committees all have ex-officio administrative members to foster collaborative decision-making (e.g., AEVCAA is ex-officio on the General Education Assessment Committee, the Survey and Curriculum Committee, and the Academic Affairs Super Committee; the EVCAA is ex-officio on the Faculty Affairs Super Committee; the Chancellor is ex-officio on the Campus Affairs Super Committee; and the VCSAEM is ex-officio on the Student Affairs Super Committee).
The development of the campus test-optional admissions policy demonstrates collaboration between IU and IU Northwest, as well as collaboration between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs in order to make a change to admissions standards. It began with a change to IU admissions policy to allow for the possibility of test-optional admission in 2019. The VCSAEM then worked with the FO Admissions Committee to develop a proposal which was brought to the Executive Committee of the FO and finally approved in 2020 by the FO. The Deans Council then worked with the VCSAEM to implement the policy.
Student representatives sit on key governance committees, including the Northwest Council, Student Affairs Super Committee of the FO, Strategic Planning Group, Student Success Team, and SEM Group and have made important contributions to discussions of academic policy and processes (e.g., current development of co-curricular goals and transcript).
The institution’s resource base supports its educational offerings and its plans for maintaining and strengthening their quality in the future.
5.B.1: The institution has qualified and trained operational staff and infrastructure sufficient to support its operations wherever and however programs are delivered.
Human Resources IU Human Resource procedures ensure an equitable process aimed at recruiting and selecting the most qualified individuals for employees in all divisions, both academic and non-academic. IU launched a new job framework for all staff positions in 2021 to provide consistent job descriptors across IU campuses and provide employees and managers with transparency about qualifications, pay, promotion opportunities, and career ladders. All new employees participate in an in-person orientation and have access to HR policies, benefits, and other resources through the IU Canvas orientation course. In 2023, IU launched a new performance management program. The process is driven by quarterly conversations: expectations, check-in, development, and annual performance. The program was created based on results from IU’s most recent employee engagement survey, which revealed that employees need to fully understand the expectations of their role to be successful.
Professional development opportunities are available through designated funds, tuition benefits, internal IU training opportunities, and a partnership with LinkedIn Learning. Higher education professional associations provide networking and training opportunities for various professions within the university, and IU Northwest encourages and provides resources for staff to participate. Additional technical training may be required to familiarize employees with institutional systems. Our compliance system allows us to monitor whether employees are staying current on important required training including FERPA, Title IX, and acceptable data use.
Recruitment and selection of faculty is administered by the Office of Academic Affairs. Upon a vacancy in the faculty ranks, the position must undergo a review and justification process prior to proceeding with a search. The review process includes a needs analysis based on enrollment, budget, accreditation requirements, equity considerations, and market conditions. A search committee is formed, which includes representative faculty as well as a designated faculty equity advisor, criteria for the position are developed, and the process unfolds with the oversight of the EVCAA and the Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX. The process is described in the newly revised academic search and screen manual (see 3.C.2-3). Once hired, faculty undergo an annual review process designed to support their long-term professional development. The process is designed to provide clear, constructive feedback to faculty moving toward promotion, inform decisions related to pay and/or merit increases, uncover opportunities for professional development, and identify opportunities for professional (administrative) advancement.
There are multiple opportunities for faculty professional development from an extensive onboarding process to the development and delivery of opportunities through the Center for Innovation and Scholarship in Teaching and Learning (CISTL). A two-day faculty orientation program for full-time faculty is held every August. Faculty learn about our students, benefits, support services, and meet a wide variety of faculty and staff. Following orientation, faculty are invited to participate in a three-year new faculty mentoring program sponsored by Academic Affairs and CISTL. CISTL sponsors a Writing Accountability Group for faculty as well. Adjunct faculty are onboarded in their units. A campus-wide Canvas orientation for adjuncts will be available starting Fall 2025. Instructors have substantial professional development opportunities available through CISTL, Teaching.IU, ACUE, and FACET, including grants, fellowships, workshops, learning communities, brownbag discussions, and one-on-one consultations. CISTL provides multi-session training on creating, delivering, and managing online and face-to-face courses, and fellowships to incentivize faculty to enhance the learning experiences of students (see 3.A.1 and 3.C.5).
