A sea change is on the horizon for the American health care system, and industry analysts are worried that none of the principal players are ready to manage that change.
Evolving health-benefit structures. New technology. Changes in the physician-hospital relationship. Growing numbers of uninsured patients. Movement toward integrated electronic patient records. Increasing calls for quality control and regulation.
“The list is endless, and not one of these issues can be managed without broad understanding of legal, financial, medical, regulatory, technical and ethical perspectives,” said health care consultant Cherilyn Murer. “Today’s healthcare leaders need cross-disciplinary training that complements their focused expertise.”
To that end, Murer and her husband, Michael, made a six-figure investment to jump-start a new health care initiative at Northern Illinois University, where Cherilyn serves as chair of the university’s governing board.
Faculty from four different colleges are working on the NIU Healthcare Policy and Management Initiative, exploring the emerging educational needs of health professionals and creating new certificate and degree programs to meet those needs.
One of the group’s first projects is a comprehensive survey of national health care executives.
CEOs, chief financial and operating officers, heads of nursing and information systems and hospital legal officers are being surveyed by NIU’s Public Opinion Lab to determine new program priorities. This study will help shape new program descriptions and will be discussed at a March meeting of the American College of Health Care Executives in Chicago.
Leading the initiative are Donna Munroe, professor of nursing in NIU’s College of Health and Human Sciences; Kathleen McFadden, professor of operations management in the College of Business; Gary Chen, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology; and Jay Naftgzer, visiting associate professor in the College of Law and former vice president of legal services for Well-Point, Inc., in Chicago.
“It’s critical for any new certificate or degree program to really reflect the needs of professionals in the field,” explained Munroe. “Based on what we’ve gathered so far, it’s clear that NIU has great breadth of expertise in the areas of most interest to healthcare providers.”
Program founder Cherilyn Murer agrees.
“They’ve already mapped existing NIU courses into potential new certificate and degree programs,” Murer explained, “and the results are exciting new, multidisciplinary curricula that I think will have great appeal to health care leaders in our region and beyond.”
The health care policy and management initiative tracks closely with priorities established last year in NIU’s comprehensive strategic plan, according to Provost Ray Alden.
“Expanding our commitment to health care leadership is one of the top priorities that emerged from our planning process,” Alden explained. “NIU is uniquely qualified to provide that leadership, and the Murers’ gift allows us to fast-track new program development in the health management field.”
Drawing on her own background in health care business and legal consulting, Murer said the need for greater cross-disciplinary understanding is a challenge she sees “on a daily basis.”
“The challenges we face in modern health care are complex, and they require broad, horizontal viewpoints,” Murer said. “How does the money work? What laws might have to change? Do patients have all the information they need to make good choices? How do insurance policies affect the way doctors practice medicine? Health professionals have to deal with all of these issues every single day, and they need a breadth of knowledge to handle them compassionately and effectively.”
To learn more about NIU’s Health Care Policy and Management Program and the larger NIU Healthcare Leadership Initiative, visit www.niu.edu/hli.
Faculty with a consistent record of excellence who are interested in the NIU Board of Trustees Professorship must submit an application portfolio to the Office of the Provost by Friday, March 21.
The NIU Board of Trustees Professorship was established in 2007 to recognize those faculty who:
Special emphasis will be placed upon the recognition of faculty who are renowned scholars/artists who have engaged students in their research/or and other professional activities.
Upon appointment to the Northern Illinois University Board of Trustees Professorship, the recipient receives a stipend of $10,000 per year that will be renewed annually during the period that the individual serves in this role. The term of appointment is five years, renewable on a competitive basis.
No more than three awards are made each academic year, and a total of no more than 15 professorships will be active at any time.
Criteria and other information are available online at the Great Journeys Web site.
The online survey of the NIU campus experience begins today, and Student Association President Jarvis Purnell is urging his classmates to take part with “honest” answers.
