Members of NIU’s strategic planning task forces will spell out their recommendations Friday to President John Peters and Provost Ray Alden.
The 15 “broad and sweeping” proposals to enhance curricular innovation and student success are consistent with goals determined at the beginning of the process last fall, said Carolinda Douglass, chair of the Task Force on Student Success.
Yet the ideas also fit into a larger vision created after the tragic events of Feb. 14.
The new and overarching objective helped both groups regain their concentration and proceed with excitement, Douglass said.
“We wanted to solidify the NIU Huskie identity as a strong, caring and engaged community committed to local, regional and global citizenship,” Douglass said. “That was not a new idea to us, but we really came together after 2-14 and thought, ‘What is really guiding us?’ It somewhat altered how we thought about our strategies, and hopefully for the better.”
Douglass and David Changnon, chair of the Task Force on Curricular Innovation, also will give Peters and Alden a similar number of sub-strategies related to the top recommendations and some additional proposals tied to some of the concept papers submitted by faculty and staff.
Alden expects to “get a sense of not only the goals and the strategies but also the priorities and the sequencing.”
“What we asked the task forces to do was to work in small groups to develop a number of strategies and initiatives that can help advance the goals they have set,” Alden said. “From what I hear, there may be some very interesting things coming forward, and because we see the process taking place over the next five years, some of these will evolve over time.”
The activities of the two task forces are rooted in Peters’ vision of NIU as a university that is sustainable, engaged, global, responsive and accountable.
Earlier work by the NIU Strategic Planning Task Force identified a set of key values and four planning imperatives:
In turn, the task forces set four goals their strategies would accomplish:
“We are very confident that there are some excellent ideas and strategies within our reports. This was an enormous undertaking, and it’s rewarding to finally have concrete recommendations to present that hopefully will have an impact,” Douglass said.
“It also created a great opportunity for people to have conversations,” she added. “In my group on student success, we were able to really dig deep into some of the data and some of the assumptions we have about why students stay at NIU or don’t and why students do well at NIU or don’t.”
The next step is for Peters and Alden to review the proposals and decide which hold the highest priority, Douglass said.
NIU’s vice provosts and members of the Council of Deans are invited to attend Friday’s presentation, she said. Participants in NIU’s system of shared governance also will have an opportunity to review the proposals, she added.
For more information on NIU’s strategic planning, visit http://www.niu.edu/strategicplan/.
When Michelle “Micki” Emmett leaves NIU on May 1 to take over leadership of the DeKalb County Red Cross, the last line on her resume will read “assistant vice president for student affairs.”
Those who worked with her over the last 27 years, however, assign to her many other titles: student advocate, mentor, leader, cheerleader and, above all others, friend. It’s difficult, they say, to imagine campus without her.
“To me she is NIU,” says long time friend and colleague Chris Herrmann, director of Campus Child Care.
“Everything she does, any decision she makes, she has the best interest of NIU at heart – especially when it’s regarding students. Whenever she talks about students, it’s never ‘the students,’ it’s always ‘our students.’ It’s an important clue to how she looks at students and the university.”
Dawn Sturma-Littlefield, who worked under Emmett as the activities adviser for Greek Affairs during the early 1990s, concurs.
“She was one of the best student advocates I ever worked with. She demanded the same high level of work from her staff, but she also managed to always keep work fun.”
During her 17 years in the Office of University Programming and Activities, starting in 1981, Emmett’s desire to nurture students manifested itself in many different ways
She taught classes in leadership, fostered the growth and development of student government on campus and guided groups like the Greek Life Commission, which pulled together faculty, staff and students to help students address important issues. She also placed a premium on professional development for her staff to make sure they always had the skills needed to do their best for students.
Her time in UP&A included a long and varied list of accomplishments, from attracting big name musical acts to campus on a shoestring budget to the creation of the Campus Activities Board. She was also in the vanguard of advocacy for minority students and inclusion for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
“She had a commitment to diversity before it was the thing to do,” Sturma-Littlefield says.
At the heart of all of those accomplishments, say those who worked with her, was an ability to connect deeply with students.
“The close relationships she built with student leaders, especially those in student government, earned her a great deal of respect and made her invaluable when we had difficult issues to work through,” says retired Vice Provost Gary Gresholdt, who worked with Emmett in various capacities for nearly a quarter century.
