NIU, the leading producer of art teachers in the state of Illinois, is now preparing Ph.D. candidates in art education.
Courses began this fall for 15 students who are expected to grow into new standard bearers in art education research and policy that will impact K-12 schools, colleges and universities, museums, community art centers and cultural institutions.
This Ph.D. program, NIU’s 11th, is the university’s first new Ph.D. in more than a decade.
“It’s a flagship program for the NIU School of Art. Very few schools of art in the United States have a Ph.D. program, and we are now second in significance in this country. The only institution ahead of us, in terms of size and scope, is Ohio State,” said Doug Boughton, acting director of the school and a professor of art education.
“This will position our students in the field to where they’re never wanting for qualifications. Some will go back to their schools. Some will go into community colleges. Some will go into higher education,” Boughton added. “Not only does it facilitate jobs, it really is something that opens minds and provides new ways to envision the future of the field – to bring the field forward.”
“People who hold master’s degrees and want to pursue academic research can now develop new knowledge and skills and provide influence at the highest levels of art and visual culture,” said Deb Smith-Shank, head of art education. “These are the people who will shape theory and policy.”
Professor Emeritus Stanley Majeda initiated the push toward the Ph.D. several years ago with Smith-Shank.
The long process involved the critical hiring of Boughton and Kerry Freedman, both of whom are internationally renowned for their work to promote an art curriculum centered on visual culture: Children can learn so much from studying the imagery surrounding them thanks to television, movies, video games, toys, comic books, clothes, furniture, advertising, the Internet and more.
Harold Kafer, former dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, and Virginia Cassidy, vice provost for academic planning and development, served as shepherds of the proposal through the administrative channels.
External review by several of the nation’s top art educators helped to polish the document on its successful journey to Illinois Board of Higher Education approval.
“After so many years of work on this project, I’m proud of the results. We have such a great group of students who are deeply committed to becoming leaders in our professional field,” Freedman said. “Art educators in schools and communities need to be supported by the work of new doctoral graduates, and it is clear that more strong programs are required that focus on research and leadership in art teaching and learning.”
Some of the 15 students are shifting from the College of Education’s Ed.D. program in curriculum and instruction, which for years has offered a specialization in art education. Nina Dorsch, who is retired from the chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning, “made it easy for the students to grow in her program while we were developing this one,” Freedman said.
Lured by NIU’s global reputation, a few students have come from foreign countries.
“Part of the university’s strategic plan is to increase the international nature of our programs, and we’re working at that. We already have interest from overseas and, in fact, one student joined us from China this year. We already have in the program two students from Taiwan and one from Macau,” Boughton said. “It’s quite helpful to the university and our students to have exposure to students from other countries.”
Completion of the degree requires a minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate course work at NIU beyond the graduate credits earned toward the master’s degree. A dissertation and oral defense are mandatory.
Some of the core courses include “Policy Studies for the Administration and Supervision of Art Programs,” “Critical Theories of Art, Culture, and Pedagogy” and “Philosophies of Art and Aesthetics.”
These Ph.D. students also must complete nine hours of research methodologies and at least 12 hours in art or related fields, including anthropology, computer imaging, museum studies, statistical analysis and women’s studies.
An early challenge already has been conquered. The group recently traveled to Champaign for a weekend graduate seminar with doctoral students in art education at the University of Illinois, which offers the state’s only other Ph.D. in art education.
“Our doctoral students and their doctoral students presented papers to the faculty at the universities,” Smith-Shank said. “Our students were marvelous. They were thoughtful, articulate, poised and professional.”
But greater challenges await.
Federal “No Child Left Behind” legislation has been devastating to art education, Freedman said, because school districts are forced to focus on improving test scores in math and reading.
“The act does state that art is a core subject, and people are starting to respond negatively to the emphasis on reading and math testing,” Freedman said. “Art is in some ways being newly valued, particularly because of greater interest in the impact of the creative industries on the economy. Arts knowledge is becoming appreciated again as parents realize that standardized testing of reading and math is not going to prepare their children for a whole and happy life.”