Part of the Great Journeys strategic planning process, the survey will help NIU administrators learn what students, faculty and staff think of the place where they live, learn and work. Their goal is to create the most positive experience for everyone who has chosen NIU for an education.
Conducted by Noel-Levitz, the survey continues through Feb. 24. It only requires about 20 minutes to complete.
“It’s not going to take that much time out of our days, and it can’t do anything but benefit the campus,” Purnell said. “With the incident last semester and other isolated incidents, it will be good for our university administrators to really get a gauge on how students feel on our campus. That information is necessary to know what types of change – if any change – needs to be implemented.”
Everyone, including undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff, should find an e-mail with a direct link to the appropriate online survey.
Respondents are asked to provide their level of interest and their level of satisfaction regarding nearly 100 statements about campus, covering everything from academics, financial aid and library resources to campus safety, parking spaces and the food available in residence hall cafeterias.
Graduate and non-traditional students see many of the statements geared to their unique situation, including the convenience of courses and advising services.
Students should “really take it seriously,” Purnell said.
“A lot of times, students will get opportunities like this, and sometimes might not take it seriously or ignore it. But if you take the time, you can do things for the university past your tenure here. You can do things for incoming students or students who transfer here,” he said.
“I hope that the students who do take the survey answer honestly and holistically so we can get a perception of what the students as a whole feel,” he added. “The administration’s actions in past situations have been just; I hope they take the information and not only implement some change but get students to actively participate in that change.”
Faculty and staff will answer with their perceptions of how students regard the campus experience. This will provide a clear picture of where gaps exist between the ratings of those who provide the services and those who receive them.
Staff without computers will have the opportunity to complete the survey in an NIU computer lab. Stevens Annex Room 122 is reserved for the survey from 8 to 10 a.m. and from 4 to 6 p.m. today through Friday, Feb. 15, and from Monday, Feb. 18 through Feb. 22. The lab seats 33.
NIU will publish the results in the fall. For more information, call (815) 753-0816.
The tornadoes that swept across the mid-South last Tuesday and Wednesday illustrate in tragic fashion the findings of a recently published study by NIU meteorologist Walker Ashley.
Ashley found that while the “tornado alley” region of the Great Plains boasts the most frequent occurrence of tornadoes, most tornado fatalities occur in the nation’s mid-South region, which includes parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama and Mississippi.
“The country’s most vulnerable region for tornado-related fatalities and killer tornado events basically stretches from Little Rock to Memphis to Tupelo to Birmingham,” Ashley said.
He compiled and analyzed a data set of killer tornadoes dating back to 1880, examining their spatial distribution. The study was published in the December issue of the journal, “Weather and Forecasting.”
Earlier this week, tornadoes swept across the South, killing more than 55 people in Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky and Alabama and injuring hundreds.
Ashley cited a number of factors that combine to make the mid-South particularly vulnerable. These factors include:
Ashley advocates for more use by the public of NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information directly from the nearest National Weather Services office. For more info, see www.weather.gov/nwr/.
Robert Chappell remembers well when his second life in music began.
Chappell earned his bachelor’s degree in music in the early 1970s and, with a classical training in piano and percussion, embarked on a career as a professional musician. After a stint with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Chappell moved on to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and made an important acquaintance.
“My friend turned me on to world music. He said, ‘Listen to this tabla player.’ I thought, ‘Oh my goodness. And I’m playing triangle back there behind the orchestra?’ ” Chappell says. “Now I’ve lived a lot of places, learned by experience and studied the music of different cultures.”
For five years, Chappell performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico and Japan as a keyboardist and percussionist with the Paul Winter Consort. He also toured extensively with his own jazz-world group, Rhythmic Union, with NIU colleague Liam Teague and with their Latin-Caribbean ensemble Panoramic.
Scholarly interests about drumming took him to Africa, India and to the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
Among the many lessons of those worldwide travels, Chappell says, was to disregard the Western notion “that the way we learn music is the only way.”
