It is time again for all NIU employees to complete ethics training.
Under the terms of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, all full-time and part-time, regular and temporary faculty, staff, graduate assistants, extra help and student employees must complete on-line ethics training.
The training covers such topics as prohibitions against accepting gifts and bribes, conflict of interest, inappropriate use of university resources for personal matters, whistleblower protection and avoidance of political activities during the work day. Everyone who receives a paycheck from the university must complete this training.
Ethics training begins Tuesday, Oct. 16, and concludes by midnight Wednesday, Nov. 14. There are no extensions. Employees are notified by e-mail and campus mail. Training should be completed during normal work hours. Employees should check with their department on what arrangements are made for workstation access and scheduling of training times.
Employees can contact Human Resource Services at (815) 753-6000 for information or assistance. Technical questions can be answered by Information Technology Services at (815) 753-8100. The state Office of the Executive Inspector General notes that employees who do not comply with the annual training mandate can be subject to fines and disciplinary action.
For further information, contact:
Paul Carpenter pedals his Klein Quantum bike from suburban Batavia to DeKalb and back home again every day, combining his commute to NIU with an incredible training regimen.
But was the chair of the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education truly ready to tackle 500 miles in the Texas heat in less than 36 straight hours?
Carpenter knew the answer – yes, of course, absolutely – but wasn’t prepared for what came immediately after he finished his 25th lap around the 20-mile loop in 30 hours and 57 minutes.
“A guy called Tom Rodgers came up and asked me, ‘How do you feel?’ I said I felt pretty tired,” Carpenter says. “He said, ‘No, I mean how do you feel to have won?’ I really had no idea.”
Indeed, Carpenter won the Tejas 500 held the weekend of Sept. 28 near Cleburne, Texas, about 70 miles southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth. Larry Ide, Carpenter’s friend and the father of an NIU graduate student, earned second place.
Carpenter entered the race simply to earn the three “difficulty points” he needed to become eligible to be considered in the overall standings for the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association’s John Marino Competition.
Victory was just, well, like grease on the spoke.
“The last few hours were just dire. It was 101 degrees Fahrenheit and pretty humid as well. The course was susceptible to wind, and we had some pretty nasty winds,” he says. “You were either going up or down – there was 1,000 feet of elevation per lap – on open roads. It was not a closed course. We were out there with the traffic.”
Eighteen-wheelers frequently roared past the racers, even at 3 a.m. One competitor was rear-ended by a car and taken to the hospital with a broken arm and plenty of bumps and bruises.
Meanwhile, the course was not illuminated. Racers were responsible for their own lighting during the wee hours, requiring them to pack plenty of headlight batteries for the overnight stretches and to cover themselves and their bicycles in reflective tape.
Riders could choose to take as many as 48 hours to complete the race, but Carpenter picked the 36-hour option so he would spend only one night on the bike instead of two. The decision improved his finish time through fewer moments spent adjusting lights and changing batteries and fewer hours pedaling at a slower pace in the relative dark.
And even though he spends a great deal of time endurance riding, and recently achieved a longtime goal of qualifying for the Race Across America by pedaling 435.2 miles in 24 hours, he was surprised to have won.
“Commuting has built the base,” he says. “I have miles in my legs.”
Carpenter doubts he’ll tackle the Race Across America (RAAM) until 2009 because he needs time to prepare physically and mentally and to raise money. His qualification is valid for three years.
RAAM is held annually in the middle of June, sending its bicyclists from Oceanside, Calif., to Atlantic City, N.J. Riders must finish the 3,157 miles in 12 days; the winner typically arrives on Day 8.
And yes, Carpenter knows the idea sounds crazy.
“It’s something I heard about back in the late ’80s – I read about it in a magazine – and it was something that attracted my attention. It was a little out there. Now I’m faced with the reality that I’ve qualified,” he says.
“There’s not a lot of prestige in winning, except in a small group of people. And you don’t have to be an elite cyclist. It’s about the notion of endurance. It’s something very difficult to do, and to achieve it would be very satisfying. Speed has never been my big thing. I’m more of a steady pace. I can chug along and hang in there and keep going. It’s the ultimate personal challenge.”
