February 6, 2006, Northern Today Abridged

Marketing chair Schoenbachler recommended
for NIU College of Business dean post

Denise Schoenbachler, chair of the Department of Marketing in the NIU College of Business, will become dean of the college July 1, according to an announcement from Provost Ivan Legg.

The appointment, which requires final approval next month from NIU's Board of Trustees, concludes a lengthy national search for a successor to former Dean David Graff.

“Dr. Schoenbachler is a superb choice to lead the College of Business ,” Legg said. “We looked at candidates from across the country. Ultimately, however, it was clear to the search committee that it was Denise who had the best skills and proper temperament to lead the college.”

NIU President John Peters praised the selection.

“In her role as a chair, she has been a dynamic leader and builder of partnerships – within the college, across campus and with businesses throughout the region,” Peters said. “Those skills will serve the College of Business well as she helps raise it to new heights.”

Schoenbachler, who earned her bachelor's degree and MBA at the University of Louisville, and her doctorate at the University of Kentucky, arrived at NIU as an assistant professor of marketing in 1992. She moved up through the ranks to associate professor (with tenure) in 1997 and became a full professor in 2003.

She earned the department's Excellence in Teaching Award for six straight years (from 1996 to 2002) and created the direct marketing area of study. A prolific researcher throughout her career, she also has received numerous Best Paper awards.

After being named chair of the Marketing Department in 2002, Schoenbachler built a reputation as an effective leader and fundraiser. Her accomplishments include doubling funding for student scholarships, securing two new funded professorships, securing the college's first endowed scholarship in marketing and developing and funding a scholar-mentor program.

During her time as chair, she also has built a number of partnerships, developing joint programs and events with the Department of Communication, the Psychology Department and the School of Family , Consumer, and Nutrition Sciences. It was also under her direction that the department launched its successful “NIU Apprentice” class, which drew international publicity.

Schoenbachler also has been active on a number of college and university committees, including the Provost's Department Chair Task Force on Diversity, the University Academic Planning Council, the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and the College of Business Strategic Planning Council.

Schoenbachler said she anticipates maintaining that high level of involvement and activity and relishes the challenges ahead.

“There is so much energy in the college. It's like a rocket ship waiting to launch,” she said. “We have incredible faculty, hard-working students, terrific staff and wonderful facilities. I am honored and excited to have this opportunity.”

Among her priorities, she said, will be increasing fundraising, developing new centers of excellence and raising the college profile, not only in Chicago, but nationally.

Achieving those goals will not always be easy, Schoenbachler concedes, but she doesn't mind because she has a personal investment in the college.

“NIU, especially the College of Business, means a lot to me,” she said. “I have built my career here, and I've watched the college grow and develop. I cried when they announced the construction of Barsema Hall. And my son is a recent alumnus of the college. I have a very personal stake in the NIU College of Business and I intend to see that it thrives.”

Schoenbachler will take over the dean's post from William Tallon, who has served as acting dean since Graf's departure last May. She is the second member of the college faculty in the past year to become a dean, following in the footsteps of Greg Carnes, who recently became dean of the College of Business at Lipscomb University .

Homeland security certificate catches public's attention

The creation of a new certificate program on campus often can pass with little notice from the outside world.

Such was not the case last month when NIU announced it is developing certificate programs in homeland security and was selected to create a foundations course for other such programs at colleges and universities across the state.

Media in Rockford and DeKalb County quickly seized upon the story, and the response was swift and significant.

“It's been crazy,” said Dennis Cesarotti, a professor in the Department of Technology who is crafting the foundation course and who sits on the campus-wide committee working on creation of the certificates. “I have been chained to my desk just returning phone calls and e-mails from people interested in getting more information. I spent four hours doing that Monday and another hour-and-a-half Tuesday, and I still have more messages to return.”

By midweek, Cesarotti estimated that he had done interviews with 10 media outlets (including all three Rockford television stations) and had spoken to more than 30 individuals interested in getting more information about the program.

Callers have included fire department officials from Chicago and DeKalb, experienced disaster management professionals looking to sharpen their skills and build their credentials, human resource directors who double as safety officers and even a church secretary.

That interest from so many different quarters was in keeping with what Cesarotti has said about the program from the start.

“People from all walks of life can benefit from the skills that will be taught in the class,” he said. “The skills and knowledge gain in this class can make any one a much more valuable employee and give them a competitive edge while seeking employment.”