Physical Resources The campus is adjacent to 240 acres of wooded park land and sits on 50 acres in Gary, Indiana. There are nine main buildings: Raintree Hall, a classroom/office building and the Moraine Student Center, were put into operation in 1969; Hawthorn Hall, a classroom/office building, was occupied in 1976; the John W. Anderson Library/Conference Center completed in the spring of 1980 (see 3.D.4); Marram Hall, a science/laboratory building with a greenhouse, opened in 1991; the Savannah Center, houses an art gallery, auditorium, gym, and bookstore, opened in 2000; the Dunes Medical/Professional Building was opened in 2006; and in 2017, the University dedicated the new Arts and Sciences Building that houses two theatres, an art gallery, classrooms and faculty offices. There are 56 classrooms, 16 conference/meeting rooms, and 11 lab/studio spaces available for student use. Since 2018, the university has invested close to five million dollars in improving student spaces. Investments have included creation of: multiple active learning classrooms, a student game room and SGA offices, the STEM Center, a large gathering space with an outdoor stage in the center of campus, and a space for students to gather around a gas firepit. Bathroom renovations in multiple buildings, and significant improvements to the athletic facilities, including the gym were also completed.
Technology ResourcesCampus IT departments are part of University Information Technology Services (UITS). IT staff report to a regional CIO who is a member of the Office of the Vice President for IT and the Chancellor’s Cabinet at Northwest. As a result, faculty, staff, and students have access to technology, services and software that would normally only be available at larger institutions. IT maintains and provides access to a campus-wide data network, as well as access to the statewide I-Light high-speed fiber network connecting all IU campuses. IT staff provide technical support, manage equipment installation and maintenance, and facilitate the life-cycle replacement of technology. Office computers and Student Technology Center (STC) computers are currently replaced on a three-year cycle.
Student-focused buildings have comfortable technology spaces equipped with computers and Wi-Fi coverage. This coverage extends into the parking lots, which was especially important during the pandemic in providing students online access. There are also many lounge spaces and study/focus rooms where students can connect and charge their devices and gather for personal or group study sessions. IU students and employees have access to a variety of centralized resources which include a university-wide learning management system (Canvas), software downloads (IUWare), software streaming (IUAnyWare), and unlimited cloud storage. Students and employees have 24/7 support through telephone, live chat, email, and support requests. A central knowledge base (e.g., Eduroam search) offers step-by-step solutions on IU systems.
Tools used by students and faculty to facilitate online learning include: Microsoft Teams or Zoom with integration into the Canvas learning management system for synchronous learning, and asynchronous learning utilizes Kaltura MediaSpace to allow faculty to record learning sessions and share with their students. The campus has an Academic Media Production Space (AMP) recording facility for faculty use, with technology suited for producing high-quality instructional audio and video content. IT partners on all new campus construction and renovations. For example, they assisted with the planning, purchase, installation, and training for the technology in the five new active-learning classrooms in 2023-24.
Financial ResourcesIU Northwest has access to robust fundraising infrastructure and development support through the IU Foundation. Potential donors can support student scholarships and initiatives, research, facilities, and a variety of academic departments and programs. The recent renovation of the athletics facilities, establishment of the Small Business Academy, support for the Center for Urban and Regional Excellence, Calumet Regional Archives, and Steel Shavings Magazine among others have all been supported in part or in full by donor funds. In 2024 the campus received $250,000 from Hard Rock Casino to fund the “Do Well By Doing Good” Scholarship that fully funds the tuition of any Gary high school student after federal and state aid is applied. For the previous fiscal year (FY24) approximately $1.4 million of support was accessed from foundation accounts. Funds are managed centrally through the IU Foundation to ensure adherence to ethical standards and processes.
5.B.2: The goals incorporated into the mission and any related statements are realistic in light of the institution’s organization, resources and opportunities.
