Chris Porterfield
Thank you for accessing this brief bio and, far more importantly, thank you for your interest in NIU. I have made my student and professional home at Northern, so I’m always very happy to see others begin the process of discovering all this university has to offer.
I transferred to NIU from a small private school as a junior. After graduation I briefly attended law school, worked in proprietary schools and in industry, and worked on different graduate degrees. (There’s a lesson in that list on doing proper career planning when you’re an undergraduate.) Eventually I came to understand that I really wanted to work with college students. I worked for a short time in Student Financial Aid, then Recreation Services for a few years, and Orientation & First Year Experience for almost 20 years. Orientation and Admissions have always had very close ties. I officially moved over to Admissions in the summer of 2007. My primary duties in Admissions are to work with the Northern Ambassadors, the campus tour guides, and to take care of group tour requests.
Frequently I have had opportunities to teach courses here: I taught several sections of our career planning class; I assisted with the instruction of counseling classes; and I taught over 15 sections of UNIV101, our university resources class. The majority of our first year students sign up for UNIV 101. I urge all new students to take the class (transfers can take UNIV 201). It is a great way to learn the skills needed to be successful as a college student and the resources available to you at NIU.
Outside of work and teaching, I have been involved with interpersonal violence and sexual assault groups, the NIU Allies Program, and community theater. Theater is a special love for me. I try to do a couple of shows every year. Our local group is Stage Coach Players and I’ve been active there since the early 80’s.
My parting advice is to urge you to take advantage of all that NIU has to offer. You will have to ask questions and seek people out, but you will find people here want to help you. Keep an open mind and an open heart and you’ll find much to learn and love.