In 1998, Gresholdt selected Emmett for the job of assistant vice provost for student affairs. In that role she took on a heavier administrative burden, assisting in budgeting and personnel oversight responsibilities for nine areas within that division.
However, she maintained close contact with students while carrying out many duties typically associated with the role of dean of students, such as assisting students with medical withdrawals, handling final appeals in judicial matters and reaching out to assist parents and families after student deaths.
All of those skills continued to be of importance when, in 2004, she moved into the job of assistant vice president for student services. In that role she focused her efforts on oversight of Campus Child Care, Career Services, Commuter and Non-Traditional Services and Student Legal Assistance. She also maintained many of her responsibilities as dean of students because of her skill in guiding students through difficult times.
“She has an amazing ability to connect with students at those moments,” says Vice President for Student Affairs Brian Hemphill. “She finds just what it takes to encourage them. She also has the ability to connect them with the resources they need to ensure that they are able to be successful here at NIU.”
She also hasn’t lost her knack for keeping work fun.
“Micki is the biggest cheerleader in the whole division,” says Jill Zambito, director of Commuter and Non-Traditional Student Services. “Every meeting she’s in, she is always handing out kudos to people for a job well done. And at any event that is held anywhere within the division, it seems that Micki is there, showing her support.”
With typical modesty, Emmett brushes such compliments aside. Showing up at events is simply a matter of professional courtesy, she says, and many of her accomplishments she credits to “the great staff that I always had around me.”
Thinking about those people, she says, makes it hard to leave.
“My heart is full of gratitude and love for this institution and all of the people I have met here, especially the students, who have been very special to me,” Emmett says.
Unwilling to leave all of that behind, she plans to find ways to ensure that NIU is part of her next venture as executive director of the DeKalb County Red Cross.
“I really hope to strengthen the bond between NIU and Red Cross. Northern is blessed with an abundance of resources that most not-for-profit agencies don’t have,” she says.
A reception in Emmett’s honor is scheduled for 3 to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, in Neptune Central. A program will begin at 3:30 p.m. Friends and guests are invited to bring photos, letters or stories to be included in a memory book; memories also can be sent in advance to cherrmann@niu.edu.
The NIU community is mourning the loss of Dan Edwards, a well-known glassblower in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry whose artistry and dedication to the university touched many lives on campus and beyond.
Edwards, 60, was killed last week in a motorcycle accident that also seriously injured his wife Diane, a longtime secretary in the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences (FCNS).
The accident occurred on the morning of Wednesday, April 23. The Edwards were on their way to work from their home in Rochelle when the couple’s motorcycle collided with a semi tractor-trailer truck near the interchange of I-39 and Route 38.
Diane Edwards, 58, was taken to Rochelle Community Hospital and then transferred via helicopter to Rockford Memorial Hospital, according to Rochelle police. Colleagues said she was recuperating after surgery.
“We’re just in shock,” said Laura Smart, FCNS chair, recalling how Dan had brought a birthday cake to the department for his wife last December. “They were so in love.”
The Edwards were each intending to retire in July and were preparing to break ground on a new home in west-central Wisconsin, colleagues said. Dan Edwards had spent 16 years as glassblower in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, where he is remembered as a man of uncommon thoughtfulness.
Many of his colleagues and friends have personal reminders of his handiwork – glass-blown rings, earrings, beaker mugs and Christmas ornaments that he made and handed out as tokens of friendship.
“My spouse Barbara and I were deeply saddened to hear of the accident that claimed the life of Dan Edwards and seriously injured his wife Diane,” NIU President John Peters said. “Our hearts go out to the Edwards family and their many friends and colleagues on campus.
“Dan was a well-liked, artistic man with a very thoughtful side that touched many people,” Peters added. “He knew I enjoyed fly fishing, in fact, and each holiday season would present us with a glass-blown fishing-related ornament that he had made. His professionalism and kindness will be greatly missed.”
Dan came to NIU in 1991 after working for chemical companies in his native Wisconsin. Most chemistry departments at major universities employ glassblowers to provide specialized glassware for student experiments and faculty research.
“His contributions and dedication to the students of the university were just tremendous,” said Jon Carnahan, chemistry and biochemistry chair. “He was really a guy who went above and beyond the call of duty.”
