Munster High grad leaves position at IU South Bend to lead assessment and accreditation efforts at Northwest campus 
Munster native John Novak has been appointed assistant vice chancellor for the newly created Office of Institutional Effectiveness at Indiana University Northwest. Novak, a graduate of Munster High School, comes to IU Northwest after six years spent as Director of Institutional Research at IU South Bend.
“I think the desire to return to where I grew up has always kind of been with me,” Novak said. “I still have family here, and I visited frequently. For me, the opportunity to take this position at IU Northwest meshed with a lot of personal and professional goals.”
As AVC, Novak will direct, plan, coordinate, and institute the assessment, evaluation and improvement processes at IU Northwest, including campus-wide accreditation. In addition, he will be responsible for leadership in developing campus and unit strategic plans and their evaluation.
“Our focus on institutional improvement and data-driven decision-making is critical to the success of our campus, especially in these tough economic times,” said David Malik, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at IU Northwest. “John brings a wealth of experience in institutional research and planning that will help the campus more effectively address our priorities. Helping our academic and support units achieve their goals more quickly and effectively will be an important objective for John and the new Office.
“John brings strong commitment to and experience with a broad range of higher education issues, including enrollment projection models, external environmental scans, and a strong focus on student persistence and success. We will be the beneficiaries of his talents,” Malik added.
IU Northwest participates in the Academic Quality Improvement Program (AQIP), an alternative process through which an already-accredited institution can maintain its accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission through ongoing planning, action and assessment. Novak saw the institutional benefits of AQIP briefly during his time at Eastern Michigan University, where he worked for seven years as an analyst in University Planning, Budget and Analysis. He was excited to have a professional opportunity at another university that embraces the AQIP process.
“When I was at Eastern Michigan, it was brought in just as I was leaving. I got a taste of it,” Novak said. “At IU Northwest, I will be right in the middle of that. I jumped at the chance.”
Novak was briefly a student at IU Northwest, where he completed two graduate courses prior to continuing his Master of Public Affairs at the IU Bloomington School of Public and Environmental Affairs in 1996. He earned his B.A in political science from Purdue University in West Lafayette in 1993 and served legislative internships in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C. Novak was hired in 2004 as director of IUSB’s first permanent institutional research office.
As AVC for Institutional Effectiveness and Research, Novak is charged with evaluating, facilitating and streamlining the university’s assessment and data-collection activities in support of accreditation and continuous-improvement goals. In this way, he hopes to assist IU Northwest in unlocking its greater potential as a regional center of education, service, and research.
“The potential at IU Northwest is probably untapped in a lot of areas, especially in areas that have to do with healthcare education, for example,” Novak said. “There is potential to create new programs, and there is probably even greater potential for community involvement. I hope to play an important role in strengthening the processes that are used to make those kinds of decisions.”
After 16 years spent out of the area, Novak returns to IU’s Northwest Indiana campus and to his Region roots. One of Novak’s grandfathers worked for U.S. Steel’s Gary Works, while the other worked at the Amoco (now BP) refinery in Whiting. His father is a 1957 graduate of Horace Mann High School, and his parents are retired and reside in Crown Point.
As part of his return to Northwest Indiana, Novak and his family -- including his wife, Heather, and their one-year-old daughter, Portia -- will relocate to Valparaiso.
“It’s a good location for us,” he said. “My wife is from South Bend, so this was a good halfway point between where my family is and where her family and friends are.”