Rode named outstanding orientation professional

Denise L. Rode, director of Orientation and coordinator of First-Year Connections at NIU, has received the 2002 Outstanding Orientation Professional Award from the National Orientation Directors Association at its annual conference in Baltimore, Md., in November.

The award recognizes outstanding contributions to campus orientation, retention and transition programs; excellent regional and national leadership; superior service to higher education; and eight or more years of service and experience in the field of orientation.

As director of orientation, Rode is responsible for the administration of 40 orientation programs which serve 12,000 new students and family members annually. The programs provide new students with campus tours, academic advising and opportunities for testing and course registration in addition to assisting them in their transition to a university environment.

Under Rode's leadership, the university's extended orientation course (UNIV 101: The University Experience) has more than doubled its enrollment in the past five years and has proven to enhance students' academic performance and retention from the first to second semesters.

On the national level, Rode has been a member of the board of directors of the National Orientation Directors Association and has chaired several of its committees.

She has published a chapter in the 2000 edition of the Orientation Planning Manual and is a frequent presenter at regional and national conferences on orientation and the first-year student experience. She also co-hosted the association's annual conference in Minneapolis in 1995 and currently serves as senior associate editor of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition.

Rode twice has been named a semi-finalist for the Outstanding First-Year Advocate award sponsored by Houghton Mifflin Publishing and the National Resource Center for the First-Year Experience and Students in Transition. She received an NIU Presidential Supportive Professional Staff Award for Excellence in 1999.

Rode has been noted for serving as a mentor for student staff members, some of whom have found careers in the field of higher education as a result of their experiences as NIU student orientation leaders.

"One could reasonably wonder if I would have benefited as much as I did from my experience with the Orientation office if Dr. Rode had not been the director," said Christopher A. Kubic, assistant director of Orientation, who was employed by Rode as a tour guide during three of his student years at NIU.

"Her passion for students and staff, her ability to motivate and delegate, her personal commitment and involvement in the lives of those around her, her professionalism and high expectations, and her willingness to trust me, support me and challenge me with the opportunities I have had have been an unequalled blessing to me personally and professionally."

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