Not surprisingly, the biggest group of inquiries came from NIU students.

“Students are excited about the program and the field of homeland security,” Cesarotti said. “Many of them are very altruistic. I think events like 9-11 and Hurricane Katrina touched them and they view this as something they can do to help their country and humanity. Others recognize that having the skills this program will provide will be a leg up in a competitive job market.”

To meet the needs of people from so many different backgrounds and with such diverse interests, the university will soon offer a broader array of homeland security certificates, said Mary Pritchard, associate dean of Health and Human Sciences, who has helped guide the interdisciplinary committee that is developing the certificates.

In addition to the already approved track in manufacturing and industrial technology, other tracks are being created in the areas of biochemical sciences, environmental and hazards risk assessment and health sciences. The goal is to have those certificates approved by May, and graduate-level versions are in the works.

“Unfortunately, this is a hot topic,” Pritchard said. “Students see it as a growth industry, and people already in the industry need this kind of information and, until now, it has been difficult for them to find. People we are hearing from are delighted to see NIU taking the lead in meeting this need.”

NIU lands scholar with international experience
to head Office of Sponsored Projects

The head of an international research center based in Greece will become the new director of NIU's Office of Sponsored Projects.

David A. Stone, 44, originally from Ann Arbor, Mich., will take his new post in late March. He brings to NIU extensive experience in interdisciplinary research, both as an investigator and program manager.

NIU's Office of Sponsored Projects is responsible for informing faculty of external funding opportunities, helping faculty develop new research and public service projects and assuring that NIU grant proposals meet governmental guidelines.

“This is a key position,” said Rathindra Bose, NIU vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School. “Public universities cannot thrive on tuition and state subsidies alone, so it is important that we accelerate the growth of our external funding for research, which informs the teaching of our professors and provides real-world learning opportunities for our students.

“David Stone is a complete scholar with a stellar record of attracting grant money for his own research and of helping others develop creative and successful interdisciplinary projects,” Bose added.

Stone said he is looking forward to continuing the momentum already established by Sponsored Projects. The university submits about 500 grant proposals annually, and last year brought in a record $60 million in external funding. Former OSP Director Linda Schwarz retired in December.

“Under Dr. Bose's leadership, Linda Schwarz and her staff significantly increased the level of funded research over the past few years,” Stone said in an interview via e-mail. “Since they have gotten the ball rolling, any changes that I may look to make – for example, putting more OSP support closer to the action in specific schools or departments – will be much more manageable and likely to succeed.

“It also is very heartening to me that NIU brings in nearly as much money for public service programs as it does for research,” he added. “This is an ethos that I very much share.”

Stone holds a Ph.D. in technology and society from Boston University, where he also earned a combined bachelor's and master's degree in forensic psychiatry studies. All of his academic training was in a special interdisciplinary program.

“My training led me to see that each discipline, each perspective, has inherent blind spots and limitations,” Stone said. “That's a lesson that I have tried to incorporate in all of my subsequent work, either by taking a multi-disciplinary approach to questions and problems myself or by working in multi-disciplinary teams wherever possible.”

Since 2003, he has served as founding director of the South-East European Research Centre, an international research center and think tank jointly established by the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom and CITY College in Greece.

His primary tasks included assembling 14 international interdisciplinary research groups, which served as the core of the center's activities. The effort required working with faculty, deans, university presidents, politicians and business and non-governmental organization leaders to facilitate the development of robust and workable research agendas.

Stone also served as an associate professor at CITY College and as the director of sponsored research at the American College of Thessaloniki. Prior to working in Europe, he held numerous academic and administrative appointments, notably as director of research at the Fenway Community Health Center in Boston , director of the Boston Violence Prevention project at the Harvard School of Public Health, and as associate director of the Pediatric and Adolescent Health Research Center at the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Stone also was founder and director of the BostonCares for Injured Youth program, developed to reduce the risk of re-injury to Boston youth who had been victims of violence. He has served as a principal investigator for a number of nationally funded studies and has numerous publications in the areas of public health, health services, health policy, political science and philosophy.

Stone said friends and colleagues urged him to explore openings at larger universities, but he believes genuine efforts to work across disciplines can be more difficult at those bigger institutions.