“I’ve found you really need to stretch the students with all their faculties, and all their senses, when they learn music,” he says. “It requires hearing and seeing and touching, and I’m trying to figure smell into this. I’m sure we can probably smell the sweat from the competition.”
At noon Thursday, Feb. 14, Chappell will present his ideas about teaching and his exotic instruments in “Learning Through Experience: Using the Five Senses and More to Increase Musical Awareness,” a Presidential Teaching Seminar in the Capitol Room of the Holmes Student Center.
The seminar is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center. Refreshments will be served at 11:30 a.m. All are invited. Call (815) 753-1085 for more information.
“We want the people who receive the Presidential Teaching Professorships to share their experiences with other faculty. These people have been identified as our most outstanding teachers, and we’re always looking for ways we can improve our teaching and our engagement with students,” says Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver. “My experience with the seminars is that I always learn something valuable and interesting that I can incorporate into my own teaching.”
Chappell, who joined the NIU School of Music in 1983 as head of percussion studies, promises to engage his audience in unique and exciting participation. He’s bringing a Ugandan xylophone, some Indian tablas and other percussion.
“I want them to try to learn a composition in different ways – visually, orally – and I’m going to have some people try to do it without an instrument by putting them out in the hallway to mimic the motions,” he says. “Then, we’ll put a little group together to play.”
He hopes people recognize the relationship of teaching music to the teaching of any topic. He equates learning music to learning a foreign language: “It requires total mastery, time and dedication.”
“In today’s world, students are used to multimedia presentations and having things done in a very entertaining kind of way. I’m not saying you have to put on a clown costume to be a professor – it helps on occasion – but if you’re trying to teach a concept, you have to be able to present that concept from multiple perspectives,” he says. “For the students of today, and students who come from different cultural backgrounds, we as professors have to be as flexible as we possibly can.”
In coming days, the NIU community will have an opportunity to meet in public forums with each of three finalists for the position of dean of University Libraries.
Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend the sessions. The candidate forum schedule is as follows.
Myrna McCallister
Public forum: 10 to 10:55 a.m. Friday, Feb. 15, in Altgeld Hall 315. McCallister is currently dean of the library at Indiana State University.
Patrick Dawson
Public forum: 10 to 10:55 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 19, in Altgeld Hall 315. Dawson is currently associate university librarian for information and research services at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Yolanda Cooper
Public Forum: 11 to 11:55 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in Altgeld Hall 315. Cooper is currently deputy university librarian at the University of Miami.
Huskies fans are invited to “Think Pink” and cheer on the NIU Women’s Basketball team as they take on MAC opponent Ohio University at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, in the Convocation Center.
In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Day, NIU will attempt to set a single game attendance record and donate half of the game’s ticket sales to breast cancer research. Fans are encouraged to buy a ticket, wear pink and be a fan in the stands to create the best home court advantage in the MAC.
For details, visit http://www.niuhuskies.com and click on the Think Pink icon or call Elaine Russell, assistant director of marketing, at (815) 753-0801.
Health Enhancement is offering $250 prizes for the two best campaign ideas that promote safer drinking submitted by NIU students and NIU recognized student organizations.
Entries are due by 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 18, in Room 139 of the Chick Evans Field House.
The two students or organizations with winning ideas will work with a graphic designer to turn the ideas into reality. Entrants are encouraged to consult with the Health Enhancement staff prior to submission. Visit http://www.health.niu.edu for contest details or call (815) 753-9755.
Choose your favorite DeKalb establishments in the Northern Star’s annual readers poll. Vote online until Monday, Feb. 18, at http://www.northernstar.info.
Winners will be posted online, honored at halftime during the NIU Women’s Basketball game Saturday, March 1, and announced in a special section of the March 3 print edition of the Northern Star.
NIU doctoral student Mary B. Turner will present her view of the beauty and harshness of an Illinois winter in an exhibit titled “Fiber & Ice” on display at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center throughout the month of February.
