May 12, 2003, Northern Today Abridged

Board approves tuition increase, technology surcharge

Responding to two year’s worth of state budget cuts totaling more than $30 million, NIU’s governing board has approved an average 11 percent increase in tuition and a new, five-year surcharge to fund technology improvements on campus.

Trustees also directed NIU President John Peters to look for funds that might be made available for faculty and staff salary increases during the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Meeting in DeKalb last week, trustees voted to accept a new tuition plan with different rates for upper- and lower-division undergraduates. Under the plan, freshmen and sophomores (lower division) will pay 9 percent more in tuition this fall, while juniors and seniors (upper division) will see a 12 percent tuition increase.

Even with the double-digit tuition hike, Peters reminded the board that NIU historically “comes in at the low end of the tuition increase scale statewide.” With about half of Illinois’ public universities already announcing hikes of 13 – 18 percent, Peters said NIU would again likely have one of the lowest increases in the state.

“We have cut our overhead costs to the bone and saved money every way we can in order to keep NIU accessable and affordable,” Peters said. “But our students deserve a quality education, and that means quality faculty, staff and facilities.”

For an average student taking a 15-hour course load, NIU’s annual tuition will be $3,902 for lower division and $4,010 for upper division. That breaks down to $130.09 per credit hour for lower division students and $133.67 per credit hour for upper division students.

Trustees also approved a $100-per-semester technology surcharge to help fund technology improvements throughout campus. The five-year, temporary surcharge begins in July and runs through the end of FY08. It begins at the $100-per-semester level and increases to $250-per-semester beginning in FY05.

According to Eddie Williams, executive vice president for finance and facilities, the surcharge will allow NIU to “jump-start a stalled technology enhancement program.”

NIU pays tribute to late CHANCE founder

Every fall, Leroy Mitchell awaited his annual phone call from McKinley "Deacon" Davis.

Davis, founder of NIU's CHANCE program, would press Mitchell for the latest enrollment numbers. How many students, Davis would want to know, were taking advantage of an opportunity for a college education that regular admissions standards might have denied?

"This program, long after he left the university, was his first love," said Mitchell, who took over the CHANCE program in 1980. "It really was a part of who he was."

Mitchell will not hear from his predecessor this fall - Davis died March 20 in Rockford at the age of 70 - but will continue working toward Davis' dream.

He and his staff also will work in Davis' name.

NIU President John Peters announced earlier this month that he has changed the program's official name to the Deacon Davis CHANCE program. Davis and former NIU President Rhoten Smith launched CHANCE (Counseling, Help and Assistance Necessary for a College Education) in 1968 to recruit, retain and graduate black students.

"Deacon Davis and the CHANCE program have opened the doors of this university to thousands of deserving, capable students through the years, providing them with great opportunities and energizing our campus through diversity," Peters said. "We are honored to pay tribute to Deacon and his family in this way, making sure his legacy is remembered for years to come."

"We're exhilarated and surprised. He poured a lot of sweat and tears into Northern," said Randy Davis, Deacon's son.

"This is just a great testament to the vision he's always had for the kids going to Northern - that they got a chance to better themselves and make a difference," he added. "That's all my dad was about - for progress and making a difference - with anyone he came in contact with, no matter what their economic background was, instilling in them just to keep pushing on and reach their dreams."

NIU Operating Staff announces Outstanding Service Award recipients

Four members of Northern Illinois University's Operating Staff have been chosen to receive the Outstanding Service Award for 2003.

The recipients are George A. (Joe) Baird of Materials Management, Joyce A. Gardner from the Office of the Provost, Jodi Tyrrell from Human Resource Services and Janice Vander Meer of the Department of English.

About 1,800 employees make up the Civil Service staff. Each year, four are selected by a committee of their peers to receive the award of plaques and $1,500. They were honored at a May 2 banquet.

Kasuba, NIU's first dean of Engineering, to retire

When Romualdas Kasuba was offered the job as dean of the new engineering school at Northern Illinois University, half of his friends told him he would be crazy to take the job. The rest told him he would be crazy not to.

Seventeen years later, as he prepares to step down as dean of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, Kasuba is glad he listened to the latter group.

