MORE LIKE NORTHWESTERN THAN NORTH CENTRAL. Last week, Northern Illinois University president John Peters delivered the annual State of the University address. Before the speech, the audience saw a recruiting video that featured four students speaking well of their experiences at the University. What was seen in the video was was four residential students (including immigrants, Chicagoans, and suburbanites) speaking of the opportunity to pursue their ambitions and work with accomplished yet accessible faculty. What was unseen was any talk of classes at "a convenient time" (translation: I can pick the times of the classes I'm going to cut) or of "a great social scene" (translation: we'll keep you from washing out) or of "designing a major that suits my interests" (translation: want fries with that?)

A documentary broadcast nationally a few days later, titled Nobody Told Me, that was not mentioned at the speech, features a Northern Illinois student from somewhat more straitened circumstances who is also doing well.

The opening paragraphs of the speech are similarly focused.

I particularly want to thank Ed, Heather, Michael and Anquiniece, the students we just heard from, who agreed to go on camera and tell us why they chose NIU. The thoughts they shared provide a wonderful backdrop for the subject of my remarks this afternoon, and that is the support, growth and maintenance of academic excellence at Northern Illinois University.

Academic excellence is what brought these students to NIU. It’s what has kept them here and allowed them to succeed. And if you think about what they had to say, you’ll notice they also defined academic excellence for us:

They talked about the reputation of great academic programs.

They talked about outstanding faculty, renowned scholars and researchers who make their classes come alive, and who know them by name.

They described a strong sense of being well-supported in their studies, and having people and programs to turn to for help.

They talked about tremendous learning opportunities outside the classroom, including what they’ve learned in their living experiences in the residence halls and through involvement in student organizations.

A few paragraphs later, more of the same theme.

The students we heard from a few minutes ago defined the components that make up academic excellence, didn’t they? They talked about the reputation of our faculty; about the added value of learning from accomplished researchers, scholars and creative artists; and about how they benefit from NIU’s engagement with its region in the form of internships and other hands-on learning opportunities.

When asked what “academic excellence” means to them, our students often don’t distinguish between their classes and other experiences they have in campus organizations or internships or residential life.

We hear this from alumni as well.

Ask NIU graduates how well this university prepared them for their lives and careers, and you’ll hear a patchwork of memories about faculty and staff who helped them succeed, about how living with people of different backgrounds or studying abroad helped them understand the world where their own children now live, or about the chance encounter with a club or part-time campus job that helped them decide what they wanted to do with their lives.

There’s another thing we hear both from students and alumni, and that’s a recognition of value added to their experiences and their degrees by NIU’s identity as a research university.

To study with someone of national or international repute is inspiring: Their knowledge is current; their classes are infused with real-life examples; and their research interests often provide additional learning opportunities for motivated students.

Academic excellence is truly the child of many parents. It’s about student achievement and everything involved in helping students succeed. It’s about reputation, program recognition and the quality of our faculty.

When we commit ourselves to creating a campus culture based on academic excellence, we are promising to provide the best we can in all these areas.

I quote at length, because these are commitments I can support. Whether President Peters is cognizant of the existence of excess demand for the more demanding type of higher education or not, at least for public consumption he is committing the university to a course that will serve that excess demand. Whether the strategic planning that's supposed to get under way will follow that course remains to be seen. I will be paying attention.

There was good news for music lovers.

I think, for example, of the huge shoes that must be filled next year when our resident string ensemble, the Vermeer Quartet, retires. We cannot put a price on the international acclaim brought to our campus by the Vermeer, or the Jazz Band, or the Steelband. These are NIU treasures which we must preserve.

Fortunately, that view is shared by many of our alumni and friends. Today I am very happy to announce that we have received an anonymous gift of $1 million to preserve the Vermeer tradition by establishing a new resident string ensemble capable of achieving the same level of excellence and international renown. It is tremendously encouraging to realize that our performing arts programs mean as much to our alumni and friends as they do to our campus community.

Toward the end of the speech, President Peters made an ad-lib about the Spellings Commission report that was not in his prepared text.

And in all our communications, we are building on NIU’s successful integration of research university status with a reputation for excellence in undergraduate education.

The ad-lib made mention of a criticism of the more visible research universities for their alleged neglect of undergraduates (of which more in another post.) If anything, he was chiding Northwestern for being insufficiently like Northern Illinois.

There have been State of the University speeches for which my reaction has been less positive. Favorable or unfavorable, what matters is the transformation of words into deeds.