Many of the photographs, taken on the NIU campus where Turner is pursuing a doctoral degree in instructional technology, feature images of ice-coated vegetation. Turner also presents fiber artworks, which entail stitching, crocheting and wrapping techniques. Her fiber works reference organisms and patterns from nature. All of the works in the exhibit are recent, dating from June 2007 to the present.
A public reception will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22. The DeKalb Area Women’s Center is open for public viewing from 7 to 9 p.m. Fridays and by appointment throughout the month.
The DAWC is located at 1021 State Street in DeKalb. Parking is available in the paved lot off of Eleventh Street, one-half block south of the building. The handicapped-accessible lift can be reached from the alley north of the building. For further information, or to arrange a group showing, call Anna Marie Coveny, gallery director, at (815) 758-1351.
Interested in helping first-year students learn how to succeed at NIU? Become a UNIV 101/201 instructor for fall 2008.
UNIV 101 is a one-credit, 12-week course focused on helping freshmen develop the essential academic and social skills needed to make an enjoyable and successful transition to NIU. UNIV 201 is a similar course designed specifically for transfer students.
In fall 2007, NIU offered 91 sections of UNIV 101/201; more than 1,800 first-year NIU students enrolled. As a UNIV 101/201 instructor, you can impact the experiences of these new students and provide them with resources to help them adjust to life at NIU.
Instructors must be a current or retired member of the NIU faculty, staff, or administration, hold a master’s degree and have prior teaching experience. Candidates who do not meet the last two criteria might be paired with teaching coaches.
UNIV 101/201 instructors typically receive a stipend of $1,000 for teaching an individual section or $500 for co-instructing. Once hired, all instructors are required to attend training workshops and department meetings and participate in course feedback through e-mail correspondence and surveys.
Two instructor overview sessions are scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 28, and Monday, March 3, in Holmes Student Center Room 308 to share more information about teaching these courses. Please RSVP to firstconn@niu.edu.
For more information and application materials, contact First-Year Connections at firstconn@niu.edu.
NIU’s LGBT Resource Center, the Presidential Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and the LGBT Studies Program are seeking nominations for the fourth annual Ally Awards.
The awards recognize individuals, departments and groups who have shown support for the LGBT community over the 2007-2008 school year. The Ally Awards were created to recognize the many ways people make NIU a better place for LGBT students, faculty and staff. All nominees who are qualified receive the award.
Nomination forms are available online. The deadline for nominations is 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 7. Recipients will be recognized during LGBT Awareness Month in April.
For more information, contact the LGBT Resource Center at lgbt@niu.edu or (815) 753-5428.
Join the Alumni Association Saturday, March 8, at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Enjoy traditional Irish fare, a cash bar and live entertainment, including Irish dancers and the Irish band Switchback. Tickets for the event are $30 and include a plentiful buffet. Wear plenty of green – prizes will be awarded for the most festive outfits.
More information and event registration is available online.
The NIU Presidential Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (PCSOGI) and Prism of NIU are seeking nominations for the Eychaner Award, which is presented annually to recognize individuals affiliated with NIU who have demonstrated outstanding leadership and service on behalf of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender community.
The award is presented in two categories, one recognizing contributions made by an NIU student and one recognizing the contributions of a faculty or staff member or an NIU alumnus/a.
A full description of the award, including eligibility and nomination guidelines, is available online at http://www.niu.edu/lgbt/resourcecenter/awards/eychaner.shtml. The Web page also includes a list of past recipients and a printable nomination form.
The nomination deadline is 4:30 p.m. Friday, March 21. For questions, contact the LGBT
Resource Center at (815) 753-LGBT(5428) or lgbt@niu.edu.
NIU’s Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences has announced the schedule for its Spring 2008 Colloquia.
All talks will be held at 4 p.m. in Davis Hall 308 unless otherwise noted and are co-sponsored by NIU’s Graduate Colloquium Committee. Call (815) 753-1943 or click here for schedule updates and more information.