“I am very drawn to the scale of NIU,” he said. “My sense is that the university is large enough to be a nationally and internationally important player in terms of its research and program output, while at the same time understanding itself to be an open and integral intellectual community. And the fact that research at NIU is strong not only in physics and engineering, but also across the liberal arts and the humanities, also made the position here very appealing.”

With competition for external dollars becoming more intense, Stone sees significant challenges ahead for his office.

“The OSP will need to be a proactive part of a university-wide process to develop signature programs in both research and service that set NIU apart from the competition,” he said. “This will become especially important if the share of funds from private donors and international funding sources is to make up for gaps and shortfalls in federal support.”

NIU professor still proposes Rasch model
to improve skating judging despite new system

Reforms in the way figure skating is judged actually create more opportunities for error, says a Northern Illinois University professor who proposes the use of a Rasch model as a way to monitor judge performance.

The International Skating Union's new scoring process, which the world will experience in this month's Torino winter games, requires judges to rate each element (a jump, for example) of a skater's routine as it happens. They then score the entire performance on five program components (skating skills, linking footwork, execution, choreography and interpretation) rather than giving overall scores to an entire performance's technical and artistic merits.

Research has shown that the subjective realm of scoring can become more objective if the rating scale has minimal criteria to consider and is applied correctly, and consistently, by judges. Unfortunately, with the new system's two rating scales each having several criteria to consider, agreement among all judges will be difficult to achieve.

Meanwhile, the computer's random selection and arbitrary display of scores will keep secret the identities of the judges and remove them from public scrutiny and accountability. The public cannot tell whether a judge is showing favoritism to a countryman.

“It's disappointing,” says Marilyn Looney, a professor in the NIU College of Education's Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education.

“Cheating can occur no matter what scoring system is used. Randomly drawing nine scores from 12 judges, and dropping a high and low score, will not guarantee that biased scores are eliminated,” she adds. “The most important question that the ISU must address is: ‘Has the judge applied his or her interpretation of the scoring system consistently across all competitors and across each aspect of performance evaluated?' ”

Looney says the use of a many-facet Rasch model can help answer this question.

Its tracking of judges' scores across a competition can reveal when they break from their pattern, and thrust their objectivity into question. Had the Rasch model been used for the pairs skating competition during the 2002 winter Olympics in Salt Lake City , it would have flagged an unusual scoring pattern by the French judge who later was suspended.

Developed in the 1960s by Danish statistician Georg Rasch, the Rasch model (as expanded upon in 1989 by Mike Linacre, currently an adjunct professor at the University of Sydney, Australia) defines the characteristics of a valid scoring system:

• Judges will be more likely to give higher scores to easier than harder aspects of performance.
• Skaters with greater ability are more likely to receive higher scores than less able skaters.
• Skaters will be more likely to receive higher scores from more lenient than severe judges.

The model's parameter estimates are used to compute expected scores for each skater. Software developed to perform a Rasch analysis detects when a judge gives an unexpected score, such as a high score to a less-able skater and vice versa.

“It is now more difficult to apply a many-facet Rasch model to ISU judges' scores,” she says, citing the lack of information revealed about the judges. “Secrecy surrounding the judges' scores does not build the public's trust in how fairly the winners are selected.”

Fortunately, the governing body for U.S. skaters will continue to reveal scores of its own championships.

“U.S. Figure Skating should be commended for deviating from the ISU policy by linking the judges' identities to their scores,” Looney says. “This allows those who are interested to investigate better ways to monitor judge performance.”

One positive aspect of the new rules is the almost-immediate review of a judge's performance following a competition. “In the past, the ISU did not evaluate the judges' performances until the end of the skating season,” she says. “If I were a biased judge, I could have given biased marks throughout the season.”

Yet the new system also discards information that can help analyze judge performance.

ISU officials will use a “trimmed mean” to determine if judges scored out of sync by eliminating the bottom two scores and the top two scores and calculating the average of the remaining eight scores. Judges whose number of deviations from the trimmed mean exceed a predetermined cut-off are flagged, Looney says, “but this is based on the assumption that the high and low scores are biased.”

The use of a Rasch model would take all available data into account when scrutinizing judges, she says. “I may be a judge who gives low scores because I'm the tough judge,” she says, “but I'd better be a tough judge across all skaters.”

