What does it mean to be an engaged university in a world-class, global region?

NIU answered that question in a 2013 submission to the Association for Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU), and was recognized with the inaugural Innovation and Economic Prosperity award, given to select universities that excel in regional economic development.

“Here is a great example of a public university giving back to its community and state in ways that strengthen the economy and improve quality of life,” said APLU President Peter McPherson.

The Innovation and Economic Prosperity Award is given annually and includes four categories of engagement. In its first year, NIU shared the stage with the University of Michigan, the State University of New York, and the University of Cincinnati.

“Engagement with our communities and regions has always been the defining characteristic of America’s top universities,” said President Doug Baker. “To be held up as one of the best in this endeavor, in the company of some of our country’s finest institutions, is a great honor.”

Three case studies anchored the extensive award application, which was a joint project of the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development and the Division of Research and Graduate Studies.

In the first, NIU described a decade-long effort to bring high-speed broadband connectivity to the region. The second focused on NIU’s P-20 center and its efforts to connect external partners with five colleges and more than 20 offices, centers and institutes at NIU. The final case study described NIU’s engagement efforts in Rockford and its work with industry there to develop an aerospace cluster.

Among the national panel of reviewers that chose NIU were the National Governors Association, the Association of University Research Parks, the University Economic Development Association, the Business/Higher Education Forum and officials from more than a dozen universities.

“To be placed in the company of America’s top public universities in this effort sends a message about the centrality of engagement to the overall mission of the modern public university,” said Anne Kaplan, vice president for Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development.

“In all three of these case studies, what we see is a commitment to innovation,” said Lisa Freeman, then vice president of research. “At NIU, we are both doing new things, and doing old things in new ways, always with a focus on creating value.”

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