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Contact: Joe King, NIU Office of Public Affairs
(815) 753-4299

Gillio to join NIU legal staff

DeKALB -- Northern Illinois University Legal Services has announced that Vickie Gillio will join that office as a university counsel, effective Oct. 1.

Gillio brings with her two decades of experience in representing colleges and universities in legal matters, as well as an extensive background in employment and labor law.

 

“She is precisely the type of lawyer we were looking for when we launched our national search back in January,” said NIU General Counsel Ken Davidson. “She has been a general counsel at the community college level, she has advocated on behalf of colleges and universities in her private practice and she will add tremendous depth to our employment and labor law team.”

 

Gillio, who earned her juris doctorate from the University of Illinois, is excited at the prospect of working full-time in higher education. In many regards, it is sort of a homecoming for her. During her undergraduate days at St. Norbert College, she served as a student trustee. And while at U of I she sat on a university-wide committee devoted to undergraduate educational reform and later was part of the law school’s board of visitors. During her professional career, she has spent a good deal of time immersed in issues relating to higher education, including three years (1985-88) as the general counsel for Waubonsee Community College.

 

In 1992 she founded Gillio and Associates, a Chicago-based law firm concentrating in labor and employment law, administrative law and education law.

 

While she enjoyed many aspects of private practice, she is looking forward to becoming part of the NIU legal team.

 

“The business and office administration issues related to having my own law firm were always of secondary importance to me,” Gillio said. “It is serving my clients, and the legal aspects of my work that I have always found the most enjoyable, and I look forward to devoting my full energy to the university and its legal issues,” she said.

 

Gillio hopes to put her experience in labor law to use in a variety of ways, including participation in the further development of a set of proactive training programs to support and ensure that institutional administrative policies and procedures are kept up to date and applied uniformly. She also anticipates that affirmative action issues will continue to be a big topic for all university legal offices.

 

Gillio has taught at colleges and universities throughout her career, most recently at Chicago-area law schools (including once teaching administrative law at NIU). “Having taught, it helps you stay focused on what a university is all about. It allows me to appreciate the challenges faced by teachers, administrators and students,” she said.

 

Gillio plans to relocate to the DeKalb area.

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