Looney, who has paid attention to figure skating since Nancy Kerrigan's loss to Oksana Baiul in 1994, says the new scoring is changing the sport: Because certain elements carry higher base values, observers expect to see skaters who have mastered those jumps and spins to pack their programs with them.

The new scoring also has Looney wondering what data have merit for scrutiny.

“I'm flagging anomalies in scoring, not judges. I need an ISU judge to sit down with me and provide feedback on the validity of what's being flagged,” she says. “This (new) approach shows promise in helping sport governing bodies improve judge training and monitor the performance of the judges for bias, but further research needs to be done to see if judges' scores consistently fit the many-facet Rasch model, and if international judges agree with the explanations for the flagged anomalies and their significance.”

NIU literacy professor to lead Illinois Reading Council

Hiding behind the myriad Mary Engelbreit tote bags in Pamela Nelson's Gabel Hall office are hundreds of books, but most are unlike the texts and other academic volumes typical to a professor's workspace.

These are children's books – Nelson's passion – and she can quickly locate on her shelves a book she's recommended to a parent of pre-schoolers. She gasps with delight at the mere mention of children's authors or titles she adores. A cart of books preferred by boys sits near her desk as it works to balance the appeal of her collection.

Children's books even top her list of reading for pleasure.

Fittingly, the professor in the NIU Department of Literacy Education is poised to become president of the Illinois Reading Council in June.

“Being able to read, write, listen, speak and interpret visual information impacts all parts of my life,” says Nelson, who came to the NIU College of Education in 2002 after nine years on the faculty of Dominican University in River Forest.

“Being literate helps me take care of day-to-day tasks and make new discoveries. Being literate helps me find the words for what I may have been thinking or feeling and couldn't communicate,” she adds. “As Louise Rosenblatt would say, ‘It helps us carry away information. It also allows us to live through the experience of others.' ”

The Illinois Reading Council, based in Normal , has about 5,900 members and hosts the nation's second-largest state conference on reading. Nelson organized this spring's event, scheduled for March 16 to 18 in Springfield .

“We are a large, active group,” Nelson says. “We encourage teachers and professors to keep examining their practice and refining their practice and to support each other as they try something new. Professional involvement is what keeps you happy with what you're doing.”

Norm Stahl, chair of the NIU Department of Literacy Education, calls Nelson a “bundle of energy” who will make a “tremendous impact.”

“Pam is a tremendous organization person who has served the IRC doggedly over the years and provided leadership, both to individuals who are established reading specialists and those who are coming up the line,” Stahl says.

“My inclination is we'll see a presidency that advocates the importance of students having opportunities to work with the best of children's and young adolescent literature. That is her love, of course. She is the archetypical book lady, not unlike Mary Poppins, magically appearing with her load of children's books.”

As president, Nelson hopes to grow the membership by reaching out to young teachers and diverse teachers across the P-20 spectrum. The ideas shared at conferences can literally change the lives of children, she says.

Nelson herself became involved with an International Reading Association reading council while still a young teacher in Kansas . A colleague who noticed Nelson was “inundated” with the job invited her to a conference where she heard the late children's author and literacy advocate Bill Martin Jr. speak of his holistic approach to reading in the curriculum.

Martin's words resonated with Nelson when she moved to Arizona and began linking her reading lessons with those in math, science and social studies and watching how the children responded to instruction embedded in a story or a trip to the museum.

“I could see how important reading was for the students. It made a difference. They got it,” she says. “It's exciting to see a world open for somebody. They can do something they couldn't do before.”

When Nelson moved to Illinois and enrolled as a graduate student at NIU, she took advantage of “the wonderful, wonderful conferences” available through the Illinois Reading Council and the Northern Illinois Reading Council, where she started her service as a hospitality chairman.

“We need to make sure we're reaching out. That is what I really want. We need to have some teachers within their first four years,” she says. “As we diversify our membership, we have more opportunities for different types of projects, and people are going to see new needs to meet.”

Involving graduate students in literacy also is among Nelson's goals.

“I know how important it is to get these graduate students to present papers. It was very significant for me. It made me aware of that much larger piece of the puzzle going on at a much higher level, and I felt more connected to the rest of the state.”

Nelson's students in children's literature already are required to attend one local reading council meeting during their studies. They usually witness school teachers who already have spent hours in their classrooms gathering at night simply to improve their abilities, she says.

