Our Commitments
Our Commitments
As Huskies, we aim to honor our calling by developing leaders and innovators to help our region and world thrive in the 21st century.
Empowering Change
At the heart of NIU’s campaign are three ambitious commitments that reflect our shared vision for lasting impact. We’re expanding transformational experiences that empower students to grow as leaders and changemakers. We’re inspiring discovery and innovation by fueling research, creativity and access to opportunity. And we’re fortifying our future by breaking down barriers, supporting well-being and ensuring every student has the tools to thrive. Your investment brings these commitments to life.
Expanding Transformational Experiences
For anyone who dreams of being a Huskie, our goal is to let nothing stand in the way of our life-changing learning opportunities, degrees and careers. It’s fundamental to our identity and actions. We will intensify our efforts by strengthening the investment in our Huskies’ skills, talents and experiences—empowering our students to be more responsive, more resilient and more successful in all their endeavors. We will ignite in them the desire to carry their talents and Huskie values forward, generating the greatest impact on our society.
Faculty Excellence
NIU faculty are scholars, mentors and changemakers whose work fuels innovation and transforms lives. Supporting faculty excellence means empowering those who shape the future every day.
Huskie Promise
The Huskie Promise is NIU’s commitment to supporting students’ success by addressing financial burdens, enhancing well-being and ensuring equitable access to education. Through scholarships, crisis support, academic counseling, mentorship and mental health resources, we provide a holistic network of care that empowers students to overcome challenges, thrive academically and build brighter futures—regardless of background or circumstance.
Inspiring Discovery and Innovation
Our rapidly changing world demands we rise to its challenges with diverse perspectives and bold ingenuity. We will equip our faculty mentors and their students with the resources needed to take ideas from theory to practice to results. We will foster interdisciplinary collaboration to fully harness Huskie creativity and artistry, strengthen our portfolio of partners to accelerate and maximize research and bridge classrooms, studios and labs to the real world in new ways so that we can achieve the greatest impact locally and globally.
Baustert Bahwell Health Technology Center
The Baustert Bahwell Health Technology Center will unite the College of Health and Human Sciences with other colleges, schools and units across the university to catalyze learning, service and research for students and faculty alike. The facility will be outfitted with the newest technologies to deliver an enhanced approach to curriculum, along with innovative laboratories and new study spaces, all designed to improve the preparation of future clinicians and ultimately the health and wellbeing of individuals and families in our region.
Innovation Funds
Innovation Funds help students, faculty and staff turn bold ideas into real-world impact with support for prototyping, interdisciplinary research, curriculum development and community-driven programs.
Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability
Discover how NIU’s Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability (NICCS) brings together researchers to create real-world solutions for food, water, energy and environmental challenges—in Illinois and beyond.
Fortifying Our Future
It’s through our heightened commitment to sustainability and resilience – adapting to a dynamic world without depleting or degrading resources – that we will boost the well-being of our campus and far beyond for this generation and generations to come. We recognize a responsibility to foster an environmentally conscious university and invest in the health of our planet while developing future leaders who will help solve pressing global challenges. Enhanced financial stability will enrich impactful academic programming, assuring institutional growth and the success of even more NIU students today and tomorrow.
Campus Sustainability
NIU recognizes our responsibility to model sustainability on our campus, invest in the health of our planet and develop future leaders who will help to solve these pressing global challenges. We endeavor to take decisive actions to promote broader positive change.
Growing Our Endowment
At NIU, endowed gifts are thoughtfully invested to grow over time, creating a lasting source of support for scholarships, programs and university priorities. These gifts provide steady, reliable funding that benefits students and faculty year after year—for generations to come.
The Northern Fund
The Northern Fund provides essential, flexible support that fills critical funding gaps, helps sustain NIU’s daily operations and ensures the university can respond to emerging needs and opportunities.