Join NIU President John G. Peters as he delivers his annual State of the University Address.
The address begins at 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 27, in the Altgeld Hall Auditorium. A reception immediately follows the address in the Altgeld Auditorium Foyer.
For more information, call the Office of Special Events at (815) 753-1999 or e-mail ellena@niu.edu.
NIU’s Latino Resource Center is proud to present the month-long celebration of Latino Heritage Month 2007 through Monday, Oct. 15.
Please join the NIU Latino Community and celebrate with us our culture, food, music and heritage. A calendar of events is online at www.niu.edu/lrc.
The Office of Assessment Services presents the Fall 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 explores the Spellings Commissions recommendation for a comparative public database on institutional performance, and parallel efforts by NASULGC and AASCU in developing a Voluntary System of Accountability in which participating institutions will publish institutional data measuring each area of accountability.
Also featured are a look at YFCY survey outcomes in critical thinking and research ability; further information about the Problem-Solving Analysis Protocol, an instrument for assessing problem solving skills; and a look at how teacher certification programs can make their assessment reports do double duty, meeting both university assessment and UOTC data requirements.
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, Oct. 24.
The financial system for accounting, procurement, budgets and commercial receivables will be down Friday, Sept. 21, through Monday, Sept. 24, for the application of required maintenance and tax and regulatory updates.
Checks, purchase orders and commercial invoices will not be produced during the shutdown. Campus financial queries will not be available after noon Friday, Sept. 21, but will be available when the system is back up.
Access to distributed financial and budgetary reports should be unaffected by the shutdown.
Normal operations should resume Tuesday, Sept. 25.
Experience what it feels like to work on a creative team.
NIU Outreach brings Disney Institute’s renowned professional development program, “Team Creativity: Disney Style,” to NIU Naperville on Monday, Sept. 24. This one-day interactive seminar helps teams learn to communicate effectively, bring out the best in each other and become more productive.
This interactive workshop is designed to help you:
Registration is $399 per person. Groups of three or more from the same organization will pay $379 per person. Price includes continental breakfast, lunch, breaks and program materials.
Register now at www.teamcreativity.niu.edu or call 1-800-345-9472.
The Ally Program is a campus-wide program designed to foster a welcoming and supportive campus environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender students, faculty and staff by creating a visible network of allies.
NIU employees and students interested in volunteering for the Ally Program can learn more and can register online. The online form at http://www.niu.edu/lgbt/resourcecenter/programs/ally.shtml provides the specific workshop dates and times, and allows registrants to indicate first, second and third choices.
Training is divided into two two-hour workshops (Part I and Part II). Volunteers must attend both Part I and Part II. Space is limited, and advance registration is required. Multiple dates are available.
Part I
Part II
The Ally Program is a program of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center, Division of Student Affairs.
Darryl Polak, college division sales representative from Jostens, will come to the Holmes Student Center Bookstore from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, and Thursday, Sept. 27, to sell complete sets of Ph.D. regalia.
The cost for Ph.D. regalia is $349.95; master's regalia costs slightly less.
The NIU Campus Child Care will hold its annual Children’s Book Fair during the week of Oct. 1. Don’t miss this great opportunity to purchase quality children’s books for birthdays or holidays.
The book fair will be open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday 8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Campus Child Care Center.
Come browse through this wide selection with multiple copies of books, early readers, parent resource materials, calendars and much more. Approximately 1,800 books and other items will be available for purchase. Checks and credit cards are welcome.
The center is located just off Annie Glidden Road on the west side of Gabel Hall. The main entrance can be accessed by the circle drive in front of the white stone building in parking lot 38.
The Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences has announced the schedule for its Fall 2007 Colloquia.
All talks are held at 4 p.m. in Davis Hall 308 unless otherwise indicated and are co-sponsored by the Graduate Colloquium Committee of NIU. Call (815) 753-1943 for more information.
Friday, Sept. 21: to be announced.
Friday, Sept. 28: Greg Wiles, College of Wooster, “Changes in Alaskan Glaciers and Climate Over the Past Two Millennia.”
Friday, Oct. 12: Roy Plotnick, University of Illinois at Chicago, Paleontological Society Distinguished Lecturer, “Let Us Prey: Trace Fossils, Foraging Ecology, Chemoreception, and the Origins of Marine Landscapes.”
Friday, Oct. 19: Terry Engelder, Pennsylvania State University, AAPG Distinguished Lecturer, “Craquelure in Masterpieces of the Louvre (Paris, France) as Analogue Models for Development of Joints in Fractured Reservoirs.”
Friday, Oct. 26: Anders Carlson, University of Wisconsin-Madison, “North Atlantic Ice Sheets and Ocean Circulation During the Last Deglaciation.”
Friday, Nov. 9, 4:30 p.m.: Charlotte Schreiber, University of Washington, International Association of Sedimentologists Distinguished Lecturer, “Reworking of Evaporites: Case Histories from the Messinian of Italy.”