“They see these people out there doing it,” she says of her graduate students, “and they know the children in those teachers' classes are the ones who are going to benefit the next day.”

NIU program gives high school students
unique insights into human anatomy

The use of cadavers in the study of the human body is a common practice in medical schools and health-related college curriculums. But a unique program using cadavers at NIU is providing intensive lessons in human anatomy to a new audience: high school students.

Over a three-month period beginning in mid-February, more than 350 juniors and seniors from 11 high schools in the region will spend a day or two at NIU studying prosected (pre-dissected) human cadavers.

The program, which has received glowing reviews from teachers and students alike, goes well beyond the average field-trip experience. Students spend at least a full day in the laboratory working their way through assignments tailored for their specific classrooms. Grades count back at the students' hometown schools.

“It's an experience like none other for high school students, and one that we hope will spark interest in pursuing careers in the health professions,” said Chris Hubbard, the NIU professor of biological sciences who teaches anatomy at the university and runs the outreach program for high school students.

“Students at the high schools flock to get into these courses,” he added. “They think it's cool.”

Since it was launched three years ago, enrollment in the short-course in human anatomy has more than doubled. It's so popular that Hubbard has received inquiries from as far away as Houston, Texas. Several area schools hoping to participate this spring had to be turned away.

NIU offers a master's degree program with a specialization in human anatomical science, designed to equip graduates to teach anatomy and physiology at the community college and high school levels. Two graduates of that program came up with the idea of bringing their high school students to NIU, and Hubbard later expanded the outreach effort.

“Our goal was to provide instructional resources that are otherwise unavailable in high schools,” Hubbard said. “We also wanted to give students a unique inquiry-based course that places the responsibility for learning on them. When students learn by doing, the science classroom becomes an exciting challenge.”

High school science teachers see multiple benefits of the program.

“I think it's good exposure for kids that are thinking about going into a health field,” said Sharon Olson, a biology teacher at Wheaton Warrenville South High School. She is planning to bring her Advanced Placement Biology class to NIU for the third consecutive spring.

“In order to spark that future nurse or doctor, oftentimes it is that practical hands-on experience that does it for them,” Olson said. “They come away saying, ‘Yeah, I know this is what I want to do now.' I had students say that last year. I've also had one or two over the years who said, ‘I don't think I could do this.' Either way it's good.”

Deborah Daly, a health occupations teacher at Larkin High School, also is coming back for a third consecutive year. She credits the NIU program as a factor in the growth of her own course for Larkin seniors studying human anatomy for the health care worker. Enrollment has nearly tripled in three years.

“My students look forward to it all year,” said Daly, a former emergency room nurse. “The opportunity has really raised the curriculum up a notch for Larkin. It's one thing to show a student models, pictures and diagrams. It's quite another thing to view the actual human body and have an opportunity to see it truly as it is. Concepts that are difficult to get across in our regular classroom become so much clearer.”

Prior to the short course, high school teachers attend a lab orientation, view the facilities and then develop a syllabus suitable for their classroom needs. When students arrive, they don protective eyewear and rubber gloves and spend one to two days rotating through five different work stations, including three with cadavers.

“When the students first come in, they're sort of standing there wondering what they've gotten themselves into,” Hubbard said. “But it's not the macabre setting that people might imagine.

“We explain that few students, aside from those pursuing health-related degrees, have an opportunity to learn about the human body in this way,” he added. “We stress that this will be a positive experience, and that they must treat the cadavers with respect. When we finally whisk off the sheets, there's not much reaction at all. Once they put on the gloves, the reticence is gone.”

In addition to Hubbard, NIU graduate students and biology Professor Dan Olson, who directs the anatomy lab, man the laboratory stations, providing introductory information and answering student questions.

“We feel exposing the students to some of the complexities and rigors of a college anatomy course can only be beneficial,” Olson said. “We also introduce teachers to some of our teaching techniques, and we learn from them as well.”

The cadavers are prosected in such a way that organs are removable for study. “If we're examining the respiratory system, for example, we might remove a lung and hand it around,” Hubbard added. “The students are amazed, and when learning about anatomy, it's important for them to not only recognize different organs but also to understand what they feel like.”

The outreach effort was initially started with a small grant from the American Association of Anatomists. High schools are assessed a fee of $35 per student, although the fee will be waived for any student who cannot afford it.

