NIU takes teachers to Mexico
to inspire Hispanics to sciences
 This time it's the teachers who are going on the field trip.
NIU has taken 10 middle school and high school science instructors to the smoking Mt. Popocatépetl volcano, looming more than 17,000 feet over the Mexico City region's 20 million inhabitants.
Top Mexican scientists and NIU faculty will teach the teachers all about volcanoes as well as groundwater and other geologic topics. But the purpose isn't merely to study geology in the volcanic region. Rather, NIU hopes to awaken a population that has been relatively dormant in the university sciences in the United States: Hispanic students.
The geologic field experience is part of a $100,000 pilot program funded by the National Science Foundation and run by NIU to infuse multiculturalism and diversity into the classroom. Most of the participating teachers are from schools that have large Hispanic populations in such communities as Aurora, Streamwood and Hanover Park.
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 It's no surprise that many children in foster care experience unthinkable trauma, carry that emotional pain to school and quickly fall far behind in their studies.
What might come as a surprise, though, is that the many professionals devoted to helping these children are often on different pages speaking different languages.
A June 14 symposium on trauma, stress and education sponsored by NIU's Center for Child Welfare and Education, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, aimed to bring all sides together.
Ultimately, the participants want to achieve improved educational outcomes for children who have been traumatized with a special emphasis on those most-vulnerable children – those in foster care.
“Together we can change the lot of children who desperately need a better world,” NIU President John Peters, who was the convener, told the group at the day's beginning as he encouraged their collaboration.
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 NIU's Board of Trustees has approved new tuition rates for students enrolling this fall.
New undergraduate students taking 15 hours or more of classes per semester will pay $185 per credit hour, or $5,550 in tuition for 30 or more hours of classes during the 2006-07 academic year. That is an increase of about 10 percent over last year.
Under the Truth-in-Tuition law, that cost is locked in for incoming freshmen for the next eight consecutive semesters. NIU has added an additional “grace semester” to that period of time, freezing tuition rates for nine semesters.
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 Lemuel Watson, chair of the Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education since 2003, has become the College of Education's acting associate dean.
Watson is stepping in for Diane Jackman, who becomes dean of the Eastern Illinois University College of Education and Professional Studies later this week.
A search for a permanent replacement begins this fall, Dean Chris Sorensen said, and a successor should start work for the fall semester of 2007.
The search is on Watson's radar – he's considering throwing his name in the hat – as he considers the importance of the upcoming NCATE assessment and his duty to serve faculty needs. He also plans to continue teaching a class “here and there” and advising his 10 doctoral students, half of whom are in the dissertation stage.
“I'm so excited. There are lots of exciting things going on in the College of Education, and I'm looking forward to seeing the field in a totally different way,” Watson said.
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 A federal program that guarantees reasonable reimbursement for Medicare patients is saving and improving the participating rural hospitals while invigorating their local economies, an NIU study released last week shows.
The Critical Access Hospital Program translated to a $775 million economic impact in 44 counties throughout Illinois during 2005 alone.
Thirty-four of the state's 51 “critical access hospitals” provided input for the NIU Regional Development Institute report, which was presented today in Springfield at the Illinois Hospital Association's Small and Rural Hospitals 27 th annual meeting in conjunction with the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network.
“NIU's report really helps us to tell our story and show the tremendous strength of the program,” said Pat Schou, executive director of the Illinois Critical Access Hospital Network. “If you don't tell your story, you don't demonstrate your value and can be taken for granted. We can't be taken for granted. These small hospitals are still fragile.”
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 Cindy Henderson has been named acting executive director of Career Services, stepping in for Ron Short, who retires Thursday, June 29.
Henderson, who came to work at NIU in 2002, was previously the associate director of the department, responsible for coordinating job fairs, campus recruiting efforts, student outreach activities and marketing.
Prior to coming to NIU Henderson spent most of her career working in customer service for telephone companies. Many of the lessons she learned in that role are also essential to her new job, she said.
“Customer service is a very big part of what we do,” Henderson said.
FULL STORY
 NIU's Board of Trustees voted June 15 to approve several recommendations for faculty promotions, tenure and promotions with tenure.
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An exhibition titled “DeKalb at 150: The DeKalb Sesquicentennial” is open through June 30 in the lobby of Founders Memorial Lobby.