That’s why NIU is committed to the visual culture curriculum and, Boughton said, is counting on its new doctoral students to “help bring the field forward” in that direction.
“In the past, the focus of art education was on aesthetic theory – the attempt to generate in children the capacity to have an aesthetic experience and to understand fine museum art,” he said. “These days, in a period of enormous exposure to visual images, from cell phones and TV screens to laptop computers and just signage, kids experience art in many different forms that affect their lives. We have to include discussions of this visual culture in curriculum.”
Visit www.niu.edu/art or call (815) 753-1474 for more information.
Comparing his new video conferencing system to his old one, Rich Casey believes he got a major upgrade.
“It’s like we went from a Model T to a 2009 Porsche,” says Casey, who oversees operations at the NIU Learning Center in Gabel Hall, where some of the university’s new equipment is housed.
Gone are the 26-inch televisions, the analog video cameras, the computers running Windows98 software, the microphones that picked up every bit of background noise, the speakers that projected muffled or garbled sound and unreliable telephone connections that left both teachers and students frustrated.
In their place are 53-inch, flat-panel, high-definition screens, digital video cameras, proprietary Polycom hardware and software, ceiling-mounted microphones that filter out background noise, speakers that project crisp digital sound and rock-solid reliable Internet connections between sites. The new equipment also allows instructors to better employ PowerPoint and other computer graphics programs.
“It’s a major improvement from top to bottom,” Casey says. “When I talk to other institutions to ensure that our equipment is compatible, they are all envious when they hear what we have. It’s top of the line.”
The cost of the upgrade was covered using funds from the “tech fee” assessed to all students and funds from NIU-Outreach. That money paid for installation of equipment in the two video conferencing rooms in the Gable Hall Learning Center; at each of the university’s outreach centers in Hoffman Estates, Naperville and Rockford; and at the Family Health Wellness and Literacy Center (the former Monsanto Building). The School of Music also has its own cutting-edge equipment, which was purchased separately.
The new equipment also is much simpler to use than the old. Operated via a single remote control, it is so intuitive that the old manual has been replaced by a single, double-sided page of instructions.
“Everything about it is better,” says Dennis Cesarotti, who uses the system once a week to teach disaster preparedness and homeland security. “The picture quality, the sound quality, the reliability – all of it makes my life so much easier.”
Becky Butler, a professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, who also has taught using both the old and the new systems, agrees with Cesarotti that the Polycom system is a major improvement.
“Once you get used to it, it’s fun,” she says.
The challenge for Casey these days is to get more people to give the new equipment a chance.
The old equipment had proven so inadequate in recent years that many had given up on the idea of using video conferencing to teach students in remote locations. Currently, only two courses use the technology each week. Next semester that number will grow to six courses, he says, but there is still potential for much greater use.
“Sometimes this is the perfect tool for teaching a course in its entirety. Other times, an instructor might want to use it as part of a blend of traditional face-to-face instruction and/or online instruction. We’re happy to work with faculty to find the right combinations,” Casey says.
The new video conferencing equipment has many potential uses:
To learn more about the equipment and what it can do, contact Casey at (815) 753-8360 or look online at http://www.niu.edu/videoconferencing/index.shtml.
For student journalists at NIU’s Northern Television Center, covering the Feb. 14 tragedy meant more than gathering and presenting the facts.
The events mandated a more meaningful kind of storytelling, one that put viewers into the shoes of students.
“We felt a sense of necessity in providing that coverage and in sharing with the world what our students felt. It was so important to be able to share that with the rest of the world – that unbelievable but horrible experience – so that they would know and understand,” said Allen May, general manager of broadcast news at NTC.
Members of the Illinois Broadcasters Association agree.
NTC’s Feb. 14 coverage earned second place in the long-form programming category of the 2008 Student Silver Dome Awards. NIU’s students also took second place in the “Best TV Newscast” category for a Feb. 14 submission.
