NIU gets grant to teach
computer skills in Rockford

NIU will be able to provide critical training in technology literacy to hundreds of Rockford residents thanks to a $43,000 grant made to the university through Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Opportunity Returns initiative for the Northern Stateline region.

The grant program, known as Eliminate the Digital Divide, provides funding to local community technology centers in low-income communities to provide technology skills training and access to computers and the Internet. Since technology literacy today is a necessity to competing for and succeeding in well-paying jobs, this critical program teaches essential skills to people who often lack access to important educational opportunities that will help prepare them for a 21st century job.

“This grant will allow us to continue the important work that NIU has been participating in in Rockford to help underprivileged women gain the skills they need to break out of the welfare cycle and attain a better life for themselves and their children,” NIU President John Peters said.

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College students from the stateline area will soon be able to earn a business degree without leaving town, thanks to $476,000 in funding earmarked by Gov. Rod Blagojevich through his Opportunity Returns plan for the northern stateline region.

Northern Illinois University has announced that, beginning next fall, it plans to offer a bachelor’s of science degree with a major in business administration at NIU-Rockford, 8500 E. State St. Students accepted into the program will be able to complete a degree in as few as two years, with all required classes offered in Rockford.

The program addresses one of the most pressing needs identified in a recent study of higher education needs commissioned by the Rockford Area Chamber of Commerce and the Council of 100. That study found the community sorely in need of a local, affordable business program.

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NIU Jazz Ensemble, Liberace Jazztet
ready to swing Peru Jazz Festival

Peruvians are no strangers to the music known as jazz.

Of course, what they consider jazz – a mix of Afro-Cuban and Calypso influences – is what Americans call “Latin jazz.”

So it’s only appropriate that the legendary NIU Jazz Ensemble and the NIU Liberace Jazztet, globe-trotting ambassadors from the Northern Illinois University School of Music, will bring a heavy dose of classic American swing to the stage of this month’s Festival Jazz en Peru.

Both NIU groups, under the direction of Ron Carter, will play two shows at the festival, which begins today and ends Friday, April 23.

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Myers, Newman, Stoffel win
undergraduate teaching awards

Good teachers make long-lasting memories.

Their lessons might fade over time, but their ability to instill information, ignite curiosity and inspire greatness never leaves us. Good teachers make students want to learn. Good teachers can encourage career paths, or change them. Good teachers never end their own pursuit of knowledge.

NIU has many good teachers, and Kristen Myers, Amy Newman and Lawrence Stoffel are among them.

Myers, Newman and Stoffel are this year’s recipients of Awards for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the university’s longest-standing honor. It stands in a class of its own because the nominations and subsequent words of support originate not from their peers or supervisors but from the young minds on the other side of the classroom.

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Four members of the Supportive Professional Staff (SPS) have been chosen to receive the university’s Presidential Awards for Excellence.

The recipients are Shevawn Eaton, director of ACCESS; Len Lennergard, video production manager in Media Services; Judith Pokorny, assistant to the undergraduate director in the Department
of English, and Phillip Young, research associate in the Department of Geography.

They will be honored at a reception from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 20, in the Clara Sperling Sky Room in the Holmes Student Center. Each will receive a plaque and $1,500 in appreciation for their outstanding contributions to NIU.

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Four members of NIU’s Operating Staff have been chosen to receive the Outstanding Service Award for 2004.

The recipients are Lilli Bishop of the Department of Communicative Disorders, Joyce Chaney from Student Housing and Dining Services, Amy Polzin of the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences and Lynn Slater from the School of Music.

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 will be honored at an April 30 banquet.

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D. Raymond Tourville, whose service to NIU stretched more than four decades, died Friday, April 9, at Kishwaukee Community Hospital after suffering a heart attack. He was 68.

Tourville, a professor of French, served as chair of the NIU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. He is remembered for his dedication, his can-do spirit and his numerous professional accomplishments.

“Ray really was a citizen of the university. He had NIU’s best interest at heart,” said Frederick Kitterle, dean of the NIU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“There is a deep sense of loss with the passing of Ray,” Kitterle said. “He worked steadfastly to enhance the quality of undergraduate education for all students who enroll in language courses at NIU and who are interested in multiculturalism.”

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The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act (SOEEA) was recently enacted by the State Legislature. A copy of the NIU compliance program is printed here for your information. You will also find links to the SOEEA compliance program available under “Ethics Compliance” and the “State Officials and Employees Ethics Act” on the NIU home page index. Detailed information and links are also available on the HRS home page.

The SOEEA specifies documentation requirements pertaining to time worked. Existing university policies and procedures already require similar documentation. Accordingly, this compliance program will involve the utilization of existing procedures concerning work time documentation with additional instructions added to the Employee Benefit Usage Report Forms to facilitate the necessary documentation. Departments will be notified when the updated Benefit Usage Forms are available for download.

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Professor Milivoje Kostic of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has contributed “Work, Power, and Energy,” a 12-page article within the Basics of Energy topic, as an invited author for a six-volume Encyclopedia of Energy.

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Peters to remain at NIU

NIU President John Peters, one of 12 finalists in the presidential search at the University of Tennessee, will stay at NIU.

“It was a wonderful honor to have been considered for the job. However, throughout the process it became clear to me that my heart was at NIU, and I think that became obvious to the search committee, as well,” Peters said. “I’m not disappointed at this turn of events. Rather, I am excited at the opportunity to pursue the goal I set for NIU when I arrived here four years ago – to become the nation’s premier regional public university.”