The goals articulated in the campus mission and our strategic goals are realistic and consider the campus’s size, structure, resources, and opportunities. The campus finalized a strategic plan in March 2022 (IUN2026) which was developed with our structure, opportunities, and challenges in mind (see 5.C.3). Subsequently the IUN2026 plan was aligned to run parallel with the system-wide plan, IU 2030, in April 2023. This plan was designed to align all campuses under one strategic framework. Our campus mission aligns well with the three pillars in the IU 2030 plan.
Some goals have already been met for IU 2030, which indicates that the goals are realistic for our campus. Student Success and Opportunity - opened STEM Center for Ivy Tech and IU Northwest STEM students, developed Office and Director of Student Success to centralize coordination of student success activities, and provided asset-based pedagogical professional development for faculty. Transformative Research and Creative Activity – rewrote promotion and tenure guidelines to emphasize community engagement, research with undergraduates, and DEI+ research. Service to the State and Beyond – developed a BS in Forensic Science and a cybersecurity minor, added two new Indiana College Core Certificate high school partners, and provided space and resources for the Small Business Academy.
5.B.3: The institution has a well-developed process in place for budgeting and for monitoring its finances.
A detailed and well-planned process is in place for budgeting and monitoring campus finances. The campus follows structured action steps for preparing the annual budget that includes reviewing key financial data, identifying budget variances, completing credit hour projections, and adhering to target deadlines. The overall budget process is overseen by the University Budget Office (UBO). The UBO maintains the Budget Construction Guidelines and calendar. The budget construction process starts in the spring of each academic year. Fiscal Affairs provides reports showing credit hour trends per unit and semester for review to assist with projections. Projections are completed in the application provided by the UBO.The budget process incorporates both the review of expense trends and the plans for program development and/or expansion. With direction and support from Academic and Fiscal Affairs, units submit new budget requests that must be approved by the Northwest Budget Committee. For the FY23 and FY24 budget construction, department budgets did not increase due to declining enrollment. Instead, Fiscal Affairs worked with each department to reallocate budgeted dollars to fund initiatives. The Northwest Budget Committee also provides oversight and approval of special non-budget (cash) requests received during the year to ensure adequate funding is available and spending aligns with the strategic plans of the University.
The campus builds the upcoming budget based on the Fall Enrollment Study and three-year model. The Fall Enrollment Study is coordinated through IAIE, and the campus uses it to predict future headcount and credit hour enrollments. Estimates are based on historic numbers such as retention rates and regional information like high school graduation rates. The VCF, with input from Institutional Analytics, uses these results, assumptions from the budget office, and campus priorities to plan a five-year projection model for the campus general fund, designated fund, restricted fund, and auxiliary fund. The campus leadership meets with university-wide leadership annually for a spring budget conference to discuss the model, campus strategies and priorities, opportunities, and challenges (e.g., FY24). Budgets are prepared to support general operations that align with campus strategic plans and support programs and student success. The Deans have access to monthly financial statements showing actual vs. budgeted results. Fiscal Affairs performs an analysis on campus consolidated results at mid-year and year-end.They provide the Deans with spreadsheets formatted to show the current year's financial results compared to budget numbers and prior year results for each department.
The IU Northwest budget is reviewed and approved by UBO and then consolidated into the IU budget that is approved by the IU BoT (pg.6 for FY24 approval) and is tied to Indiana’s biennial budget. The BoT approves tuition and mandatory fee rates, and the IU Vice President and Chief Financial Officer approve course-related and administrative fees. Rates are approved at the BoT meeting (e.g., 2022). IU recently restructured its tuition and fees with the goal of ensuring more transparency for students and finding ways to minimize costs of attendance for students. The new fee structure was recommended by an all-IU Taskforce and approved and implemented at the start of the Fall 2023 semester.
It is the responsibility of the VCF, along with a team of account supervisors, account managers, and account fiscal officers, whose roles and authority are defined by IU Policy FIN-ACC-1 to monitor the budgets throughout the year. One example of regular campus-level monitoring of accounts includes fiscal review of all requisitions (example) for budget availability, object code usage, reasonableness, and other university policy compliance. Department leadership has access to run and review financial reports (example) throughout the fiscal year to monitor their department budgets. At the university level, all contracts must be reviewed and approved by the Treasurer as defined in IU Policy FIN-TRE-100.