“To be able to be recognized for that work, I think, meant to the students a sense of validation, a sense that something important had been accomplished on behalf of the university and on behalf of the students we lost,” May said. “In that regard, this was anything but just another newscast or a news tribute. Symbolically, it meant we had carried out a journalistic obligation. We needed to do that for them, and it was an honor that we were able to share it in a way that judges were able to see its role and its significance.”
The awards were presented Nov. 7 at the annual IBA-University Conference held at Illinois State University. More than 200 students from 12 colleges and universities participated at the conference and competition.
It was the first time in at least a decade that NTC students were honored with three excellence awards in a single year: “Top Shelf Sports,” a previous winner in long-form programming, won third place this year.
May is not surprised.
His students create and tape four 25-minute broadcasts each week, each of which airs four times: 6, 8 and 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and noon Tuesday through Friday on campus cable Channel 20.
Broadcasts also are streamed on the Department of Communication’s Web site and posted on www.myspace.com/northerntelevisioncenter. On election night, NTC students broke new ground by producing a half-hour live newscast streamed to Communication Web page.
And “Top Shelf Sports,” launched only four years ago as one students’ independent study and the owner of three IBA trophies, receives its own showcase every other Friday at 6, 8 and 10 p.m.
So does the occasional public affairs project and news magazine.
“The students in the other programs that we compete with for these awards come from several of the best programs in the country. We’re talking about Northwestern, and the highly respected program at Southern Illinois University, and these students here compete with them and win,” May said. “They recognize that what they’re doing here stands shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the best students and the best programs, not only in Illinois but nationwide.”
Yet May has no doubt that the students who were on the job during those cold and gray weeks last February realized their place long before the recent round of recognition.
“I’ve not had a group of students who have exhibited more dedication and more of an importance about telling the story to the world like they did. It has been life-changing for them,” he said. “These awards have given them a clear sense of how important the mission of a journalist is and the journalistic obligations to accuracy and informing and enlightening the public.”
NIU student Adrienne Holloway has been awarded a federal research grant of nearly $15,000 to study affordable housing issues in Chicago’s suburbs, according to a recent news release from U.S. Rep. Bill Foster.
Holloway is employed as a research associate for the Center for Governmental Studies while also working toward her Ph.D. in political science, with a concentration in public policy and public administration. She holds a master’s degree in public administration from Baruch College in New York.
Holloway will study seven years worth of data to see how well suburbs in DuPage County are absorbing increased numbers of Housing Choice Voucher recipients. The Chicago Housing Authority now manages more than 36,000 such vouchers, many of them provided to tenants displaced by demolition of inner-city housing projects.
The grant is through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Early Doctoral Student Research Grant program. The program enables doctoral students to cultivate their research skills through the preparation of research manuscripts that focus on policy-relevant housing and urban development issues.
“Receiving this grant is recognition of the validity of Adrienne’s work,” said NIU Public Administration Professor Heidi Koenig, who is Holloway’s adviser. “She has attended conferences and pulled together a lot of interest in what she intends to study.”
The study also will investigate whether suburban municipalities view affordable housing as an asset. DuPage County is among the top 50 wealthiest counties in the nation.
“My research will examine the particular mix of services and legislative activity that enables municipalities to offer housing at various price points. This includes analyzing economic development processes, municipal ordinances and social service delivery networks. These factors provide indicators of a community’s openness to groups from different income levels,” Holloway said.
“It is my hope that my research will provide housing practitioners with analyses they can use to develop informed policy to address their respective affordable housing concerns.”
NIU Communication Professor David Gunkel and his wife, Columbia College Chicago Professor Ann Hetzel Gunkel, easily could be described as an academic power couple.
They both hold Ph.D.s in philosophy and are award-winning scholars who have lectured and studied in places across the globe. Both are experts in computer technology and communication. And both have been sought out for their expertise by the news media.
As of late, though, they’ve found their star power eclipsed by that of their 7-year-old son.
Just days before the Nov. 4 election, Stanislaw “Stas” Gunkel, a budding political blogger and second-grader at Beaubien Elementary School in Chicago, received a thank-you letter from now President-elect Barack Obama.