Edwards also made glassware for other university departments, performed demonstrations for area schools and volunteered his time each year to conduct a glassblowing demonstration and sale that raised thousands of dollars for the NIU Chemistry Club.
He made beaker mugs with the NIU logo that have been presented each year to chemistry graduates in a tradition started by Edwards’ predecessor, Ed Hyland. The Chemistry Club gives out an award each year named in honor of both glassblowers.
Edwards also presented at glassblowing symposia nationwide and was active in the American Scientific Glassblowers Society. In 1999, the society presented him with a national award for service.
“He just thoroughly enjoyed what he did,” said Dave Ballantine, an NIU professor of chemistry and biochemistry. “He loved working on jobs for the faculty, but he also loved doing things artistically. Every year at the glassblowing demonstration he’d come up with something new – from humming birds and dragons to seahorses and different kinds of earrings.
“He was always thinking about what he could do for somebody,” Ballantine added. “He knew my wife had breast cancer a couple years ago, and every year at the glass sale he’d make something special – earrings or a pendant or a ring – for her to take home.”
Edwards took personal interest in the achievements of students. And when alumni would return to the chemistry department, they would often gravitate to Edwards, colleagues said. He also was a man who loved conversation and a good laugh. He was a regular at the Blackhawk Food Court in the Holmes Student Center, where he knew the workers by name.
“Dan was truly original,” said Andy Small, lab manager for the chemistry and biochemistry department. “He was the kind of guy who always had a little something for you. A common expression around the department was always, ‘Hey, there are doughnuts in the glass shop.’ He was just extremely generous and kind-hearted. A person couldn’t ask for a friend more meaningful and thoughtful than Dan.”
In his retirement, Edwards had planned to concentrate on the artsy side of his craft – and to fish. He was an expert fisherman who had won tournaments outside of Illinois, friends said.
“He had been doing a lot of dreaming about his retirement, about building a new house and moving up to Wisconsin and being able to fish,” said longtime friend Larry Gregersen, a senior lab mechanic in the chemistry department. “That’s what we heard probably for the last six months were his dreams.”
In addition to his wife, survivors include Edwards’ daughters, Danielle Scherf of Waukesha, Wis., and Nicole (Matthew) Williams of Bloomington, Ill.; and three grandchildren, Alexandria and Jaiden Scherf and Kaitlyn Williams.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday and from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday at Pagenkopf Funeral Home, 1165 E. Summit Ave., Oconomowoc, Wis. followed by a funeral service officiated by the Rev. Luke Dye.
Memorials can be made to the NIU Chemistry Club, Edwards-Hyland Award fund, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115.
Stanislavsky, the father of actor training and theater-making in the western world, prescribed three levels of the actor’s development: school, studio and theater.
The school is a place to learn. The studio is a place to practice. The theater is a place to work professionally.
NIU’s School of Theatre and Dance long has provided a world-class experience in school and also in studio, most notably through SummerNITE, the school’s resident professional equity company that is dedicated to developing and producing new works by established and emerging playwrights.
But Alex Gelman, director of the school, felt “a real need” to complete the circle by affording professional theater opportunities to alumni.
With the blessing and encouragement of Harold Kafer, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, Gelman began searching for a night job in the industry. Two years ago, he was hired as producing artistic director for Chicago’s 40-year-old Organic Theater Company.
Now the company of 10 NIU alums is in the midst of its 2008 season, presenting six shows in four weeks. There are multiple plays and performances each weekend, and some in the small ensemble have roles in all of them.
The stage managers and designers also have connections to NIU, whether as alums or as members of the faculty of the School of Theatre and Dance.
“Alex has taken on a huge challenge that has dual opportunities. Renewing the vitality of the Organic will be a real contribution to the theater landscape of Chicago,” Kafer said. “At the same time, creating a professional company around alumni is a great opportunity to raise the profile or an already nationally recognized program within the college.”
For the actors involved, the repertory system stretches their wings, strengthens their muscles and sharpens their chops. There is no time to fall into ruts or to repeat themselves, Gelman said. Immediacy is mandatory. “Being in two different plays in two different nights feeds the richness of the acting,” he said.
For Gelman, it occasionally means a day in the office providing leadership to the school and its programs followed by a fight with rush hour traffic to Chicago for rehearsals and returning home around midnight.
But it’s an exhaustion he welcomes.
