NIU art professors invited to respond
to UNESCO recommendations for global education
  NIU School of Art Professor Doug Boughton is among the leaders of an upcoming global call to keep college-trained arts educators in the world's classrooms.
Boughton, president of the International Society for Education through Art (InSEA), is joining the presidents of related world organizations for music and theater in drafting an urgent response to a recent position paper released by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
UNESCO's report recommends that artists not educated for teaching school should, indeed, teach art in schools.
Delegates from Boughton's group will meet in Viseu, Portugal, in March at the InSEA world conference to formally finalize their response on behalf of their respective professional associations.
One week later, Boughton and his colleagues from the International Society for Music Education and the International Drama/Theatre Education Association will address UNESCO's World Arts Education Summit in nearby Lisbon, Portugal.
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 Data lives and breathes, long after school boards publicly release the Illinois School Report Cards for their districts.
For parents, students, teachers, principals, district administrators and taxpayers, the plentiful treasure chests of knowledge contained in the report cards – and plenty of numbers from years past – are available year-round through the Interactive Illinois Report Card.
Created by researchers at NIU in partnership with the Illinois State Board of Education, the IIRC ( http://iirc.niu.edu ) offers a richly dynamic, interactive and comparative resource that presents a vast array of information on schools and their academic performance in an easily navigated site.
“We've received a lot of recognition for being a really useful source of information on K-12 school performance in Illinois, and we've done it through partnering with the State Board and numerous school districts through workshops and focus groups. We've benefited enormously from the input of teachers and administrators and customized it for them,” said Harvey Smith, the project's director from the NIU Department of History.
“Our goal here is really all about improving schools by using the assessment data as information that empowers teachers rather than information that just punishes them.”
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 Nine sophomores and two adults gather around four shoved-together tables in Room 245 of Rockford Jefferson High School, consuming three boxes of assorted Wal-Mart doughnuts at an impressive pace.
They, and usually 15 to 20 more of their sophomore club mates, come here two mornings a week at 8:30, nearly an hour before classes begin, to talk primarily about raising money.
Pompons are sold at sporting events, and some girls are knitting scarves to sell during the winter. A hip-hop dance concert is planned for Saturday, Dec. 3, with advance tickets for $5 and at-the-door admission for $7. A punk-rock concert, an idea dear to Casey Moore, the club's president, is in the works.
Club adviser Judy Cox-Henderson, who shares with the students how costly the hip-hop concert is to her time and pocketbook, reinforces her support of fundraising focused on solicitation of donations from Rockford businesses. One check for $250 already has arrived.
All this – the semi-weekly meetings, the nightly rehearsals for the concert, the writing of letters – is in pursuit of one goal for these second-year high school students.
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 A grant of $10,626 from the DeKalb County Community Foundation will put the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences on the road again, continuing a mission to bring health care to underserved rural areas.
The college owns a trailer equipped for hearing screenings that once toured nearby farms. Long retired from that duty, it now will return to service renovated as a mobile health-screening facility for “vulnerable populations” often without transportation, such as children, the elderly and, primarily, Hispanic families.
Screening equipment will be expanded to include supplies and materials not only for nursing but also for nursing (physicals), dietetics (obesity, diet patterns) and clinical laboratory sciences (including blood analysis, diabetic measures and cholesterol checks). The trailer will travel to wellness fairs, school-based health-screening activities, events for senior citizens and other places as identified.
Renovations should wrap up within two months, which will include the ordering, delivery and installation of equipment and supplies.
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 Professors Dwight King in political science and Madan Annavarjula in business management are the 2005 recipients of the Outstanding International Educator Award at NIU.
The award winners were announced Wednesday, Nov. 16, during the annual International Recognition Reception.
The Division of International Programs presents the Outstanding International Educator Award annually to NIU faculty members who have contributed significantly to international education through teaching, research, public service and student service.
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 Debra Hopkins, director of the NIU CPA Review Program, has been named one of five “Women to Watch” by the Illinois CPA Society.
The award recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the accounting profession, their organizations and the development of women as leaders. This is the first year the award has been presented. Winners were chosen by members of the Illinois CPA Society, one of the largest in the nation with more than 22,000 members.
Hopkins was recognized as an experienced leader in the accounting profession, and was singled out for her stewardship of the NIU CPA Review. In announcing the award, the society noted that Hopkins has “influenced and motivated thousands of individuals in the accounting field all over the world through her writings, teaching, CPA exam preparation and business consulting activities.”
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 Read good news about – and send congratulations to – NIU's Center for Access-Ability Resources, NIU's Orientation office and Donna Munroe.
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President John and Barbara Peters invite the NIU community to attend the President's Annual Holiday Luncheon, scheduled from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center.
Also, don't forget the community holiday event at Altgeld Hall, held from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16.
Call (815) 753-1999 for more information.
