Kudos

Norman A. Stahl, professor and chair of NIU's Department of Literacy Education, has been elected president of the National Reading Conference.

Stahl will serve one year as vice president, one year as president-elect and one year as president of the NRC, which is dedicated to promoting literacy research, theory and best practice with membership worldwide.

He takes office in December.

Stahl, who came to NIU in 1986, said “it is a great honor to be elected to such a post by the research community in the field of literacy.”

“Never before has there been greater need for scholarly discourse and action focused on literacy theory and research in the United States and in the other countries with members in the NRC. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the nation and around the world in promoting the goals of the NRC as the field's research organization,” he said.

“The National Reading Conference has been my professional home for my entire career,” he added. “I have had the privilege of serving on numerous committees, been the chair of the Policies and Legislative Committee, served as the NRC historian and been a member of the Board of Directors.”

Stahl also was president of the College Reading Association and chair of the Board of Directors of the American Reading Forum, and he has served on numerous committees of the International Reading Association and other professional organizations. He has given more than 200 presentations and workshops for professional organizations, postsecondary institutions, and school systems across the country.

He has more than 100 publications focusing primarily on postsecondary reading and the history of reading instruction including the recent text, “Teaching Developmental Reading,” from Bedford/St. Martin's Press.

In addition, he has been the recipient of the Distinguished Research Award from the College Reading and Learning Association, the Outstanding Publication Award from the National Association of Developmental Education and the award for Outstanding Writing in the Field of College Reading and Study Skills from the College Reading Improvement Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association.

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A higher education journal has a new home at NIU, with Denise L. Rode, NIU's director of Orientation, as its editor.

“The Journal of College Orientation and Transition” focuses on the trends, practices, research, and development of programs, policies, and activities related to the matriculation, orientation, transition, and retention of college students.

The Journal, published twice a year by the National Orientation Directors Association, has a circulation of 1,500. NODA members receive the Journal as a benefit of membership.

Rode is assisted by a team of associate editors located on campuses such as the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, the University of Missouri-Columbia, George Mason University and Clemson University .

Sheena C. Williams, graduate assistant with the NIU Orientation Office, serves as managing editor for The Journal. Williams is a 2004 graduate of Western Illinois University with a degree in English. She currently is pursuing a master of arts degree in English at NIU.

Rode has directed orientation programs at Northern since 1987 and earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at the university. She has served on the NODA Board of Directors, has co-hosted a national NODA conference, and has previously been senior associate editor of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition.

In 2002, she was named NODA's outstanding orientation professional. In July, she completed a two-year term as president of Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society, which has more than 200 chapters at colleges and universities across the country.

9-12-05