“The work is its own reward. That’s the key to it. I continue to be inspired. I am profoundly proud of the work our alums are doing. They’re very well trained. They’re gifted. They’re passionate,” he said.
New plays in the repertory this season are Joseph Conrad’s “The Secret Agent,” slated for May 3 and 11, and Friedrich Durenmatt’s “Play Strindberg,” scheduled May 3 and 10.
Returning from the existing repertory for one-weekend engagements are Mark Twain’s “The $30,000 Bequest” and Eugene Ionesco’s “Man with Bags.” Kunio Shimizu’s “The Dressing Room” was staged April 19 and Herman Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” was presented April 26 and 27.
This year’s performances are held at La Costa Theatre Company Stage, 3931 N. Elston Ave. in Chicago. For more information, including show times, ticket prices and other promotions, visit www.organictheater.org.
All of the works “represent a powerful body of theater” that provide “an examination of the human condition in a larger sense.”
“A great play astounds you each time you come up to it,” Gelman said. “You discover something you didn’t see before.”
Of the four plays from last season, only two roles required different actors. The familiarity of the cast members among themselves, and to Gelman, benefits the selection process.
“You pick the plays for the people you’re working with: What challenges do they need? What are they ready for? Who needs a sharper spotlight?” Gelman said. “Second, is it something that speaks to you? I think, ‘She would be phenomenal in this, he would be amazing in this, and I can’t put this piece down.’ ”
Gelman’s role with the Organic provides a powerful recruiting incentive for NIU’s theater program. Students entering the program that that they will have the opportunity to be considered for the Organic when they graduate
Joining the Organic company also allows the actors to live and work in the Windy City.
Chicago is home to about 250 theater companies similar to the Organic, Gelman said, including names such as Steppenwolf, the Goodman and the Lookingglass. Other major U.S. cities can claim only a few, he said.
“Chicago is, in my opinion, and I don’t think I’m alone in this, the most exciting theater city in the United States – and there is such a thing as a ‘Chicago actor.’ The sheer numbers speak for themselves,” he said. “If we were one of five companies in Chicago, we’d be beating the audiences away with a stick. As one of 250, we have to break through the noise.”
The Organic’s actors spend much of the year rehearsing the spring repertory of plays but also take roles with other companies throughout Chicago. Their craft demands it, Gelman said.
“We have passions, demons, obsessions, fascinations, and we hope there are other people who share those with us,” he said. “We believe in the art. We believe that what we have to say is worth saying as an artist.”
Construction of the new underground chilled water piping will take place this week along the east/west sidewalk on the northeast side of Faraday Hall, extending east to Castle Drive. Heavy equipment and heavy truck traffic will pose a hazard to pedestrians in that area.
Portions of the north/south sidewalk on the west side of Montgomery Hall also will be temporarily closed this week. All entrances to Montgomery Hall will remain open during this work. Pipe also will be installed Wednesday beneath Watson Creek, weather permitting.
For safety reasons, pedestrians are urged to avoid these areas while work is in progress. Anticipated working hours are from 6:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Lot 10 will remain closed for use as a construction materials staging area.
The Division of Research and Graduate Studies will hold its Outstanding Graduate Student Reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, April 28, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center.
An awards ceremony will be held at 4 p.m. to honor students who are receiving the following awards: the Carter G. Woodson Fellowship, Jeffrey T. Lunsford Fellowship, Dissertation Completion Award, University Fellowship, Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Award and the Outstanding Graduate Student Award.
Graduate faculty and advisers are encouraged to attend the event. Refreshments will be served.
NIU’s Office of Assessment Services presents the Summer 2008 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 review of NIU’s first Assessment Expo, including a video of speaker highlights; and a look at resources for creating rubrics, including a rubric builder database and rubrics available in the Toolkit archive. Also featured is a team-based assessment model for creating change and highlights of 2006 Graduate Alumni Survey.
Back issues are posted on the Assessment Services website under Toolkit. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome at any time.
On the menu at Ellington’s this week: Cocina Cubana is scheduled for Tuesday, Lemon Grass Lounge takes over Wednesday and Mesogieos concludes the week Thursday.
Cocina Cubana features shrimp picadillo empanadas or tomatillo and tomato salad for starters, Cuban mojo chicken or Cuban black beans and rice for entrees and rum cake or flan delite for dessert. Each table also will be served a salsamole with tortilla chips.