“Dear Stas,” Obama writes. “Thank you for your kind words and for your support. I am impressed with your interest in politics, especially at your young age ... Seeing young people like you who care about making things better inspires me and gives me great hope about the future of our country and our world.”
Last week, Stas was busy doing interviews with the likes of the Chicago Sun-Times, ABC7 and NBC5.
“When Stas started blogging, we never anticipated that it would lead to this kind of attention. We simply thought it was a good way to encourage his writing,” David Gunkel says. “But now his blog has more hits and national attention than anything either my wife or I have published.”
Rwandan film director and actor Gilbert Ndahayo will screen his award-winning documentary on the Rwandan genocide at 7 p.m. today in Lecture Hall 200 of Faraday West.
The free event is open to the public.
The documentary, “Behind This Convent,” tells the story of the tragedy that befell Ndahayo’s village during the 100-day Rwandan Tutsi Genocide of 1994. The genocide claimed as many as 1 million lives.
At the age of 13, Ndahayo discovered the bodies of his family and those of 200 other villagers in a pit behind his house. Using the testimony of survivors, witnesses and the confessions of his father’s killer, Emmanuel, aka “Red Cross,” he captures a terrifying story.
“Behind This Convent” looks at the lives of the survivors and their personal struggles to come to grips with the genocide. The film also explores both the efforts of genocide survivors to find the remains of their loved ones and how the Rwandan justice system deals with the largest genocide in Africa.
Ndahayo’s documentary won the award for Best African Feature Film at the 2008 Zanzibar International Film Festival, where it was also named Best African Documentary.
After the screening, there will be an opportunity to talk to Ndahayo during a reception.
The event has been made possible through support from the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Foreign Language Residence Program, International House, Department of History and Phi Beta Delta Honor Society, Zeta Gamma Chapter.
Alan Zollman, a professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, assumed the presidency of the International School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA) at its 107th Annual Convention held last month in Raleigh-Durham, N.C.
Begun in 1901 in Chicago, the SSMA is an inclusive professional community to unify researchers and educators to promote research, scholarship and practice for the improvement and integration of school science and mathematics.
The SSMA strives to:
Primary activities are the funding of innovative classroom projects and the international publication of The School Science and Mathematics Journal, which is distributed monthly from October through May to emphasize research on issues, concerns and lessons within and between the disciplines of science and mathematics in the classroom.
As president of SSMA, Zollman is expected to articulate the organization’s mission and purpose; ensure effective long-range organizational planning; assure adequate resources; manage resources effectively; determine and monitor the organization’s programs and services; enhance the organization’s public image; and periodically evaluate the organization performance in fulfilling its responsibilities
Zollman is past-vice president of the Research Council on Mathematics Learning and an editorial board member of Investigations in Mathematics Learning. He also is a recipient of the NIU Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
The Office of Assessment Services presents the Winter 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 an in-depth look at the University Writing Project: how it works, how faculty can participate using only existing course assignments and results from the 2008 writing project.
Also featured in this issue are stipends available to faculty for developing or redesigning a Capstone Course; a rubric for assessing group participation; and a preview of upcoming assessment events, including the 2009 Assessment Expo.
Back issues are posted on the Assessment Services Web site under Toolkit. Contributions to the newsletter are welcome at any time.
Candidate interviews for the position of director of NIU’s CHANCE Program have been scheduled.
Open interview forums are scheduled for faculty (4 to 5 p.m.) and the public (5 to 6 p.m.) on each date. All open forums will be held in Room 203 of Altgeld Hall. Call (815) 753-8381 for more information.
On the menu at Ellington’s this week: Fiesta Mexicana is scheduled for Tuesday, La Bella Vida takes over Wednesday and Mesa 225 concludes the week Thursday.
New this semester is the option to enjoy wine with your meal. One red and one white wine choice will be available with meal service. Wine will be selected for the menu based on wine-and-food pairings made by the students. Wine selections will range from $4.50 to $6.50 per glass.
