Harper, NIU tussle over police program
Anytime, anywhere and in any format.
That's the verbatim statement officials say a Northern Illinois University trustee made during a state Senate hearing last spring, pledging to bring a bachelor's degree program in public safety administration and homeland security to Palatine's Harper College.
It's a statement some local legislators argue swayed a Senate committee to narrowly reject a proposal to allow Harper to offer the bachelor's degree on its own.
But according to a July letter to Harper President Robert Breuder, it's a statement NIU President John Peters doesn't "promise programs for any audience of any size."
Tuesday, bill sponsors state Sens. Matt Murphy of Palatine and Dan Kotowski of Park Ridge, state Rep. Fred Crespo of Hoffman Estates and northwest suburban fire and police chiefs gathered at Harper to put pressure on NIU to "keep its word" and offer the traditional, face-to-face bachelor's degree program they say a changing law enforcement world needs.
After the May hearing, correspondence between the two presidents began in earnest but was quickly curtailed once it became evident they weren't agreeing on terms Harper considers deal breakers.
Harper is demanding a four-year commitment by NIU and for 90 percent of classes to be held face-to-face. In the most recent letter to Breuder, Peters said he found that students and working professionals want more online sections, in part because of gas prices. And he couldn't commit to running the program for four consecutive years unless assured of reasonable enrollment numbers.
Peters also wanted the presidents to "get off the stage" so that faculty and staff could meet to develop the degree program.
Discussions stopped because Peters' letter went unanswered, says NIU spokeswoman Melanie Magara.
"We made an offer to work to develop a program and haven't received a response," said Magara. "I don't know where you go from there."
Harper spokesman Phil Burdick acknowledges Breuder didn't write back, but with good reason.
"Everything comes from the top and without that direction from Peters, those talks aren't going to go anywhere. Until those basic parameters are agreed upon, there's no use in discussing it," Burdick said.
About a month ago, Murphy spoke with Peters to see where things stood. Murphy says he found little had changed, particularly regarding classes via Internet and videoconference.
That led to Tuesday's gathering, where local fire and police chiefs said face-to-face learning is a sticking point.
"There are plenty of opportunities to go on the Internet," said Palatine Police Chief John Koziol. "We're looking for more than that."
Adds Rolling Meadows Fire Chief Ron Stewart: "Getting a group of professionals together puts in place an environment for collaborative learning."
Murphy, Kotowski and Crespo's message was clear: Either provide the program we demand, or step aside.
Not likely. Four-year institutions are so committed to fighting Harper's quest to become the first community college in Illinois to offer bachelor degrees that several hired lobbyists. One argument is that the state will eventually have to fund the program, depleting its own coffers. But Harper says it can operate the program without taxpayer support for the proposed four-year pilot period.
NIU's Magara, repeating Peters' call to let staff from both colleges meet, said: "We believe we are in the best position to offer this kind of program. "There'd be less a case to be made if we had no expertise, but we do with our homeland security certificate program."