Lemon Grass Lounge features silky-coconut pumpkin soup or fresh cucumber salad with toasted black sesame seeds for starters, flavorful black Thai pork or vegetarian pad Thai for entrees and creamy coconut tapioca pudding with cayenne-spiced mango or strawberry-lychee shortcake for dessert. Each table also will be served Thai iced tea.
Mesogieos features Greek salad or spinach triangles for starters, Mediterranean orange roughy with couscous and currants or Greek pasta with tomatoes and white beans for entrees and olive oil Bundt cake with tangerine glaze or Greek-style yogurt with honey and walnuts for dessert. Each table also will be served herbed breadsticks.
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.
NIU’s LGBT Resource Center invites the campus community to a reading and reception Tuesday, April 29, featuring NIU alumnus and current Board of Trustees member John Butler.
Tuesday’s event is the inaugural LGBT Resource Center Alumni Presentation. Butler will read “Going Home for a Funeral: A Reading on Loss, Identity, and Community,” a recent creative nonfiction essay that focuses on his interest in the intersections of personal identity and community.
The reading and reception begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Holmes Student Center Glass Gallery on the main floor. Contact the LGBT Resource Center at (815) 753-LGBT (5428) or at lgbt@niu.edu for more information.
The next CLA workshop on “Fundamentals of Economic Development and Land Use Planning: Conflicting or Parallel Goals – Exploring the Role of Government,” is scheduled for Thursday, May 1.
This workshop will present insights into economic development and the role governments increasingly play in this critical piece of community health. Recent trends and debates in approaches, tools and the relationship between land use decisions, planning, zoning and other regulatory frameworks also will be covered.
The workshop will provide participants with key concepts and models of economic development and land use planning which, coupled with realistic expectations and strategies, will equip participants with a foundation for supporting their own existing economic development strategies or implementing changes where needed.
Presenters are Robert Gleeson, director of the Center for Governmental Studies and associate director of the Regional Development Institute; Mike Peddle, associate professor of public administration; and Roger Dahlstrom, senior research associate for the Center for Governmental Studies.
Registration and more information about CLA and upcoming workshops are available online.
Fans of the popular public radio show “This American Life” can see host Ira Glass beamed live via satellite into hundreds of select movie theaters nationwide – including Rockford’s Showplace 16 – at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1.
“This American Life – Live!” is a one-time-only special event offering an exclusive look at never-before-seen stories and outtakes from the show’s critically-acclaimed television series, an audience Q&A, a radio segment and more. It will originate from the campus of New York University and broadcast live in high definition.
WNIJ (89.5 FM) airs the weekly radio series at 7 p.m. Fridays with repeats at 3 p.m. Sundays. WNIJ staff will be on hand before the feature presentation to greet guests at Showplace 16, 8301 E. State Street, which is across the street from NIU-Rockford.
Online ticketing and a complete list of participating theaters are available at www.FathomEvents.com. WNIJ is the news/talk service of Northern Public Radio, the broadcast service of NIU.
Students in the Museum Studies program at NIU have planned free activities based on the “Examining Audubon” exhibition from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 3.
Children ages 6 to 13 are invited to the museum, located on the west end of the first floor of Altgeld Hall.
Participants can make bird feeders and flatboats, play animal charades and draw and label parts of a bird. The drawing will take place outside weather permitting; children should dress appropriately.
The activities are limited to 20 students. Pre-register at (815) 753-1936 by Friday, May 2.
The Community Dance School, sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, will hold its annual spring concert at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in Anderson Hall.
Dances in different levels of ballet, Irish step, jazz/hip-hop and tap will be performed. The recital is free and open to the public. For more information about the recital and dance program, contact Diane Rimmer at (720) 394-8543.
The Greater Kishwaukee Area Concert Band will present “Stage and Screen Scenes” at 3 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the NIU Music Building.
Under the baton of John Hansen, the band will play selections from “West Side Story,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Chicago,” “Wicked” and many more stage and screen productions.
This free concert is ponsored by the Friends of Malta. The concert hall is accessible to all.
A farewell reception for Rathindra N. Bose, vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School, will take place from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the Clara Sperling Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Brief remarks begin at 4 p.m. Refreshments will be served.
NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology will sponsor “Natural Winds and Traffic Safety,” a presentation by visiting Fulbright scholar Hrvoje Kozmar.
The presentation takes place from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in Room 211 of the Engineering Building. Refreshments will be served.
Kozmar is on the faculty of mechanical engineering and naval architecture at the University of Zagreb in Croatia. He also is a visiting Fulbright scholar with the Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
If bringing classes, RSVP by Monday, May 5, to Mia Hannon in the dean’s office at (815) 753-1284 or via e-mail at hannon@niu.edu. For more information, contact Frank Gruber at (815) 751-2012 or frankgruber@sbcglobal.net.
A book drive is being held in the Founders Memorial Library lobby through Thursday, May 15.
Textbooks, picture books, law books, medical literature and general literature (good reads) are being collected. Donations will become part of the new library for Restore Academy in Gulu, Uganda.
For more information on the academy’s sponsor, Restore International, visit http://restoreinternational.org/. For information on the book drive specifically, contact NIU student Jessica Goodrum at goodrum.jessica@gmail.com.
Eligible faculty and staff now can obtain their new NIU OneCards.
To get new IDs, members of the faculty and staff should bring their current NIU OneCards to the OneCard Office, located on the lower level of the Holmes Student Center across from the University Bookstore, from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Lost ID charges will apply for failure to return current cards. Call (815) 753-9569 for more information.
Friends of the NIU Libraries invites the public to attend its second annual Book Appraisal Fair from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, May 4, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.
Members of the Friends of NIU Libraries will receive their first three books appraised free of charge, with additional appraisals at a rate of $5 each. Appraisals for non-members will cost $10.
“We will gladly accept new members that day for non-members who wish to take advantage of the ‘member rate’ for appraisals,” said Lynne Thomas, faculty liaison to the Friends of NIU Libraries and head of Rare Books and Special Collections.
Thomas Joyce of Thomas J. Joyce & Company and the Chicago Rare Book Center, who has also appeared on HGTV’s “Appraisal Fair,” and Bill Butts of Main Street Fine Books in Galena, will serve as book appraisers. Joyce specializes in printed books, and Butts has extensive experience in appraising autographs and other ephemeral materials.
Proceeds from the event will benefit the Friends of the NIU Libraries. For more information on the book fair, call (815) 753-8091.
NIU’s School of Music will offer a new choral ensemble during the fall 2008 semester.
Women’s Chorus, a one-credit, non-auditioned elective course is open to NIU undergraduate students (MUSC 369, Sect. P-2) and graduate students (MUSC 769, Sect. P-2). NIU full- and part-time female faculty and staff and alumni also are invited to join.
The chorus will rehearse from 4:30 to 6:40 p.m. Mondays in Room 171 of the Music Building and will hold one performance each semester. Glenda Cosenza, associate professor of music education and an experienced choral conductor, will be the group’s director.
Repertoire will include treble voice works by male and female composers from the Western art music tradition and from non-Western oral traditions as well. While the ensemble will be primarily a vocal one, instruction also will be given on ethnic instruments, and performances occasionally will include dances and mimes.
MUSC 369/769 cannot be considered as meeting required choral ensemble credits for NIU music majors. Applied voice majors are admitted by permission of School of Music Voice Area only.
NIU’s Alumni Travel Program is getting ready for some exciting trips over the summer to Alaska and Russia.
Travelers can head to Russia to experience Moscow’s rich history, and then it’s off to Finland to discover the Nordic mystery of Helsinki.
Or, have an Alaskan adventure in July featuring majestic mountains, lush forests and magnificent national parks as well as immense glaciers and icy inlets. Explore it all by foot, rail, sea and motorcoach on this dynamic touring itinerary with a land and sea tour.
More information about these and other NIU Travel Programs is available online.
To perform maintenance and repairs on high pressure steam lines on campus, the Physical Plant and Heating Plant will conduct the annual steam outage.
West Campus: 9 p.m. Monday, May 19, through noon Friday, May 23. This will include all buildings west of Carroll Avenue, except Stevenson and the Neptune Complex, and various other smaller buildings not served by steam. Domestic and heating hot water will not be available.
East Campus: 9 p.m. Sunday, May 25, or Monday, May 26, through noon Thursday, May 29. This will include all buildings east of Carroll Avenue and the Neptune Complex, 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.