Beginning in FY23, the IU Office of the Controller (UCO) implemented a more thorough year-end close process. This process follows a checklist of items that must be completed with each closing period and reviews the campus financials from an all-funds approach. Checklist items require review of balance sheet variance analysis, balance sheet back-up, income statement variance analysis, multi-year stale balances, negative balances, and material transaction substantiation. The campus financial statements roll into the overall university financial statements which are audited by an external auditor. The most recent audit is for FY 2024.
5.B.4: The institution’s fiscal allocations ensure that its educational purposes are achieved.
Revenue at IU Northwest comes primarily from state appropriations and tuition and fees, and a small amount comes from other sources. Between FY2021 and FY2025, IU Northwest’s relative share of state appropriations increased from 43% to 49%, while the portion of the revenue coming from tuition and fees decreased from 54% to 49% reflecting in part our declines in enrollment. Other income has remained flat at around 2%. State appropriations are awarded based on a performance funding formula. The metrics are approved by ICHE. The performance funding metrics for the regional campuses of IU, and thus for IU Northwest, are directly related to the mission of the regional campuses to increase baccalaureate attainment in Indiana. Undergraduate resident tuition increased between FY2021 and FY2024, averaging 2.3% a year. The total credit hour enrollment per year decreased during that same period from 93,131 in FY2021 to 74,750 in FY 2024. The total FY 2021 General Fund revenue budget for IU Northwest was $51,880,154 while the FY 2024 General Fund revenue budget was $47,765,640. This decrease has been primarily driven by decreasing enrollment. Commensurate adjustments in faculty FTE have taken place during this time period. External research funding has contributed revenue to the campus operating budget, adding $11,117,544 to the operating budget between 2020 and the present, and which has been largely focused on student success efforts (INVEST, TRIUNFOS, TRIO). The current cash position of IU Northwest is favorable with strong fund balances and reserves. The IU Budget Office requires that each regional campus maintain minimum general fund balances and reserves of 3% of the total general fund operating budget as illustrated in the Chancellor’s Dashboard (as of 1/15/2025).
IU relies on a Responsibility Centered Management (RCM) system for its resource allocation. IU Northwest is a separate RCM unit within the IU system. All revenues attributable to IU Northwest are credited to the campus chart of accounts, which is an index of all financial accounts on the general ledger. All expenses attributable to the campus must be funded by the campus chart of accounts. Campus leadership ensures that total operating expenses remain in alignment with revenues. This system is under revision at IU in order to create a campus-specific budget model to better support each campus’s strategic priorities, culture, and fiscal needs. Within the campus chart of accounts, revenue and expenses are credited to each of the revenue-generating schools (e.g., 2022-23 budget). Each year, the VCF monitors the financial performance of each school and provides reporting and data to the Chancellor, EVCAA and Deans for planning purposes.
The campus is charged an assessment to cover its share of funding for selected IU system services. The assessment charged to all IU campuses provides full or partial funding for twenty university units, such as the Office of the President, University Academic Affairs, Alumni Relations, Office of Affirmative Action, Capital Planning and Facilities, General Counsel, Public Affairs and Government Relations, International Affairs, and UITS. This assessment and allocation is being reviewed as part of the budget system revision.
The institution engages in systematic and integrated planning and improvement.
5.C.1: The institution allocates its resources in alignment with its mission and priorities, including, as applicable, its comprehensive research enterprise, associated institutes and affiliated centers.
IU Northwest allocates its resources in alignment with its mission and priorities. The three main pillars of IU 2030 (Student Success and Opportunity, Transformative Research and Creativity, and Service to our State and Beyond), align with the campus mission, as do the five goals of IUN 2026. Any hiring requests (new or replacement) must include a strategic hiring form (examples) which requires a demonstration of alignment to the Campus Strategic Plan for full consideration. Annual cash expenditures provide a window into how the campus allocates resources. Each cash request, which is discussed during budget hearings, must include an indication of the strategic goal it targets as well as an evaluation of success outcomes. In the last two years 83-85% of the cash expenditures allocated have directly aligned with the IUN 2026 goals. Student success is one of the highest priorities for the campus, evidenced by the recent allocation of cash funds to student success programming including peer support programs in nursing, the summer bridge program, mental health initiatives, classroom renovation, laboratory updates (Nursing Sim Lab, dental hygiene air compressors, theatre lighting), and testing software. IPEDS data (figures 19-20) show that IU Northwest's largest core expenses are instruction, student services, and academic support (e.g., 79% in FY24). The largest source of core revenue is tuition and state appropriations (e.g., 71% in FY24). The close alignment of these specific revenues and expenses is highly representative of our mission.