Friday, Nov. 16: Eric Erslev, Colorado State University, Structural Geology, title to be announced.
Friday, Nov. 30: John Luczaj, University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, “Paleo-fluids/MVT deposits/Arsenic-contaminated Groundwater.”
NIU will hold an election Tuesday, Oct. 16, to determine who will represent the university’s Operating Staff employees on the State Universities Civil Service Advisory Committee (also known as the Employee Advisory Committee “EAC”).
Balloting will be conducted at Human Resource Services, the Holmes Student Center and Transportation. The term of office for this representative is from Jan. 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2011.
Civil Service employees interested in running for this position must pick up petitions and Statement of Candidacy forms at Human Resource Services beginning Monday, Sept. 17. These forms must be completed and returned no later than 4:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21.
To be eligible for nomination and election to membership on this committee, a Civil Service employee must hold a certified status position (not a student or extra help) and have at least three current consecutive years of employment in an institution currently served by the system.
For additional information, contact Jodi Tyrrell at (815) 753-0094.
The Christian Faculty and Staff Prayer Luncheon is scheduled for noon Tuesday, Sept. 18, in the East Room of the Blackhawk Cafeteria.
Participants may bring a lunch or purchase one there. All are welcome.
Peter Olson, NIU Art Museum assistant director, will give a curator’s talk on the “Body Politic” exhibition at the museum at 12:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.
Several artists from the exhibition will present gallery talks at the museum from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6. All three events are free and open to the public. The museum will continue to host “Body Politic” in its South Galleries through Saturday, Oct. 13.
“What we think about when we contemplate our corporeal selves, and what others
assume about our identity based on their observations, make for unpredictable and fertile territory,” Olson said, “out of which can spring myriad allusion and interpretations, including this exhibition.”
“Body Politic” focuses on the human body’s complex relationship to identification, meaning, and individuality in the junction between public and private space. Artists Molly Carter, Mary Dritschel, Anni Holm, Coke Wisdom O’Neal, Karen Savage and Jennifer Yorke explore the social and political ramifications of identity in this multi-media exhibition.
The NIU Art Museum’s South Galleries are located on the first floor, west end of Altgeld Hall. The South Galleries are open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and by appointment for group tours. Exhibition and lectures are free; donations are appreciated.
The exhibitions of the NIU Art Museum are funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Friends of the NIU Art Museum, and the Arts Fund 21. For more information, visit www.vpa.niu.edu/museum or call (815) 753-1936.
The NIU Lifelong Learning Institute invites participatants in its fall 2007 field trips.
To sign up for the field trips, call (815) 753-0277 or visit http://www.niu.edu/clasep/lifelong/lli/2007fall/index.shtml and click on Field Trips to register online. For further details, contact Anne Petty Johnson at apetty@niu.edu or (815) 753-5200.
NIU’s Academic Advising Center will host the Exploring Majors Fair from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 2, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom.
Designed for all students who want to learn more about majors, minors and other academic opportunities, the fair offers a chance to speak with faculty members and staff from each of NIU’s academic units in a centralized location. Additionally, the program provides departments with an opportunity to showcase particular majors, minors and programs to a broad group of NIU students.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to promote this event in classes and in conversation with students. Also, please remember that the Exploring Majors Fair is for all students exploring their academic options, and not just for those who are currently without a major.
For further details, contact the Academic Advising Center at (815) 753-2536.
NIU’s Unity in Diversity steering committee will present “Reflecting on Our Past, Looking to Our Future,” an exhibition of artifacts, art, documents and ephemera from the project’s past 20 years.
An opening and reception for the 20th anniversary celebration is scheduled for 5 to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 5, in the Holmes Student Center Gallery.
Barbra Henley, vice chancellor for Student Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the keynote speaker. Henley will speak at 6:30 p.m. in the Duke Ellington Ballroom.
RSVP to Shirley Mashare in the Diversity and Equity Office at (815) 753-1513.
Female high school students interested in exploring career possibilities and learning more about the academic side of college life are invited to attend the 2007 Conference for Young Women, hosted by NIU from 8:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22, at Holmes Student Center.
The 12th annual conference will introduce young women in their sophomore through senior years of high school to a variety of career areas, including professions where women have been historically underrepresented.
The conference will include a panel discussion on career opportunities for women and presentations by faculty on topics related to women’s collegiate experiences and career options. Tours of the NIU campus and its facilities also will be offered.
This year’s speakers will focus on career opportunities in fields ranging from marketing and laboratory science to athletics and communication.
“Faculty and students enjoy this opportunity to showcase the best NIU has to offer young women,” said Amy Levin, director of the NIU Women’s Studies Program. “In turn, the high school girls who attend often comment on the way the event gives them a more realistic sense of what they can accomplish in college and afterward. They are excited by career opportunities they hadn’t imagined.”