Friday, Feb. 15: Kevin Smart, Southwest Research Institute, “Applications of Geomechanical Modeling to Problems in Structural Geology and Tectonics”
Friday, Feb. 22: Paul Wallace, University of Oregon, “The Role of Water in Subduction Zone Magmatism: New Insights from Melt Inclusions in High-Mg Basalts from the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt”
Wednesday, Feb. 27: Michael Celia, Princeton University, National Groundwater Association 2008 Henry Darcy Distinguished Lecture, “Geological Storage as a Carbon Mitigation Option”
Friday, Feb. 29: Jack Horner, Montana State University, “Dinosaur Diversity and Extinction Approaching the K-T Boundary” – LOCATION CHANGED TO MONTGOMERY HALL AUDITORIUM
Friday, March 7: Enrique Gomezdelcampo, Bowling Green State University, “A Modified DRASTIC Model for Siting Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in Williams County, Ohio”
Friday, March 28: Sallie Greenberg, Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois carbon sequestration, title TBA
Friday, April 4: Bryce Willems, Northern Illinois University, “Jokulhlaups of Disenchantment Bay, Alaska: Actions of a Misbehaving Glacier” / John Sosulski, Northern Illinois University, “Utilizing Ichnology to Understand the Depositional Environment of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, during the late Oligocene and early Miocene”
Friday, April 11: Cliff Clark, Sr. Division Geologist/Geophysicist, Cohort Energy Company, “Exploration Trends in the U.S. Domestic Energy Industry with an Emphasis on Shale Gas Developments”
Friday, April 25: Beth Aarestad, Northern Illinois University, “CH3OH in high-pressure phases of H2O: Implications for Ice-rich Planets”
Join the Women’s Resource Center for a screening of “DreamWorlds 3,” the groundbreaking video exploring the stories told in music videos about girls and women.
Audience members will discuss how these videos help shape individual and cultural attitudes about sexuality and how pop culture filters the identities of young men and women through a very narrow set of myths about sexuality and gender.
The event takes place from 9 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, in the New Orleans room of Stevenson Towers.
Part Two of the personnel workshop series, “Managing Personnel and the Human Capital of Your Organization,” will press into matters concerning wages, benefits, job content, classifications and labor relations.
Do governments compete in the market place for employees? Do the wages you offer matter? Is internal equity an important issue? Is interest-based bargaining a myth or realistic option? These are some of the common policy themes that come up year after year in organizations, but are often ignored until a crisis emerges.
Other topics to be covered Thursday, Feb. 14, are: What are the benefits of “designed” HR management systems? The policies and practices of HR management aren’t just an afterthought; it’s the primary system available to manage the most expensive and important assets: people.
Presenter Greg Kuhn has 25 years of combined experience in government administration, consulting and academics. Kuhn is a senior associate at NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies.
Registration and more information about CLA and its upcoming workshops are available online.
After 15 years as a neo-Nazi white supremacist activist and recruiter, Tom “TJ” Leyden experienced a profound change of heart, turned away from hate and began teaching tolerance.
Leyden is the featured speaker for “Turning Away from Hate,” scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 26, in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center. For more information, call the Center for Black Studies at (815) 753-1709.
NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center is offering grants of up to $2,000 each annually to regular continuing faculty (tenured and tenure track).
The purpose of the grants is to encourage and support faculty development activities that directly benefit the applicants’ departments, colleges and/or the university. Equal matching funds from the applicants’ academic units or appropriate external sources are required.
Five copies of each proposal, including the proposal cover sheet, accompanying letters of support and other relevant documents must be submitted to the Grant Review Subcommittee, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, by Friday, April 4, for activities scheduled between July and December 2008.
Complete proposal guidelines and cover sheet can be obtained online. Tenured or tenure-track faculty who plan to submit proposals by the April 4 deadline and need more information are encouraged to register and attend the grant-writing seminar that will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 5. Register online or e-mail facdev@niu.edu.
NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center and Human Resource Services are offering grants of 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 online. Five copies of each proposal, including other relevant documents, must be submitted to the SPS Awards Committee, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, by Friday, April 18, for activities proposed between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2008.
SPS who plan to submit a proposal by the April 18 deadline and need more information are encouraged to register to attend the grant writing seminar from noon to 1 p.m. Friday, April 4. Register online or e-mail facdev@niu.edu.
Join the NIU Alumni Association for a beautiful Spring Break trip to Holland from April 19 to 27.
Vibrant flower gardens, quaint villages and windmills await. Spring is the most popular time to visit when the tulips and other bulb flowers are spectacular. This touring itinerary includes visits to the Anne Frank House, Aalsmeer Flower Auction, Keukenhof Gardens and the annual Flower Parade in Noordwijk.
Visit myniu.com or call (815) 753-1512 for more information.
David W. Raymond, while a member of the first NIU Board of Trustees, created an endowment to fund an annual grant to faculty who are working on ways to use new technologies in their teaching.
Income from the endowment is supplemented with funds from the Provost’s Office to provide a $2,500 grant to the faculty member with the best proposal for incorporating new technologies into his or her teaching. Tenured and tenure-track faculty are eligible to apply for the grant.
Grant funds may be used for software purchases, equipment upgrades, graduate assistantship time or other costs associated with developing courseware or supportive materials that make effective and innovative use of instructional technology.
The proposal must include a budget for the project and a letter of support from the chair of the applicant’s department, school or division. Five copies of each proposal should be submitted to the Grant Review Committee, Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center, Adams Hall 319, by Monday, March 17.
A proposal format and additional information about the grant are available online. For more information, contact facdev@niu.edu or (815) 753-0595.
NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women is seeking nominations for four awards to be presented in April.
All nominations are due Monday, March 3, to Betty Baugh, Women’s Resource Center, 105 Normal Road, DeKalb, Ill., 60115. Fax to (815) 753-0337 or e-mail to bbaugh@niu.edu. Call (815) 753-9614 for more information.
The Wilma D. Stricklin Award for the Enhancement of the Climate for Women on Campus is given to an NIU-affiliated individual who has distinguished herself or himself by making continual and extraordinary contributions to the climate for women across campus.
Created in 2007, the Outstanding Mentor Award is presented to one or two NIU civil service, professional staff or faculty employees (male or female) who have shown exceptional commitment to advancing the career and/or educational goals of NIU women students, staff and/or faculty.
The Women Who Make a Difference Award honors one or two NIU civil service, professional staff or faculty women who have shown outstanding dedication to the empowerment of NIU women by making changes at the unit level; by making important contributions to addressing issues that are important to women; and going “the extra mile” to assist others on campus.
Established in 1997, the Martha Cooper Journalism Award recognizes outstanding writing on women’s issues at NIU. Named for Cooper, a journalism alumna, the award is open to all NIU students and alumni who have written and published about women’s issues at NIU during the time frame of March 1, 2007, to the present. Eligible entries include news coverage and/or commentary, either individual articles or a series of articles on a topic or topics related to NIU women.
For details regarding eligibility, criteria and nomination process for each of these awards, call (815) 753-9614 or visit http://www.niu.edu/women/PCSW and click on Awards.
Mortar Board Senior Honor Society, one of the most distinguished active honor societies in higher education, is looking for members for the 2008-2009 NIU chapter.
Eligible students must have senior status by fall 2008, have at least a 3.2 GPA and have demonstrated commitment to Mortar Board’s ideals of scholarship, leadership and service. Mortar Board is a selective senior honor society and will choose only 50 to 60 eligible students for membership.
Founded in 1918, Mortar Board has a long history of recognizing outstanding students for their active contributions to the community.
Please encourage eligible students to visit the chapter Web site for more information and to apply for membership: www.mortarboard.niu.edu. Applications are due Friday, Feb. 15. For more information contact chapter adviser, Daniel Turner, danturner@niu.edu, in the NIU Academic Advising Center.