Some funding is received from the IU system to support mission driven initiatives. To foster more diversity in faculty, one of our strategic goals, IU launched a Diversity Hiring Initiative in the fall of 2021 that provided funding to support the process. IU Northwest hired six new tenure-track faculty as a result. Additional funding has been received from IU Innovates to support the growth of student entrepreneurship on campus, a high impact practice promoting student success, as well as regional economic development. We have used our federal grant funding to expand our student success initiatives, including pedagogical development (see 3.C.5 and 4.C.3) for both full-time and part-time faculty, resulting in a record high first- to second-year retention rate. The grants are also funding classroom renovations to promote the pedagogies being learned and the development of the Office of Student Success.
Beginning with the Fall 2022 cohort, the campus rolled out a set of new scholarship programs focused on recruitment and retention, with many of these automatic scholarships renewable upon meeting certain targets for enrollment and GPA. These are being funded through reallocations within Enrollment Management in order to reduce costs to those who are most in financial need. For example, the renewable Dual Credit Scholarship is awarded to new IU Northwest students who have earned at least 6 cr. while in high school. (AY 2023 we awarded $37,500, AY 2024 we awarded $43,283 and AY 2025 we awarded $34,134). The IU Northwest Pledge Grant is a last-dollar scholarship to cover tuition and mandatory fees when combined with eligible federal and state grants and scholarships (AY 2024 we awarded $75,734.50 and in AY 2025 we awarded $224,517.50). The Groups Scholarship serves a similar student population but includes additional student support components (AY 2023 we awarded $10,680, for AY 2024 we awarded $39,314 and for AY 2025 we awarded $51,051). The IU Northwest Commitment Day Award is designed to encourage early application and commitment (AY 2024 we awarded $60,591and AY 2025 we awarded $48,364). These new scholarships are designed to increase student recruitment, enrollment, and retention (IUN2026 and IU2030 strategic goals).
5.C.2: The institution links its processes for assessment of student learning, evaluation of operations, planning and budgeting.
Assessment of student learning and evaluation of operations are linked to planning and budgeting at both the unit and campus levels. For example, at the unit level, in 2018 the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) recognized that the faculty advising system for undergraduates resulted in many students being unable to see an advisor. Moreover, advising skill/expertise varied greatly across the college, which resulted in graduation delays. The college reallocated funds from administrative assistant positions to fund their first full-time academic advisor in Biology and Psychology. Based on this success, they reallocated funds from a faculty retirement to hire two additional professional advisors in 2021. Within just one year the percentage of students receiving advising increased dramatically (see 4.C.3) and today all undergraduates are assigned a professional advisor in COAS. Consequently, first- to second-year retention increased 12% between 2021-2023 and satisfaction with advising experiences on campus (as measured by the NSSE) increased as well. The College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) reallocated faculty professional development funding to academic advisors in 2023-24 as part of an overall refresh and reorganization of advising for the college. They are supporting membership in NACADA and attendance at the annual conference for all advisors in the college ($6000 annually). This has led to the advisors offering new student support workshops and informational sessions that have already increased student engagement and interest in CHHS programs. To achieve retention, graduation, and student participation goals outlined in their strategic plan, the School of Business and Economics (SOBE) moved a secretarial position in the school to that of undergraduate advisor in 2021 and added career development responsibilities to advising in response to student need in 2022. This has already shown dividends in an increase in retention of 4% between 2021-2023, growth in the Summer Bridge and STARS mentoring programs and four new business student organizations focused on career preparation. In 2023 the School of Education (SOE) hired a part-time faculty member to tutor students who were struggling to pass the State of Indiana Licensure exams (a requirement for graduation) as well as purchased a site-license for Momentrix tutoring software to help students study and prepare for the PRAXIS exam. Based on the positive results, SOE continues to include this in their annual budget.