Fiesta Mexicana features warm cactus chili or roasted beet salad for starters, Mexican chicken with an almond cream sauce or bean and tomato casserole for entrees and three milk cake or lime sorbet for dessert. Each table also will be served a basket of black bean and corn salsa and guacamole.
La Bella Vida features chilled gazpacho or Spanish-style orange, olive and bread salad for starters, Portuguese pork with lemon or vibrant vegetarian paella for entrees and sweet plantain and chocolate empanaditas or peaches in sparkling wine for dessert. Each table also will be served non-alcoholic sangria sipper.
Mesa 225 features tortilla soup with chicken or southwestern ranch salad for starters, grilled chicken with pineapple salsa and southwestern confetti salad or bean burger with adobo mayonnaise and southwestern confetti salad for entrees and apple enchiladas or southwest chocolate stack-ups for dessert. Each table also will be served a basket of blue tortillas and watermelon salsa.
Seating is from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. with service until 1 p.m. The cost is $9 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.
“Merkeyna Coif Boutique” is an art exhibition and performance art piece by sisters Finesse and Lynetta Coif at the NIU Women’s Resource Center.
“Merkeyna” is derived from the word “merkin” – a pubic wig – and is a 21st century boutique-quality version of the merkin created to promote sex-positive dialogue and expression about the body and body politics.
Grand opening receptions will be held from noon to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 19, and from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20.
Check out several lines of Merkeyna styles, try on Merkeynas, view Merkeyna/merkin-inspired art and fine design and buy handmade gifts of candles, chocolates and more. Be prepared to laugh, cry and be inspired.
All items in the boutique are for sale, although there is no obligation to purchase anything.
Exhibition times are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, and Wednesday, Nov. 19, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21.
For more information, call (815) 761-8813 or (773) 315-1454 or e-mail merkeyna@yahoo.com.
NIU’s Huskie Marching Band will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21, at the Convocation Center. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets for this general admission event are $1 for all students and $5 for the general public, and are available at the Convocation Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, www.Ticketmaster.com or charge by phone at (312) 559-1212.
The marching band, drum line, color guard and Silverettes will perform highlights from the marching shows throughout the year as well as favorite songs and cheers heard during the game. Look for special routines from the drum line, the color guard and the Silverettes.
The Huskie Marching Band, which has earned, and continues to prove itself worthy of, its title as “The Pride of the Midwest,” always contributes to the festive atmosphere at its performance venues. Its shows contain variety, familiarity, musical excellence, visual interest, energy, high emotion and tradition.
Call (815) 753-7978 or e-mail tbough@niu.edu for more information.
NIU President John and Mrs. Barbara Peters have announced their annual holiday luncheon for the NIU community, a festive tradition for all friends and colleagues of the university.
This spirited event to celebrate the joy of the holiday season is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center. A buffet lunch will be served.
Contact Ellen Andersen at (815) 753-1999 or via e-mail at ellena@niu.edu for more information.
Historic Altgeld Hall is the site of the annual Holiday Family Celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5.
Celebrate the season with music, refreshments and family fun. The event is free and open to the public.
Contact Ellen Andersen at (815) 753-1999 or via e-mail at ellena@niu.edu for more information.
There are still a few seats available for the NIU Alumni Association holiday trip to Hawaii.
Warm trade winds and a traditional Hawaiian “Aloha!” await on this three-island touring itinerary. The islands of Maui, Hawaii and Oahu offer a vast diversity of landscapes, natural beauty and attractions.
Visit myniu.com or call (815) 753-1452 for more information.
Join others for a screening and discussion of “Hot and Bothered,” a groundbreaking video that explores the ties between the pornography industry and the feminist community.
The event will be held from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, at the Women’s Resource Center, 105 Normal Road, DeKalb.
For details, call (815) 753-0320.
NIU’s Civic Leadership Academy will offer a Thursday, Nov. 20, workshop on “Reaching Out:
Managing Public Information & Getting Out the Message.”
This workshop will guide participants through a study of the theory, principles and practices of organizational public relations in the complex environment of leading in the public. Participants will engage in active learning exercises and discussion to help them understand the theories that make up a strong public relations/public information program.