Plans are under way to welcome NIU's new and returning students for Fall 2006. The continued and valued support of the NIU family and DeKalb community is critical to transitioning this year's incoming students and their families into the Huskie family.
Michael J. Coakley, assistant vice president for Student Life, invites the university community to participate in this year's Welcome Days, from Thursday, Aug. 24, through Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Volunteers are needed to help the Division of Student Affairs at three events: Opening Day, Huskies Helping Huskies and House Calls. Volunteer for one, two, or all three activities. Any effort is appreciated.
Opening Day volunteers will assist students and their families, Thursday, Aug. 24, by driving golf carts loaded with student belongings from the family car to the residence hall. Student volunteers will help move students' possessions inside to their residence hall rooms. As a thank you, each volunteer will receive a free T-shirt and a $5 discount for the annual Huskie Bash that evening.
Huskies Helping Huskies volunteers will be stationed at kiosks across campus Monday, Aug. 28, or Tuesday, Aug. 29, to answer students' questions or direct them to a particular destination on campus.
House Calls volunteers will greet first-year students at assigned residence hall floors the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 29. Volunteers will welcome these students to campus and answer any questions. Because college is the first time many students are away from home, these house calls serve to calm any lingering fears these students might have.
Huskies Helping Huskies and House Calls volunteers each will receive a $5 discount for the annual Huskie Bash, the evening of Aug. 24.
Those who are able to join the Division of Student Affairs as it rolls out a red-carpet welcome for our new students should complete the volunteer registration.
Volunteers will be contacted over the summer with further details. Members of the NIU Operating Staff who wish to participate can request release from their normal duties. Staff participation is subject to supervisory approval and should not interfere with the normal operational needs of the university.
“Welcome Days are exciting, exhilarating and a little bit scary for new students and families,” Coakley said. “Thank you for considering joining our efforts to provide a warm welcome and a smooth transition to the NIU community.”
For more information, contact Linda Odom at (815) 753-9611 or lodom@niu.edu.
NIU's catalogs are now available in a new online content management format.
Both the 2006-07 undergraduate and graduate catalogs can be viewed. Among the features of the online catalogs are advanced search capabilities; a portfolio option where the user can save favorite programs and courses and connect with the Office of Admissions for additional information; and the ease of making changes and communicating revisions to faculty and staff who work with curriculum.
Print versions of the 2006-07 undergraduate catalog are already available, and print versions of the 2006-07 graduate catalog should be available by June 30. Archives of past undergraduate and graduate catalogs are available. Print versions of the 2006-07 catalogs are posted to those respective Web sites.
The NIU Women's Basketball team will host the Fore Hoops Golf Outing from 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 7, at River Heights Golf Course.
The cost is $100 for golf & dinner, $25 for dinner only, $100 for hole sponsorship, $25 for cart sponsorship and $475 for foursome golf and hole sponsorship.
Register by July 31 by contacting Assistant Coach Melissa Parker at (815) 753-1492 or parker@niu.edu.
NIU's Alumni Association is offering a private viewing Friday, Aug. 11, of “Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs” at the Field Museum in Chicago.
“Tutmania” is returning to the Field Museum for the first time in nearly 30 years. The 1977 exhibition attracted crowds of 10,000 to 12,000 a day, with more than 1.35 million visitors overall.
According to the Chicago Tribune “Though the new Tut show will run two months longer here than the first one, the museum said far fewer people will get to see the new one because of more rigorous security and conservation measures taken to protect the artifacts. Those measures mean the exhibit will be shown in a space just one-fifth the size the 1977 show was presented in, limiting the number of people who can move through it.”
The Alumni Association has secured a limited number of tickets for this private viewing. The ticket price of $150 includes a reception and dinner, an exclusive viewing for NIU guests and complimentary valet parking.
Register at www.myniu.com or call (815) 753-1452.
Limited seats are available for the NIU Alumni Association's “The Wonders of China,” a trip scheduled for Sept. 8 to 19. The cost is $3,599.
This land-and-river tour will visit Beijing, Xian and Shanghai and include stops at Tiananmen Square, the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Ming Tombs and the Tomb of Emperor Qun Shi Huangdi. The three-night Yangtze River cruise includes visits to Shibaozhai, Wushan and the Three Gorges Dam site.
For more information, visit www.myniu.com or call (815) 753-1512.
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