Hubbard said he is looking into ways of possibly expanding the program, but it would require more personnel and more cadavers. The NIU Department of Biological Sciences has maintained its own body donor program since 1990. Like other programs across the country, NIU is experiencing a severe shortage of donors.

“In past years, high school students visiting NIU for the short course have performed dissections, but this year we simply don't have enough bodies,” Hubbard said, adding that NIU programs in physical therapy and physical education both use the cadaver laboratory as well.

“Most of our donations come from people in this region, and they must specifically sign up with us,” he said.

More information on the body donation program is available online at http://www.bios.niu.edu/body_donation.html.

C.T. Lin will give real-world examples
in Presidential Teaching Professor seminar

C.T. Lin practices what he preaches.

NIU's award-winning chemistry professor believes students learn best through real-world illustrations that connect chemistry with its everyday applications. Lin himself provides a shining example.

In 1999, Lin and the university launched ChemNova Technologies, Inc., a spin-off company that applies his basic-research discoveries to real-world problems. Today, by some estimates, the company is valued at about $5 million. It holds nine U.S. and international patents and has provided a working laboratory for countless NIU students.

“The research that I do not only informs my teaching but excites students, who see how theory is applied to real-life situations and learn lessons about entrepreneurship,” says Lin, who in 2001 earned NIU's top honor for teaching, the Presidential Teaching Professorship.

Lin will lead “Real-Life Examples: Connecting Learning and Research in Practical Applications,” a Presidential Teaching Professor Seminar scheduled for noon Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Refreshments will be served at 11:30 a.m. All are invited.

“All teachers must be life-long learners, and with this series of Presidential Teaching Professor seminars, our hope is that NIU's very best teachers on campus will share their winning strategies,” Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver says. “We hope the seminar will be well-attended as C.T. Lin provides his thoughts and insights on how to our inspire students to reach their potential.”

Lin taught in his native Taiwan and in Singapore and Brazil before coming to NIU in 1985. He has since captured all three of NIU's major faculty awards, including the Presidential Research Professorship (2004) and the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award (1999).

The veteran professor of chemistry and biochemistry often relates complex chemical principles to real-world events or analogies that students can easily grasp. A warming hug, for example, helps explain heat transfer, while the Great Wall of China becomes a visual tool for teaching particle-in-a-box behavior in quantum theory. His spin-off company serves as a real-world lesson in bringing basic research to the marketplace.

During his presentation, Lin will discuss examples of technologies that students assisted in developing at ChemNova, including an environmentally friendly coating for metal that uses a chemical bond to enhance adhesion and inhibit corrosion. Lin and his students also are developing a nano-particles coating that kills bacteria and a “laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy system” that identifies different types of bacteria.

“I hope to make ChemNova an example of how spin-off companies can benefit both the university and its students,” Lin says.

Lin teaches everything from freshman chemistry to graduate courses. Over the past two decades plus, dozens of undergraduate-, graduate- and Ph.D.-level students have been involved in his research.

Kudos

A book by Alfred Tatum, an assistant professor in the NIU College of Education's Department of Literacy Education, has been named a “Choice Outstanding Academic Title of 2005.”

Tatum's “Teaching Reading to Black Adolescent Males: Closing the Achievement Gap” now is considered among “the best of the best in published scholarship.” Choice's prestigious list reflects the best in scholarly titles reviewed during the previous calendar year, and brings with it the extraordinary recognition of the academic library community.

The list is quite selective, containing about 10 percent of some 6,600 works reviewed in Choice each year. Choice's editors base their selections on the reviewer's evaluation of the work, the editor's knowledge of the field and the reviewer's record.

In awarding Outstanding Academic Titles, the editors apply several criteria to reviewed titles, including overall excellence in presentation and scholarship, importance relative to other literature in the field, distinction as a first treatment of a given subject in book or electronic form, originality or uniqueness of treatment, value to undergraduate students and importance in building undergraduate library collections.

* * *

Doug Boughton, professor of art education in the NIU School of Art, has won a national award from USSEA, the United States Society for Education through Art.

The USSEA presents the Edwin Ziegfeld Awards annually to honor one American and one international art educator who have made an outstanding and internationally recognized contribution to art education through exceptional records of achievement in scholarly writing, research, professional service, or community service.

The award will be presented at the USSEA luncheon during the NAEA (National Art Education Association) national convention in Chicago this March.

