NIU committees recently identified some programs as “nonessential” and thus targets for elimination.

Inside Higher Ed reports.

Northern Illinois U Press fights to survive after being deemed ‘nonessential’

This is a terrible year to be part of public higher education in Illinois. The state is approaching the one-year mark of operating without a budget. Despite a small stop-gap appropriation that was approved, public colleges and universities are being forced into layoffs and program cuts. And in this environment, academic publishing may be particular vulnerable.

Northern Illinois University — with more than 5,000 graduate students and 22 doctoral programs — is classified by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as a “high research activity university,” and it’s not unusual for such institutions to operate a university press. But when NIU committees recently identified some programs as “nonessential” and thus targets for elimination, one of the programs that ended up on the list was the Northern Illinois University Press. Today is the last day for people to comment on the various targets for cuts.