NIU President John and Mrs. Barbara Peters have announced their annual holiday luncheon for the NIU community, a festive tradition for all friends and colleagues of the university.
This spirited event to celebrate the joy of the holiday season is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center. A buffet lunch will be served.
Contact Ellen Andersen at (815) 753-1999 or via e-mail at ellena@niu.edu for more information.
Students’ Legal Assistance is celebrating its new location at the Campus Life Building, Room 120, with an open house from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29. Refreshments will be served.
Students’ Legal Assistance is a department of the Division of Student Affairs and funded by the NIU Student Association. Faculty, staff and students are invited to share in the festivities.
NIU’s College of Law will host a farewell reception for Dean LeRoy Pernell from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29, in the Marshall Gallery of Swen Parson Hall.
After a decade of outstanding service to the law school and the university, Pernell has accepted the deanship at the Florida A&M University College of Law.
Desserts and beverages will be served.
The Greater Kishwaukee Area Concert Band will present “An Old Fashioned Christmas” at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8. The concert will be held in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall inside NIU’s Music Building. The concert is sponsored by The Medicine Stop in DeKalb.
John Hansen will direct the all-volunteer band in many familiar Christmas carols and songs, and Gavin Wilson will be the guest vocalist. The concert is free, and the auditorium is accessible to all.
The DeKalb Festival Chorus will join forces with the Prairie Brass Band to perform Daniel Pinkham’s Christmas cantata at 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall inside NIU’s Music Building.
Several traditional, and not-so-traditional, seasonal songs also will be featured.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and students. Tickets are available at the door or from any Festival Chorus member.
NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center will host the Spring 2008 Teaching Effectiveness Institute from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, in the Capitol Room of the Holmes Student Center.
The theme is “Promoting Active Learning Through Blended Courses.” Presenters are Alan Aycock, Amy Mangrich and Tanya Joosten, all from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Learning Technology Center. Aycock is associate director; Mangrich and Joosten are instructional design consultants.
A blended/hybrid course uses a blend of face-to-face as well as online teaching and learning activities. Successful teaching of blended courses requires rethinking and redesigning face-to-face courses, creating new learning activities and effective integration of online and face-to-face components.
This transformation requires learning new skills necessary to manage online interaction successfully, incorporating methods of assessment and effective use of the interactive and organizational tools found in Web course management systems.
The workshop is open only to NIU faculty and staff. Advanced registration is required and available online. The deadline to register is Friday, Dec. 21. Please contact the center if you do not receive a response or an e-mail confirmation of your registration within two working days.
Registered participants will receive workshop materials, lunch, refreshments and certificates of participation. Those who register and are unable to attend should inform the center by Monday, Jan. 7, so that those on the waiting list might have the opportunity to attend.
Call (815) 753-1085 for more information.
Students ages 18 and younger who want to pursue their study of the arts, but who cannot afford the full cost, are invited to apply for financial aid for the spring semester.
The NIU Community School of the Arts offers a wide variety of art, music and theater classes, including private music lessons and ensembles. The deadline for financial aid applications is Monday, Jan. 7.
All classes and lessons are taught on the NIU campus in DeKalb.
The NIU Community School of the Arts is sponsored by the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Approximately 80 teachers offer lessons on most musical instruments as well as in art and theater. More than 600 community people from nearly 50 towns and cities travel to DeKalb each semester for lessons and classes.
Application forms are available at (815) 753-1450 or online at www.niu.edu/extprograms. The NIU Community School of the Arts is located in Room 132 of NIU’s Music Building.
The NIU Foundation, which looks forward to supporting faculty and staff in the pursuit of excellence in research, teaching, and outreach to the larger community, invites applications for the 2008 Venture Grants.
All proposals must be received in the Foundation Office (Altgeld 135) by Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. Awards will be announced no later than the first week of April.
Foundation officials anticipate awarding two to four grants at a minimum level of $5,000 and up to $25,000, with a total amount available of $55,000. All faculty and staff from units within the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, the Division of Administration and University Outreach and Intercollegiate Athletics are eligible to apply.
For complete information about the grants, as well as application information and forms, visit the NIU Foundation Web page. Contact the Foundation with questions at (815) 753-7539.
The Office of Assessment Services presents the Winter 2007 issue of Toolkit, its quarterly “nuts and bolts” e-newsletter. Toolkit is specifically designed to assist the NIU community with practical assessment issues in a user friendly format.