Toolkit available online

The Office of Assessment Services has published the February issue of Toolkit, its quarterly “nuts and bolts” e-newsletter.

This issue features results of alumni surveys; a rubric that helps Chemistry and Biochemistry faculty assess student learning at the capstone level; and an inside look at Residential Dining taste tests. This issue also features multiple opportunities to attend assessment workshops and conferences, which offer faculty and staff plenty of prospects for discovering new tools, and networking with one another. 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 Wednesday, April 5.

Founders lobby exhibition highlights black arts movement

“The Black Panthers and Black Arts Movement: The Fortieth Anniversary” is on display in the Founders Memorial Library lobby through Tuesday, Feb. 28. Contact Ladka Khailova at (815) 753-1351 for more information.

NIU School of Art presents visiting artist program Feb. 8

Christopher Roy, professor of art history at the University of Iowa, will speak at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8, on “Religious Laws and Graphic Patterns in the Art of Burkina Faso.”

Roy will speak on the ways graphic patterns are used by the Lobi and the Bwa in Burkina Faso to communicate the moral and ethical laws people must follow to receive God's blessings.

The event in Room 100 of Jack Arends Hall is free and open to the public. A reception follows in Gallery 214. Free event parking provided in the parking lot on the south side of Jack Arends Hall from 4:45 to 7 p.m.

For more information, contact Peter van Ael at (815) 753-1473 or via e-mail at pvanael@niu.edu.

Kishwaukee Concert Band to resume rehearsals Feb. 8

The Greater Kishwaukee Area Concert Band will resume rehearsals for the spring on at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8. The rehearsals are held in the band room of Huntley Middle School, located at the corner of Seventh and Taylor streets in DeKalb.

John Hansen is the director for this all-volunteer band made up of anyone 18 and older who has played a wind or percussion instrument in the past. No auditions are necessary; all that is needed is the enjoyment of playing an instrument. New members are always welcome.

For more information, call Sue at (815) 899-4867 or John at (815) 825-2350.

University Women's Club hosts valentine's/TGIF party

The University Women's Club will host a valentine's/TGIF party from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, at Taxco, 223 State St. in Sycamore.

The “South of the Border Social” features Mexican appetizers and cash bar. The cost of $7.50 per person is due today to Joyce Angotti. Spouses, friends and partners are invited.

Unity in Diversity hosts contest to select theme

NIU's Unity in Diversity Steering Committee each year selects a theme that is used during the following academic year to promote diversity awareness on campus. The contest is open to all students, faculty and staff, and offers a $75 prize for the winning entry.

Submission criteria and entry forms are available at:

Student Involvement & Leadership Development, Campus Life Building 150
Diversity & Equity Office, Campus Life Building 230
LGBT Resource Center, Holmes Student Center 7th Floor
Women's Resource Center, 105 Normal Road
Asian American Center, 429 Garden Road
Center for Access-Ability Resources, Health Services, 4th Floor
Latino Resource Center, 515 Garden Road
Center for Black Studies, Lincoln Highway
Affirmative Action & Diversity Resources, Lincoln Highway

Entries must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, to Student Involvement and Leadership Development, Campus Life Building Room 150.

The winning theme will be used in the design of the Unity in Diversity Poster, which will be professionally printed and distributed throughout campus, and also will be framed and mounted as part of the permanent UID poster collection display in the Holmes Student Center.

The theme contest winner will be recognized at the Diversity & Equity Award Ceremony, held at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom.

AADR presents series of stories, experiences

Affirmative Action and Diversity Resources (AADR) has announced the first spring 2006 date of its Collective Stories and Cultural Experiences series.

Leroy Mitchell, director of CHANCE, and Nakia Brown, from the Center for Black Studies, are the guest panelists from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22, in Room 306 of the Holmes Student Center. Mitchell and Brown will lead discussion on “Why You Need Me: Red, Yellow, Black and White.”

Does cultural competency knowledge and awareness of diversity shape everything important in relating to one another? Where does the responsibility fall in deepening the understanding of assumptions and stereotypes which guide thought and behavior in the treatment of others and their differences?

These informative and interactive discussions focus upon various issues and concerns that impact the working and learning environments on campus. All are welcome.

For more information, contact Phinette Maszka, assistant director of mediation and diversity awareness programming, at (815) 753-6030, TTY (815) 753-2000 or at pmaszka@niu.edu. Please feel free to bring a lunch.