At the campus level, a significant operational improvement involves graduate programming. IU Northwest’s graduate programs are managed by the academic units in which they are housed. This decentralized process worked well in the past, but when graduate enrollment was not increasing as much as desired (a IUN2026 and IU2030 goal), another solution was needed. A Graduate Council was created in 2022 and they have worked to create a mission and common learning outcomes for our Graduate Programs and in 2025 the Offices of Admissions and Academic Affairs have prioritized and reallocated resources to co-fund a new Admissions Counselor to recruit and enroll new graduate students.
Finally, a substantive example of how IU Northwest links its processes for assessment of student learning, evaluation of operations, planning and budgeting is through the work accomplished through our Student Sucess Plan (see 4.C.2). In 2019, the campus enrolled in the HLC’s Student Success Academy. Membership included representation from faculty, deans, institutional effectiveness, and enrollment management. This three-year process involved a review of all aspects of the student experience and indicators of student success and uncovered opportunities for improvement. A plan was developed, and elements needed to actualize it have been incorporated into the Strategic Plan (IU 2026, IU 2030), campus budget, and provided the basis for obtaining almost $9 million in external funding to support student success initiatives on campus (HSI-STEM TRIUNFOS, DHSI-INVEST, FIPSE-CARES).
5.C.3: The planning process encompasses the institution as a whole and considers the perspectives of internal and external constituent groups.
The most recent strategic planning process began in September of 2021, with the convening of the IU Northwest Strategic Planning Committee (SPC). An external consultant from AASCU facilitated the process, with the co-chairs of the Committee, the EVCAA and the Chancellor’s Chief of Staff. The Committee was composed of 32 members of the campus community, including faculty, staff, and students, and they met multiple times across the 2021-22 academic year to assess current capabilities, understand external forces at play, and develop goals to move the institution forward. Taskforces were then created to develop outcomes for each of the goals (89 members). The task forces used campus data (e.g., UIRR/IA, NSSE, EAB) to develop aspirational outcomes and strategies to reach those outcomes for each goal. Once drafts of the Strategic Plan were formulated, they underwent several reviews and revisions based on stakeholder input from various town hall meetings (feedback from Townhall 1, Townhall 2, Townhall 3). The Strategic Plan was adopted in Spring 2022.
The five-year plan (IUN2026) has five broad goals: Recruitment and enrollment of students; Student success – retention and graduation; Engagement with the Region; Academic Excellence; and Diversity Equity and Inclusion. In 2022-23 the IUN2026 plan was aligned to run parallel with a subsequent system-wide plan called IU 2030. The Pillars of the IU 2030 Plan include Student Success, Transformative Research and Creative Activity, and Service to the State and Beyond. KPIs were developed and progress on those indicators are monitored locally and system wide (online).
5.C.4: The institution plans on the basis of a sound understanding of its current capacity, including fluctuations in the institution’s sources of revenue and enrollment.
IU Northwest has faced declining enrollments, exacerbated by the pandemic. Accordingly, the campus operating budget has been reduced. IU Northwest has worked to keep the budget aligned with declining revenue and to manage its resources wisely.
In planning for recent budgets, the campus has used a conservative approach to estimate budgeted credit hours for the upcoming year. The campus balanced the budget using a combination of strategies, including review of all vacant positions (many were not rehired), reallocation of visiting faculty positions to cash, account-level and object code-level review of underutilized general fund accounts, sharing of services across units and redesign of some positions. IU Northwest experienced a significant increase (12.2%) in beginners for Fall 2023 (based on the highest number of applications and admissions since 2013). This was our first point-in-cycle increase since 2018-19. Similarly, Spring 2024 beginner enrollment increased 26.3%. While total credit hours for FY 2024 were budgeted at 5.75% lower than the prior year to align with the trend of declining enrollment, credit hours exceeded target (budget) for the Fall and Spring semesters by 5%. We have continued to exceed targeted budgeted hours in Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 as well. The campus continues to explore all opportunities to reduce and reallocate its financial resources while continuing to plan for future growth.