The conference is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the NIU Women’s Studies Program. To register, call (800) 345-9472. For additional information, call (815) 753-1038 or visit www.clas.niu.edu/wstudies/ywc2007.htm. The registration fee is $38 before Oct. 15, with a $5 additional late charge. Limited scholarships are available.
All letters of nomination for the 2008 Presidential Teaching Professorships should be submitted to Earl Seaver, Vice Provost, Office of the Provost, Altgeld Hall 215, no later than Monday, Oct. 1.
Following receipt of a letter of nomination, the selection committee will invite each nominated faculty member to prepare materials in accordance with the published procedure. Only full professors with tenure and at least six years service at NIU are eligible for the award.
The Presidential Teaching Professorships were established in 1990 to recognize those outstanding teachers who have demonstrated over time that they:
The procedure calls for a rigorous and thorough portfolio review including contacting former students. The 2008 recipients will be announced next spring.
The fall exhibition season at the Nehring Center Gallery opens with “Natural Selections: Artwork by Kimberly Mullarkey” from Friday, Sept. 14, through Sunday, Oct. 14. The public is invited to an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21.
Mullarkey’s work combines elements of scientific illustration, charcoal drawing and mixed media.
Displayed in conjunction with her pieces is a selection of Mullarkey’s personal natural science collection that both inspired and directed her works: She is a self-described collector of unusual things who believes the art of collecting and labeling is as important as the resulting artwork itself.
As the collection grows, she has started developing a 21st century Cabinet of Curiosities.
Mullarkey received her BFA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and obtained her MFA at NIU. She studied Northern Renaissance oil painting in Monflanquin, France, at the Atelier Néo Médicis. She now teaches botanical art and illustration at the Morton Arboretum, the College of DuPage and the Fine Line in St. Charles. She currently maintains a studio in DeKalb.
“Natural Selections” is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Nehring Gallery also is open by appointment.
Located on the second floor of the historic First National Bank building on the corner of Lincoln Highway and Second Street in downtown DeKalb, the gallery is cooperatively operated by the DeKalb Park District and the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts Division of Outreach. An entrance accessible to all is available at the 111 S. Second Street entrance.
The Women’s Resource Center has posted its 2007 Fall Events Calendar. Visit http://www.niu.edu/women/URW/WRC_calendar_fall2007_final.pdf for the latest information on support groups, speakers, services and other valuable resources offered by WRC.
All NIU women – students, faculty and staff – are invited to the Networking Luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, in the Chandelier Room, Adams Hall. Department of Geography associate professor Lesley Rigg and assistant professor David Goldblum will present “Living and Working Environmentally: One Family at a Time.”
The cost is $8 per person. Make a reservation by Tuesday, Sept. 18, by calling (815) 753-0320. For details, visit http://www.niu.edu/women/PCSW/network.shtml.
In conjunction with one of its current exhibitions, “Some Enchanted Evening: 100 Years of Evening Gowns (1900-1999),” the NIU Art Museum is hosting a Big Band Dance Night with dessert buffet and cash bar at the Altgeld Auditorium from 7 to 11 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20.
Swing dance lessons with Barb Heimendinger begin at 7:15 p.m. in the auditorium. The Grand Avenue Big Band will perform from 8 to 11 p.m. Dance lessons and a dessert bar are included in the ticket price. Formal or vintage attire is encouraged, but not required.
All of the NIU Art Museum’s galleries on the first floor, west end, will be open from 7 to 10 p.m. during the event.
The museum also is offering free foxtrot and cha cha dance lessons from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, to those who register in advance.
Advance ticket prices for members are $25 for a single or $45 for a couple. Non-members pay $36 for a single or $65 for a couple. Tickets also are available at the door during the event. Members pay $30 for a single or $50 for a couple; non-members pay $40 for a single or $70 for a couple.
Advance tickets can be purchased by credit card or check payable to NIU. To purchase advance tickets, call the museum at (815) 753-1936 or visit www.vpa.niu.edu/museum for a ticket order form. Print and return completed order form by mail or deliver to the museum with payment. The mailing address is NIU Art Museum, Altgeld 116, NIU, DeKalb, IL, 60115.
Free parking is available during this special event in the lot northeast of Gilbert and College Drives. Campus parking is available without a permit after 7 p.m. except for designated service and reserved spaces.
The University Women’s Club of NIU will host its annual fall open house from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26, at the home of Barbara Peters, 901 Woodlawn Drive, DeKalb.
The University Women’s Club invites every woman associated with the university, whether she is a current or retired faculty or staff member, or the wife of a current, retired or deceased faculty or staff member, to join this long-standing organization of NIU women.
Meet people with a common interest in N IU, participate in distinct interest groups, enjoy social events and support the club’s philanthropic endeavor of providing scholarships to deserving NIU women students.