ITS explains coming changes to enterprise directory structure

The method in which new NIU employees and all student employees access information on our network will change Friday, March 10.

Local Area Network (LAN) administrators attended an informational session last month where they learned how to prepare their department for the event. An ITS “Let's Talk” brown bag lunch will be held Thursday, Feb. 23. At this time, any remaining questions will be answered by project team leads.

For more information, please read the NIU Enterprise Directory Update on the ITS Web site.

Nursing's Lusk to speak at networking luncheon

Brigid Lusk, acting chair of the NIU School of Nursing, will speak from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, on “Pretty and Powerless: A Historical Perspective of Nurses' Public Image.”

Reservations for the luncheon in the Chandelier Room of Adams Hall are required by Friday, Feb. 17. Cost is $7.50 per person. Call (815) 753-0320 for more information.

All NIU women – students, faculty and staff – are invited. The luncheon is sponsored by the Presidential Commission On the Status of Women.

Nominations sought for Outstanding Service Award

All university employees are reminded that nominations for the 2006 Outstanding Service Award for NIU civil service employees are due in Human Resource Services no later than 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 28.

The Outstanding Service Award is presented each year to as many as four NIU Civil Service employees. The program recognizes individual Civil Service employees who have demonstrated outstanding service and have made significant contributions to the university community.

A $1,500 award and a plaque will be presented this spring to each award recipient at the Annual Operating Staff Service Awards Banquet.

Nominations may be submitted by any current or retired employee of NIU. Nominees must be full- or part-time Civil Service employees who have been continuously employed at NIU since Feb. 1, 2000 or before.

More detailed information, including nomination forms and guidelines, can be found at http://www.niu.edu/osc/service.html.

Luncheon scheduled for International Women's Day

Valentine Moghadam, chief of gender equality and development for UNESCO's Social and Human Sciences Sector, will speak at NIU from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, for International Women's Day.

Moghadam will address “Feminism, Legal Reform, and Women's' Empowerment in the Middle East ” in the Chandelier Room of Adams Hall. Cost for the luncheon is $7.50 per person, and seating is limited. Reservations is required by March 1 at (815) 753-0320.

The luncheon is co-sponsored by the Women's Resource Center , Women's Studies Program and the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women.

Faculty Development seeks proposals for development grants

Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center is offering grants of up to $2,500 each annually to regular, continuing tenured or tenure track faculty.

The purpose of the grants is to encourage and support faculty development activities that directly benefit the applicants' departments, colleges and/or the university. Equal matching from the applicants' academic units or appropriate external sources is required

Five copies of each proposal, including the proposal cover sheet, accompanying letters of support and other relevant documents must be submitted to the Grant Review Subcommittee, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Adams Hall 319, by Friday, April 7, for activities scheduled between July 1 and Dec. 31.

Complete proposal guidelines and cover sheet are available. Faculty who plan to submit proposals and need more information are encouraged to register and attend the grant writing seminar scheduled for noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, March 9. To register, e-mail facdev@niu.edu.

NIU Steel Band to play with Chicago Sinfonietta

The NIU Steel Band is performing NIU faculty member Robert Chappell's “Wood 'N Steel” with the Chicago Sinfonietta twice in March.

The groups will play at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, March 12, with a pre-concert lecture from 1:30 to 2 p.m. at Dominican University , 7900 W. Division in River Forest, and at 7:30 p.m. Monday, March 13, with a pre-concert lecture from 6:30 to 7 p.m. at Orchestra Hall in Symphony Center.

Faculty Development seeks proposals for Raymond grant

Proposals are sought for the David W. Raymond Grant, an annual grant to faculty who are working on ways to use new technologies in their teaching. The $2,500 grant is awarded to the faculty member with the best proposal for incorporating new technologies into his or her teaching.

Tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply for the grant. Applicants must describe a project that incorporates instructional technologies in the teaching of a course or the preparation of supporting materials for a course according to the proposal format.

The proposal must include a budget for the project and a letter of support from the chair of the applicant's department, school or division. Five copies of each proposal should be submitted to the Grant Review Committee, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center , Adams Hall 319, by March 20.

For proposal format and additional information about the grant, contact facdev@niu.edu or (815) 753-0595.

2-6-06