Despite falling numbers in student retention and enrollment, NEIU moves forward to increase both areas in the upcoming school year.

NEIU has focused to recruit high school students from schools in the Chicagoland area and surrounding suburbs. With the implementation of new recruitment strategies, NEIU is working to increase visibility.

“There’s excitement in in-state recruitment,” said Janice Harring-Hendon, Associate Vice President for Enrollment Services, when speaking about the construction of residence halls. “When recruiters are visiting high schools, students will always ask, ‘Do you have student housing? Sports?’”

NEIU recruits students from seven different territories in the state of Illinois. Recruitment of in-state students derives from counties such as Cook, McHenry, DuPage and schools in northern suburbs. The territories are revised at the end of each fall semester after NEIU receives the ACT scores from participating high schools. “We are reaching out to student’s whose schools aren’t in the territories,” said Harring-Hendon.

Recruiters will now be able to share the news of the planned residence halls to the high school students interested in having a housing experience. The awaited construction of residence halls on the main campus will begin on May 1 and student housing will open at the beginning of the fall semester of 2016.

At NEIU, guests have the opportunity to meet with student ambassadors, take campus tours, and meet with a faculty recruitment team.

“Student ambassadors are an important component to recruitment of students at NEIU,” said Harring-Hendon. Visiting students have the opportunity to receive information by registering for said campus tours or simply, walking in.

Jump Start Fridays are sessions scheduled in the late afternoon for visiting students who want to finish their application process and speak to on-site financial aid services. Campus tours require registration, but are scheduled everyday and led by student ambassadors. “Make sure to greet guests when you see them on campus taking a tour,” said Harring-Hendon in a request to the NEIU community.

The faculty recruitment team is also a fairly new addition to the recruitment process. “They have great ideas and we’ve used them for Explore NEIU,” said Harring-Hendon. Explore NEIU is another event hosted in the fall for visiting students to meet with different offices, take tours with student ambassadors, and meet with faculty.

NEIU has made partnerships with schools like William Howard Taft high school and Muchin College Prep in the course of recruiting students. “We actually have a few teachers who are graduates of the school and we used to use the facilities for our basketball games,” said Ryan Allen, Dean of College Counseling at Muchin College Prep.

Taft high school has also worked “closely” with NEIU. “Our teachers and counselors attend classes at NEIU,” said Karen Devine, Director of Counseling at William Howard Taft High School. “NEIU representatives work closely with our students to talk about transitioning in to college.”