Peters was one of 71 individuals nominated to be considered for the post at Tennessee, and was among the 12 finalists asked to campus for interviews.

Register now for
NIU sports camps

Online registration is now available for the NIU Athletics sports camps. NIU faculty and staff receive a 10 percent discount.

For further information on each camp, please visit www.niuhuskies.com or e-mail sportscamps@niu.edu.

Northwestern economist
to speak at NIU

Professor Burton Weisbrod, the John Evans Professor of Economics at Northwestern University, will present "“Hospitals, Hospices, Symphony Orchestras, and Jails: Are Non-Profits Different From For-Profits?” at noon Wednesday, April 21, in Holmes Student Center Room 305. Call 753-1031 for more information. -- MORE

HRS offers workshops
on retirement benefits

Human Resource Services will offer two workshops on understanding retirement benefits and using the SURS on-line estimator, presented by Dennis Davito and Marlene Bryant of Human Resource Services.

• 10 a.m. to noon Thursday, April 22, Founders Memorial Library 297. Deadline to register is today.
• 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, May 5, Founders Memorial Library 297. Deadline to register is Tuesday, April 27.

Call 753-6000 or send e-mail to HRSTraining@niu.edu to register. -- MORE

Illinois Appellate Court
will convene at NIU

The NIU College of Law is proud to announce that The State of Illinois Appellate Court for the Second District will convene and hear oral arguments in the Francis X. Riley Moot Court Room at the NIU College of Law at 10 a.m. Tuesday, April 20.

For more information, call (815) 753-9655 or visit http://law.niu.edu. -- MORE

NIU Theatre closes
season on Broadway

Two old ballerinas, a baseball great, a teen angel and 15 sequined Rockettes walk into a women’s prison with Gene Kelly – no, it’s not a joke, it’s just some of what you can expect from the upcoming dance extravaganza “Give My Regards to Broadway,” opening Thursday, April 22, at the NIU School of Theatre and Dance.

“Give My Regards to Broadway” dance runs April 22 to April 25 in NIU’s O’Connell Theatre. Show times are 7:30 p.m. weekdays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $14 for general admission, $8 for seniors and $7 for students. To purchase tickets, and for more information, call the Stevens Building box office at 753-1600. -- MORE

Child Care Center
hosts open house

The NIU Campus Child Care Center will be hosting an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, April 23, in celebration of its 25th anniversary and the Week of the Young Child. NIU faculty, staff and students are invited to attend.

Visitors may tour the facility and gain information about the program as well as early childhood education in general. Door prizes will include mugs, T-shirts and framed children’s art work.

For more information, contact Chris Herrmann at 753-0125.

Retirement gala planned
for Joyce Gardner

NIU will thank longtime employee Joyce A. Gardner for her 43 years of service to the university and wish her the best in retirement during a Monday, April 26, reception.

Members of the community are invited to the event from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the Clara Sperling Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center. A short program will be held at 3:30 p.m.

For more information, call (815) 753-1999. -- MORE

Enhancing Success invites
faculty, TAs to workshops

All faculty and teaching assistants are invited to interactive workshops about teaching university students with disabilities.

The sponsor is Enhancing Success for Students with Disabilities in Higher Education. Co-sponsors are the vision program faculty in the Teaching and Learning Department and Literacy Education Department.

To RSVP, send e-mail to enhancingsuccess@niu.edu. -- MORE

NIU Golf League
seeks players

The registration deadline for the 2004 NIU Golf League is Friday, April 30. The official season is Tuesdays or Thursday from May 5 through Sept. 11, with tee-off times from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Buena Vista Golf Course.

Dues are $20, and must be paid at time of registration. Teams are made up of three to five players, of which all but one must be a current employee, retiree or alum. All skill levels are welcome. -- MORE

Community School names
talent scholarship winners

The NIU Community School of the Arts has announced the names of the six students awarded talent scholarships in January.

Award winners were Monica and Suzie Kim, daughters of Taesam Kim of DeKalb; Rachel Banke, daughter of Deborah Banke of Shabbona; Leah Asher, daughter of Becky and Tom Asher of Rockford; Hellen Weberpal, daughter of Valerie and John Weberpal of Sycamore, and Sara Gok, daughter of Virginia Wilcox-Gok and Timur Gok. -- MORE

College of Law names
moot court finalists

The NIU College of Law has announced the final round winners of its annual Moot Court Competition.

Laura Anderson and Andrea Donaldson, the first place team, were awarded the Carl W. Cicero Award, named in honor of the alumnus who was the winner of the 1st Annual Prize Moot Court Competition. Donaldson received the Best Oralist award for the final round. Anderson and Donaldson also won the Best Respondent’s Brief award. -- MORE

One-Room Schoolhouse supporters
plan June banquet fundraiser

Friends of the Milan Township One-Room Schoolhouse are planning a banquet for Friday, June 11, to celebrate country education and to help build the country school endowment fund.

The banquet and cash bar – from 6 to 11 p.m. in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center – will include a silent auction, featuring such items as African art, antiques and four tickets for a 2004 Huskies football game.

Tickets are $50 per person, or $400 per table. For more information, or to make a reservation, call 753-1561. -- MORE

FY04 cut-off dates

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