Arriving in June 1986, he inherited a program established on paper in the fall of 1985. It had some aspects of an engineering school, but was far from a full-fledged college. Working tirelessly, he assembled a faculty and staff, and, within four years, the school attained full accreditation.

"We did it in the shortest amount of time possible, many say record time," he says. "We all worked very hard to make that happen."

Argonne director recieves honorary NIU doctoral degree

NIU presented an honorary doctoral degree Saturday to Argonne National Laboratory Director Hermann A. Grunder, recognizing his many outstanding contributions to the field of physics.

Grunder accepted the honorary Doctor of Science degree during the commencement ceremony for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the Convocation Center.

"Dr. Grunder couldn't be more deserving of this honor," NIU Provost Ivan Legg said. "He leads one of the nation's premier federal laboratories and is an accomplished scientist who has been recognized internationally for his work in the areas of accelerator and nuclear physics. Dr. Grunder has greatly advanced the knowledge base that will serve as a foundation for future generations of scientists."

Grunder was nominated by the NIU Department of Physics, which has a working relationship with Argonne National Laboratory, where many faculty members and students conduct research.

Oscar winner Michael Moore calls to chat with NIU

NIU students in a special-topics course on the films of Michael Moore got a telephone call during their last class before finals - from the controversial filmmaker himself.

Moore, whose "Bowling for Columbine" won the Academy Award this spring for best documentary, conducted an 80-minute, question-and-answer session on speakerphone with more than 100 students in the class.

Jeffrey Chown and Gary Burns, both professors in the NIU Department of Communication, teach the course. Chown had sent several letters to Moore inviting him to visit the class. Moore couldn't make it, but arranged the telephone discussion. Students have read Moore's books and studied all of his films and TV shows.

"When you first sent me that letter about the class, I was very honored," Moore said.

The son of a Flint, Mich. autoworker, Moore first gained acclaim for his 1989 documentary, "Roger & Me," in which he stalked the chairman of General Motors to question him about massive layoffs in Flint. Moore said his roots shape his work. "It's part of being from the working class - we're not very well mannered," he said.

But his art comes before his well-known liberal politics. "If I put the politics before the movie…then I think the film will suck."

Two University Police officers plan retirement party

University Police Sgts. Albert "Swede" Ekstrom and Dave Wickstrom are leaving the force after a combined 50 years on the job.

A party in their honor is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 16, at the old farmhouse grounds on Annie Glidden Road just north of Baker's Square. Presentations are at 2:30 p.m. Please park in lots H and D1 on West Campus near the party location.

Annual steam outages announced

To perform maintenance and repairs on high pressure steam lines on campus, the Physical Plant and Heating Plant will have its annual steam outage on the following dates:

West Campus: Beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday, May 18, through noon Friday, May 23. This will include Neptune and all buildings west of Carroll Avenue, except Stevenson, and various other smaller buildings not served by steam. Domestic and heating hot water will not be available.

East Campus: Beginning at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, May 25, through 6 p.m. Thursday, May 29. This will include all buildings east of Carroll Avenue, except for various other smaller buildings not served by steam. Domestic and heating hot water will not be available.

Any questions or concerns may be addressed to Kevin Vines, chief engineer, at 753-6090 or via e-mail at kvines@niu.edu.

Summer arts camps offered

Summer in the Arts at Northern offers academic arts camps for children in sixth-grade through high school. NIU employees receive a discount for these one-week residential camps in dance, jazz, theatre and visual arts.

Theatre Arts Camp Junior for students currently in grades 6-8 will be held from July 13 to July 18. Dance Camp (grades 7-12), Jazz Camp (grades 8-12), Theatre Arts Camp Senior (grades 9-12) and Visual Arts Experience (grades 8 -12) all will be held from July 20 to July 25.

Call Renee at 753-1450 for more information.

Meanwhile, the NIU Community School of the Arts summer session begins the week of June 16. Among the summer offerings are classes in garden drawing, watercolor, basic drawing, puppet theatre, stage dialects, improvisation, theatre games, gamelan, group guitar, and early childhood music. Private lessons and assorted music ensembles are also available. Call 753-1450 to request a registration booklet.

5-12-03