Money is part of the challenge. Carpenter figures he’ll need $20,000, about $3,000 of that for the entry fee. He also needs spare bike parts, food, water and support for a crew of five or six.
Another question is time.
“There’s probably not enough to prepare me for the next RAAM, but it’s something I still haven’t discounted,” he says. “I’ll chat with my friends over the next few months. One already sent me an e-mail that said what I can’t do is, five or six years from now, say that I wish I had.”
Yet one week after his victory in Texas, Carpenter found additional motivation closer to home.
Dan McGehee, an optometrist and bicyclist from Arizona, was looking to regain his UMCA record time for a 100-mile course. McGehee had lost his record time to a Slovenian who posted 4 hours and 1 minute.
The Aurora native found a sanctioned course in Kaneland and, when searching for nearby members of the Ultra Marathon Cycling Association who could serve as officials to oversee his bid, found Carpenter.
“He called me and asked if would be interested in helping out. I jumped at the chance,” Carpenter says. “I think it’s important to give back to the sport. This was an opportunity to give back to the organization and also help someone else out.”
McGehee attempted to set a new record in July but missed by two minutes. He returned Saturday, Oct. 6.
Just after sunrise, McGehee took off. His first lap around the 18.4-mile course flew by in only 41 minutes and 53 seconds.
“We had quite a crowd. He had a full crew there, sweeping gravel from the road,” Carpenter says. “We had two police cars working the course.”
After 3 hours and 56 minutes, he crossed the finish line at Scott and Swan roads. The 45-year-old McGehee had shaved five minutes off the record – the UMCA has yet to ratify the record – and seven minutes off his own personal best.
Carpenter, meanwhile, savored his new friend’s success. “Rewarding doesn’t come close. As a competitor myself, I know what it takes to perform,” he says.
“Here we had a guy who was riding over 25 mph for four hours straight. It was awe-inspiring, working as hard as he does, training as hard as he does with a full-time job and a family with young kids,” he adds. “He told me, ‘It was a real boost to hear from you that you had won the Tejas.’ That mutual support is inspiring: the willingness of everyone to work together and to help each other.”
Faculty and staff with ideas about new programs, approaches or investments in support of NIU’s key strategic planning imperatives are encouraged to submit brief concept papers on those ideas by Friday, Oct. 26.
As the name suggests, concept documents do not need to be fully matured proposals – in fact, they should not exceed two pages at this stage. What they must include, however, is the kernel of an idea with potential to address one or more of the strategic imperatives outlined earlier this month in President Peters’ State of the University Address:
Concept papers should be submitted to the deans and/or vice presidents of submitters’ respective units by Friday, Oct. 26, and should address ways in which suggested ideas would improve an existing program or procedure or create a new initiative, procedure, program, curriculum, system or process. Successful concepts also will identify the need for whatever change they suggest, as well as potential benefits to the institution and advancement of its strategic imperatives.
For more information on NIU’s strategic planning process and concept paper guidelines, visit the Great Journeys Strategic Plan Web site at www.niu.edu/strategicplan.
As part of the Latino Heritage Month Closing Celebration at NIU, the Latino Resource Center is proud to present the most dynamic speaker younger than 30 in America today.
Carlos Ojeda Jr. is a community advocate who has worked with high school and college Latinos, spreading his message of education, leadership, community activism and entrepreneurship.
The NIU and DeKalb communities are invited to join in this unique opportunity. This free event takes place at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 16, in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.
For more information, call the Latino Resource Center at (815) 753-1986 or visit www.carlosojedajr.com.
Historian LeeAnn Whites, a professor at the University of Missouri, will visit NIU to present a public lecture titled “The Tale of Three Kates: Prostitution, Loyalty, and the Long Guerilla War.”
The event is open to the public and will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 17, in the Illinois Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Professor Whites specializes in the Civil War era and in the areas of gender and sexuality studies. Her research proposes that the Civil War not only offered a wider playing field for “bad boys,” such as guerilla fighters, but also offered structural opportunities for “bad girls” engaged in prostitution. Whites will look closely at the case of Kate Clark (Quantrill), a woman caught up in the chaos along the border states during the Civil War.