This issue features a look at the Voluntary System of Accountability approach to measuring student engagement; suggestions about how to effectively utilize survey data; and a video interview with Richard Holly, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Also featured is a brief look at the Annual Assessment Update results, and the final installment of the Problem-Solving Analysis Protocol series.
Back issues are posted on the Assessment Services Web site under Toolkit. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome at any time. The deadline for submitting articles for the next issue is Wednesday, Jan. 2.
On the menu at Ellington’s this week: Vive la France is scheduled for Tuesday. California Grill takes over Thursday.
Vive la France features spinach salad with roasted almonds and French onion soup for starters, pork cordon bleu and crepes with roasted vegetables for entrees and thin pear and almond tart and chocolate mousse for dessert. Each table also will be served a loaf of freshly baked French bread.
California Grill features California chilled vegetable soup and panzanella for starters, roast salmon with lemon and herbs and campanelle pasta with mozzarella cheese for entrees and California gingered fruit salsa and flourless chocolate cake with chocolate glaze for desserts. Each table also will receive complimentary pita points with a red pepper hummus.
Seating is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with service until 1 p.m. The cost is $8 per person. Ellington’s is located on the main floor of the Holmes Student Center. Call (815) 753-1763 or visit www.ellingtons.niu.edu to make reservations.
The NIU Chemistry Club invites the public to its annual glassblowing demonstration at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 27, in Faraday West 200.
It will be the last chance to see chemistry department glassblower Dan Edwards ply his trade. Edwards will retire in the coming year.
A glass sale will be held after the demonstration, when items made by Edwards will be available for purchase. They will include Christmas ornaments, icicles, dragons, hummingbirds and beaker mugs. The sale will continue from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, in the lobby of Faraday West.
“This is always a popular event in the community,” said Professor David Ballantine in the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. “It’s a great opportunity to get in some early holiday shopping. What’s even better is the modest pricing. Many of the items Dan makes could be sold in novelty shops for two or three times what we charge.”
Proceeds will help support various activities held by the NIU Chemistry Club. The club is a student affiliate chapter of the American Chemical Society and pre-professional program that promotes the chemistry field to undergraduate students.
For more information on the demonstration and sale, contact Ballantine at (815) 753-6857 or dballant@niu.edu.
The Friends of NIU Libraries invites the public to attend a presentation titled, “The Interpersonal Intelligence of Abraham Lincoln,” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28, in the staff lounge on the lower level of Founders Memorial Library.
Robert Cotner, an independent scholar and member of the Caxton Club, will present the program. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, call (815) 753-8091.
Whether you are leading a team, dealing with the public or managing the cross-currents of organizational life, conflict management is an essential skill. “Understanding and Managing Conflict,” a workshop offered by NIU’s Civic Leadership Academy, will take place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 29.
The course will cover innovative conflict techniques from the Conflict Unraveled Toolkit.
From the latest in brain behavior to new skills in bridging differences, you will be surprised and delighted by these trademarked techniques. Even if you have taken courses on active listening or win-win negotiation, you will discover new skills that will unlock your potential and make your life easier.
Andra Medea, author of “Conflict Unraveled” and the developer of the Conflict Unraveled Toolkit, will guide the group through practical hands-on learning. A faculty member at the Leadership Institute of Loyola University, Medea developed the system while teaching conflict management at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Articles and interviews about her innovative techniques have appeared in The Washington Post, Entrepreneur and National Public Radio.
Registration is available online along with more information about CLA and its upcoming workshops.
Human Resource Services will host its annual blood drive Wednesday, Dec. 5. It will be held in rooms HR166 and HR178 of the Affirmative Action and Diversity Resources section of the HR building.
The blood drive will run from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Average time for blood donation is 45 minutes.
Heartland Blood Centers will conduct the blood drive. HBC is a community blood center open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It provides and delivers all blood products to local hospitals for total patient care. HBC works toward collecting more than 100,000 units of blood annually, and at least 1,900 donors are needed each week to meet this need. One blood donation can save up to three people since the pint is broken down into three distinct components – plasma, platelets and red blood cells.
Appointments can be made by calling (815) 753-6000. Walk-ins also are welcome, but appointments will be taken first. Donors should remember to bring a photo ID to the drive. Each donor will receive a free pair of “Drop Everything Donate Blood” boxer shorts.