The NIU School of Music presents “Low Brass Christmas” at noon today in the Concert Hall lobby of the Music Building. Bring your lunch and let the NIU trombone, tuba, and euphonium students and faculty serenade you with holiday tunes.
The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library has announced its hours for Dec. 3 through Jan. 17.
The law library will extend its hours for reading period and final exams, beginning Saturday, Dec. 3, and ending Wednesday, Dec. 21. Hours are 7:15 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:15 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays.
The library is open 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 22, and closed Friday, Dec. 23, through Monday, Jan. 2. Hours in the first part of January are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Hours on Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Monday, Jan. 16) are 1 to 10 p.m.
Regular hours resume Tuesday, Jan. 17. Call (815) 753-0505 for more information.
Spring 2006 parking permits will go on sale Dec. 5 for faculty, staff and students at Campus Parking Services at Lincoln Terrace and Normal Road.
Students also can purchase parking permits online at www.niu.edu/parking. For more information, please check online or call (815) 753-1045.
NIU's Lifelong Learning Institute will sponsor a Saturday, Dec. 10, trip to Harris Theater in Chicago 's Millennium Park for the 13th anniversary of Von Heidecke's Chicago Festival Ballet in The Nutcracker.
Choreographed by Von Heidecke, whose works have been heralded by critics across the globe, the production features dancers from the National Ballet of Cuba, Ballet International de Caracas, the Russian Ballet, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and former dancers of the Joffrey Ballet, as well as students from the Von Heidecke School of Ballet.
The deadline to purchase tickets ($70 for LLI members and $80 for non-members) is Friday, Nov. 25. Call External Programming, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, at (815) 753-5200 with questions.
Dedication ceremonies for the recently installed mosaic in the main entryway of Altgeld Hall will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, in the building's foyer.
The mosaic, which bears the name initials of Northern Illinois State Normal School, was installed by Chicago artist Youlia Tkatchouk-Bobel in September thanks to a generous gift from alumni Mike and Louise McSweeney.
Refreshments will follow the brief ceremony. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP with Leah Garzarelli at (815) 753-5062. -- MORE
The Spring 2006 Teaching Effectiveness Institute will welcome Linda B. Nilson of Clemson University, who will address “Promoting Civility in the Classroom” from 8 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, in the Clara Sperling Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.
The deadline to register is Friday, Dec. 16. Click here for registration information. Contact Janet Giesen at (815) 753-1085 or giesen@niu.edu for further details.
The Women's Resource Center announces the publication of its new newsletter.
This publication will talk about programming and issues concerning women in the NIU community. This issue includes a survey that will help plan programming for next semester.
Check the center's Web page for information on other activities of interest.
The Office of Assessment Services is pleased to present the November 2005 issue of Toolkit, a “nuts and bolts” e-newsletter from Assessment Services.
This issue features articles on developing an equity scorecard; resources from the 2005 Assessment Institute; an interview with Shirley Richmond, dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences; and much more. Back issues are posted on the Assessment Services Web site under “Resources.”
Toolkit is specifically designed to assist the NIU community with practical assessment issues in a user-friendly format. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome at any time. The deadline for submitting articles for the next issue is Jan. 13, 2006.
NIU faculty and staff are invited to join the Noon Ball Association, commonly referred to as “the NBA” by longtime participants.
The organized pick-up basketball games run from noon to 1:30 p.m. each Monday, Wednesday and Friday at the Recreation Center. Courts are reserved for faculty and staff to play during those times. Play is open to all ages and abilities.
For more information, contact John Sweeney at (815) 753-9419 or jsweeney@niu.edu.
Beginning Jan. 1, a new state law will go into effect to address the fraud and abuse of disability placards and license plates.
For vehicles not displaying a valid disability license plate, disabled veteran plate or placard parked in spaces reserved for persons with disabilities, the fine will rise from $100 to $250. NIU's parking fine for “No Permit for Handicapped Space” will reflect this change and increase to $250.
For more details on this topic and state legislation, click here to view a press release from the Illinois Secretary of State's Web site.
The NIU Division of International Programs is accepting applications for Lillian Cobb Faculty Travel Fellowships, supporting faculty members who seek international teaching and public service experiences.
The fellowships will support faculty members for international travel from May 16 through Aug. 15. All tenured or tenure-track faculty members at NIU are eligible to apply. The deadline is Feb. 10.
Click here for program details. -- MORE
For travelers seeking something a little different, the mysterious and fascinating region of Morocco and Spain's Costa del Sol fits the bill. The March 10 to 18, 2006, trip begins with a stay at a seaside resort on Spain's sun-kissed Costa del Sol, and the adventure continues across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco.
For information on this and other alumni trips please visit www.myniu.com. To receive detailed information or to place your reservation, call (815) 753-1512 or e-mail alums@niu.edu.
A printable abridged version of Northern Today is available.
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