The Greater Kishwaukee Area Concert Band will present the first concert of its sixth season at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21. The concert takes place in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall, which is accessible to all.
John Hansen will direct the all volunteer band in show tunes, marches, spirituals and big band
sounds. Midred and Joan Sulaver are sponsors of the free concert.
The University’s Women's Club will host its second annual potluck dinner from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 23, in the American National Bank Community Room, 1985 DeKalb Avenue, in Sycamore. The event is free, but attendees are asked to bring a dish to pass.
The University Women’s Club is open to all women associated with the university: current or retired faculty or staff member, or wife of a current, retired or deceased faculty or staff member.
The club offers social and cultural events as well as fundraising opportunities to support scholarships to deserving NIU women students.
Call Dorothy Razniewski at (815) 895-8046 by Thursday, Oct. 18, to RSVP for the potluck dinner.
April Lynn Luehmann, a professor at the University of Rochester and specialist in science education, will visit NIU to present a public lecture titled, “Nurturing the Development of a Professional Identity.”
The lecture will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Luehmann teaches in the science teacher preparation and doctoral programs at the University of Rochester. She completed graduate degrees in science education and industrial and operations engineering, and previously taught mathematics and science to secondary school students in Illinois, Michigan and Indiana.
Luehmann also instructed science and math teachers in the Chicago Public Schools in a special professional development initiative at the Illinois Institute of Technology, and she served on the Board of Trustees for Girls, Inc., a national nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart and bold.
Luehmann joined the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development at the University of Rochester in 2002.
Her research focuses on the use of new media literacies to support the work and development of secondary science teachers, learning in rich out-of-school contexts to complement classroom-based learning for both science students and teachers, and the development of innovative teacher education programs. She also has designed and worked with graduate students to teach science summer camps and school-year programs to develop or capitalize on girls’ interest in science.
The colloquium is presented by the STEM Education Research Group and the Division of Research and Graduate Studies.
NIU’s Unity in Diversity Steering Committee selects a theme each year that is used during the following academic year to promote diversity awareness on campus. The theme must be 10 words or less and reflect the idea of Unity in Diversity.
Applicants (faculty, staff and students) may submit more than one entry; forms are available in Campus Life 150. Themes must be submitted by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 31, to Angela Dreessen, Student Involvement and Leadership Development, Campus Life 150. Entries will be judged by UID Steering Committee.
The winner receives a $100 prize, which may be subject to taxes.
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 will also 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 Unity in Diversity Award Ceremony.
Examples of past winning themes include “Experience the University through Unity in Diversity,” “Unity in Diversity: Celebrating Differences that Make us One” and “Unlocking Doors, Opening Minds, Conquering Our Fears.”
NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center and Human Resource Services are offering grants up to $1,000 each to Supportive Professional Staff (SPS) pursuing professional development activities that benefit the individuals as well as their academic units.
Proposal guidelines and other information are available at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/grants/spsdgrant.shtml. Five copies of each proposal, including other relevant documents, must be submitted to the SPS Awards Committee, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, 319 Adams Hall, by Friday, Nov. 16, for activities proposed between Jan. 1 and June 2008.
SPS who plan to submit a proposal by the Nov. 16 deadline and need more information are encouraged to register to attend the grant writing seminar from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, Nov. 2. Register online at http://www.niu.edu/facdev/forms/fsprogreg.shtml or e-mail to facdev@niu.edu.
NIU’s financial system for accounting, asset management, budgets, commercial receivables, procurement and receiving will be down Friday, Oct. 26, through Monday, Oct. 29, for the application of required maintenance and tax and regulatory updates.
Central Office staff will not be able to complete data entry, and checks, purchase orders and commercial invoices will not be produced during the shutdown. The shutdown also applies to the NIU Foundation.
Campus financial queries will be unavailable beginning at noon Friday, Oct. 26, but will be available when the system is restored.
Access to distributed financial, budgetary and increment reports should be unaffected by the shutdown.
Normal operations should resume Tuesday, Oct. 30.