Examples of opportunities for future growth for 2025 (e.g., Hard Rock/City of Gary Scholarship Program, growth of Groups and 21st Century Scholars, and development of an honors program) are outlined in the campus’s FY25 Budget Planning Documents and are in alignment with our strategic plan. Additionally, increased federal grant funding due to our HSI status (TRIUNFOS, INVEST) has allowed the campus to complete classroom infrastructure improvements, offer tutoring and career development support, and faculty and staff professional development without impacting the general fund budget.
5.C.5: Institutional planning anticipates evolving external factors, such as technology advancements, demographic shifts, globalization, the economy and state support.
The most recent strategic planning process for IUN2026 included a retreat in October 2021 that laid the foundation of our planning, focusing on enumerating our strengths, areas of improvement, opportunities, and threats before revising our vision, values, and strategic goals. While many of our opportunities had a very local focus to our surrounding communities (e.g., building meaningful relationships/partnerships in the community, Northwest Indiana economic development, athletics), threats encompassed not just local issues but a broader perspective of external forces threatening higher education (e.g., demographic changes, pandemic/regional health, regional and online competition, value of higher education). This SWOT analysis was used by the planning groups to develop the new campus strategic goals (see 5.C.3).
The FY25 budget narrative highlights many factors impacting enrollment: tight labor market, heightened competition for a smaller pool of students, and changing attitudes toward higher education in general. These factors, along with shifts in area high-school graduation rates, are considered when estimating enrollments (p. 9-11 high-school graduation rates). These estimates are used to build a five-year budget model that considers enrollment along with changes to state appropriations.
To counteract these external factors, IU Northwest is focused on increasing retention, recruitment and brand awareness, and curricular innovation. In 2023-2024 the campus invested over $400,000.00 in new marketing initiatives from cash reserves. We have hired a new Director of Admissions and four new admissions counselors in the last year. We are seeing first year and transfer student enrollment growth related to increased recruitment efforts. The campus is working to grow partnerships with local high schools. We have three new ICC Certificate partner high schools (Thomas Edison, Portage, Rensselaer), and a new pathway partnership with 21st Century Charter School) with more in the planning stages for Fall 2025. We have used our two HSI grants to fund significant pedagogical development (see 3.C.5 and 4.C.3) for both full-time and part-time faculty, resulting in a record high first- to second-year retention rate. The grants are funding classroom renovations to promote the pedagogies being learned. Online education was a focus of the campus before the pandemic with growth in online credit hours as a way to better serve local students as well as online students outside our primary service area. However, in 2019, 66% of our credit hours were taught in person and only 28% online. The pandemic accelerated our embrace of online education. In 2024, 46% of our credit hours were taught in person, and 47% online. We also participate in multiple online collaborative degrees through the Office of Online Education (OOE), which expands the number of online programs available to our students. This has led to growth in enrollment. In Fall 2019, we had 124 students enrolled in online programs and by Fall 2024, the number had grown to 421.
The general operating and designated fund cash balance for FY24 totaled $19,936,643, representing 141 days of cash on hand. This is 37% above the FY19 total of $14,546,767, which represented 97 days of cash on hand.
5.C.6: The institution implements its plans to systematically improve its operations and student outcomes.
IU Northwest implements its plans to systematically improve its operations and student outcomes. Student success is a key component of both the IUN2026 and IU2030 strategic plans. The IU Northwest 2026 plan was finalized in 2022 and IU2030 was finalized in 2023, with both plans being aligned soon afterward. Substantive progress has been made, which was shared with the campus community at Northwest Council and the Board of Advisors. As described in previous sections, retention and graduation rates have increased and we are experiencing post-pandemic stabilization of enrollment, with some signs of growth. Major initiatives currently in progress include the creation of the Student Success Center, implementation of co-curricular goals/transcript, creation of an honors program, creating a Graduate School recruitment, admissions, and enrollment campaign, and the development of the IU Northwest Academy, a program focused on first-generation sophomore student success.
