Child advocate Sharon Freagon to retire
from Center for Child Welfare and Education
 Sharon Freagon, director of the Center for Child Welfare and Education at Northern Illinois University since its inception in 2000, will retire June 30.
The center, which strives to improve educational outcomes for children in the state’s foster care system, stems from Freagon’s 1994 appointment as chair of an Illinois Department of Children and Family Services task force on education.
Angela Baron-Jeffrey, the center’s assistant director, and Toni Tollerud, a professor in the NIU Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education, will succeed Freagon.
NIU President John G. Peters and the director of DCFS will continue to co-chair the center’s advisory board.
“Children in our state’s welfare system need an advocate who is passionate, tireless, committed and strong, and they have had such a person in Sharon Freagon. Her service to these young ones and their caretakers has come directly from her limitless heart,” Peters said.
“It’s my firm belief that Sharon has mirrored NIU’s ideals – to help our neighbors, to improve our region, to endorse education for all – and has done so nobly. We all will miss her greatly.”
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 A longtime key associate of Sharon Freagon and a veteran professor of school counseling will serve together as co-directors of Northern Illinois University’s Center for Child Welfare and Education.
The mission of the center is to assist in the education and development of children who have been abused and neglected, and to ensure academic success and social competence for children who are in state custody.
Angela Baron-Jeffrey, assistant director of the center, and Toni Tollerud, a professor in the NIU Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education, are set to replace Freagon, who is retiring at the end of June.
They hope to strengthen services to post-secondary and college students, rekindle a relationship with the Chicago Public Schools and work even closer with school counselors, social workers and classrooms teachers.
“It’s critical that we continue to provide the services these kids need and to be responsive to changes in the field. The population we serve needs us,” Baron-Jeffrey said.
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 NIU soon will begin creating new tools for K-12 educators to help them teach students worldwide about one of America’s greatest and most well-known authors.
The digitization unit of University Libraries has won a $155,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create lesson plans on the topic of author Mark Twain and his era.
The NIU-developed lesson plans will be added to “Mark Twain’s Mississippi,” an extensive Web site (http://dig.lib.niu.edu/twain/) produced by the library’s digitization unit and focusing on 19th century life along the Mississippi River, the topic of Twain’s most famous works.
The site is devoted to providing scholars, educators and students with primary source material, or materials created and published during the period of study, setting the author’s celebrated works into historical context.
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 A trio of professors dedicated to women’s history is working to ensure their scholarly interests are handed down to future generations.
Lucy Townsend, professor in the NIU College of Education’s Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations, and two colleagues from other universities have received a $5,000 grant from the International Society for Educational Biography in support of their “Educating Women Project.”
Plans include a 2008 conference in Chicago, a Web site with virtual mentoring, an electronic refereed journal and travel funds for women scholars from developing nations.
Townsend is joined in the project by Susan Laird from the University of Oklahoma and Susan Franzosa from Fairfield University in Connecticut.
“We all had developed courses on the philosophy and history of women’s education, but in recent years none of us has had enough students to offer the courses,” Townsend said.
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 The NIU Alumni Association annually recognizes the diverse accomplishments and contributions of the university’s most notable graduates.
Recipients are selected based on outstanding professional and personal success, as well as involvement in civic, cultural or charitable activities. The Alumni Association honored 10 recipients this spring at its 2007 awards program at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center at a private reception and dinner.
Honorees include Jeffrey M. Yordon, Donald E. Kieso, Vinay Mullick, Stuart L. Gaines, Gary S. Krahenbuhl, Joseph P. Sener, Linda J. Deering, Jeffrey M. Lenkov, Robert Katz and Bruce Alexander Niemi.
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 Read good news about – and send congratulations to – Larry Arhnart and Biswa Datta.
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Recreation Services is offering eight one-week summer sessions designed especially for youth ages 6 to 12.
A variety of activities such as art, crafts, sports, team building, outdoor activities, swimming and special field trips will broaden a child’s experience and enhance lifelong wellness.
More information and registration is available online or by calling (815) 753-0231.
To perform maintenance and repairs on high pressure steam lines on campus, the Physical Plant and Heating Plant will hold its annual steam outage.
East Campus: from 9 p.m. Sunday, May 27, or Monday, May 28, through noon Thursday, May 31, including all buildings east of Carroll Avenue, except for various other smaller buildings not served by steam. Domestic and heating hot water will not be available.
Address any questions or concerns to Kevin Vines, chief engineer, at (815) 753-6090 or via e-mail at kvines@niu.edu.
Selected artworks from the NIU Art Museum’s permanent collection will be available for rental and display in university offices.
Stop by the Altgeld Gallery (first floor, west end) on weekdays between Monday, June 4, and Wednesday, June 13, to select from the artwork on exhibit. A museum staff member will be available for consultation and to offer additional information about the artwork.
As in previous years, works will be assigned by lottery based on your preferred selections. Keep in mind it is helpful to know the number of pieces you will want for your office prior to viewing the exhibition.
As a reminder to current borrowers, works on paper that have been on loan for more than five years will need to be retrieved by the museum for conservation purposes as outlined in policy.
All funds generated from this program are used for the direct care and maintenance of the collection, including matting and framing to make new selections available. Both the initial installation fee and the annual rental fee cover only part of the Art Museum’s actual incurred costs.
For more information or a copy of the “Art to Lend” policy, call (815) 753-1936 or e-mail Pete Olson, the assistant director, at polson@niu.edu.
The NIU-National Safety Education Center will offer an OSHA record keeping course Monday, June 4, in the Engineering Building.
The half-day program will include recording requirements of the OSHA 300 log and the OSHA 300A summary log.
Other topics include hotlines, data updating, decision trees, first aid vs. medical treatment, OSHA vs. workman’s compensation reporting, audiometric testing, business travel, DART rate, incident rate, example situations, frequently asked questions and analysis for injury reduction.
Register by calling (800) 656-5317 or visit the NIU-National Safety Education Center Web site at http://www.earnyourcard.com.
The third annual Warehouse Safety Seminar will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 6, in the Engineering Building, Room 101.
The program will feature topics such as warehousing safety, most frequently cited violations, accidents in warehouses, forklift safety, hazard communication, ergonomics of material handling, dock safety, fall protection and safety and health management.
Register by calling (800) 656-5317 or visit the NIU-National Safety Education Center http://www.earnyourcard.com. The fee is $225.
First-Year Connections is looking for NIU faculty and SPS interested in volunteering their time to mentor new students during their transition to NIU.
The Student-Faculty Links mentorship program is a component of Orientation and First-Year Experience. Each Student-Faculty Links mentor is asked to fill out a short survey to match him or her with a new student who expresses similar interests or is in a related academic department.
Mentors and protégées then are notified in early August with each other’s contact information and are invited to an informal reception hosted by the FYC staff on Friday, Aug. 24. All subsequent meetings are to be determined by the mentor and the student.
The program gives NIU faculty and SPS staff a unique opportunity to reach out and make a difference in the lives of new students.
If you are interested in mentoring a new student for fall 2007 or would like to learn more, contact First-Year Connections by phone at (815) 753-0028 or e-mail firstconn@niu.edu.
NIU Huskie Athletics is offering summer camps focusing on a variety of sports, including athletic training, baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer, softball, volleyball and wrestling. The camps are designed for youth of various ages.
Detailed information and registration are available online.
Registration for the summer edition of the FIT Program will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June, 12, through Thursday, June 14, in Anderson Hall 127.
All current and new members should attend one of the days to update paperwork and have their blood pressure taken. E-mail fit@niu.edu for any questions or information regarding the FIT program.
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