The workshop also will explore the power of knowing and understanding what the media’s needs are and how to use them effectively. Topics include how to do interviews and presentations, and the difference that positive communication skills can make in leaving others with a strong professional impression. Crisis strategies and Freedom of Information Act requests also will be addressed.
Presenters are Cheryl Fayne-dePersio, director of communications for the Village of Northbrook; Mike Green, retired deputy police chief for the Village of Northbrook; Natalie Marquez, management analyst and public information officer for the Village of Skokie; and Greg Kuhn, Ph.D., assistant director and senior research associate for the Center for Governmental Studies.
Registration and more information about CLA and its upcoming workshops are available online.
Join alumni and friends for a private skating party from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 4, at the new DeKalb Community Ice Skating Rink located at First and Locust streets. Enjoy skating, hot chocolate, cookies and fun.
Tickets for this event are $7 for adults, $5 for kids and free for Cardinal and Black and Legacy members of the NIU Alumni Association. Ticket costs include entrance fees, skate rentals, hot chocolate and goodies.
Registration is required. Visit myniu.com or call (815) 753-1452 for more information.
The Office of External Programming in the College of Liberal Arts and Science is organizing a Friday, Dec. 5, trip to the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago to see “The Seafarer” by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson.
The bus departs from the Normal Road entrance of the Holmes Student Center at 4:30 p.m. with a pick-up at NIU-Naperville at 5:30 p.m.
“The Seafarer” tells the tale of Christmas Eve in Dublin. In the rundown house where Sharky cares for his blind brother, old acquaintances gather for a card game – and are joined by an ominous stranger.
As the booze flows and the game intensifies, Sharky discovers he is playing for his soul. In this eerie, darkly humorous tale, McPherson examines how we face the demons of our past as we struggle to find redemption. For more detailed performance information, visit www.steppenwolf.org.
Cost is $25 for NIU students and $45 for others (includes transportation and theater ticket). For more information or to register, call (815) 753-5200 or e-mail LASEP@niu.edu.
In accordance with President Peters’ holiday closure schedule for 2008-09, all departments within the Materials Management area will close from 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 23, until operations resume at 8 a.m. Monday, Jan. 5.
No receiving of U.S. mail, parcel post, UPS, Fed Ex, Fed Ex Ground, DHL/Airborne or any common carrier packages will take place during this time.
Employees who anticipate delivery of any packages to Central Receiving at NIU near or during this time period should make necessary arrangements for delivery to an alternate address to avoid delays or packages being returned to sender as undeliverable.
When operations resume in January, Central Receiving and Campus Mail Services will begin processing the backlog of mail and packages as quickly as possible. Exercise patience and do not call to find out where or when packages will be delivered.
Hearing loss is not just a part of old age: It can affect people of any age. Unfortunately, too many people wait years before seeking help.
NIU’s Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, 3100 Sycamore Road in DeKalb, will host a free hearing screening and technology demonstration from 9 a.m. to noon Monday, Dec. 8.
The screening and demonstration are by appointment only. Call (815) 753-1481 (voice) or (815) 753-2000 (TTY) for more information or to reserve a time. The clinic is part of the College of Health and Human Sciences.
NIU’s Supportive Professional Staff Council is requesting nominations for the Presidential Supportive Professional Staff Award for Excellence.
This award recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the university. All Supportive Professional Staff are eligible. If you have previously nominated an individual, please consider re-nominating them.
Four awards worth $1,500 each will be presented. In addition, each recipient will receive a plaque in recognition of their accomplishments. To be eligible, an employee must be actively employed at the time the award is presented (in March or April 2009).
The nominator is asked to address the following topics in a letter addressed to the SPSC Awards Committee:
A completed application packet consists of the
nomination referral form and four letters: a nomination letter and three letters of support.The support letters must address the above topics. Only these four letters will be considered for each nominee. All nominations must include the nominee’s and nominator’s name, title and department.
Awards will be announced by the president in February 2009, and awards will be presented at a reception hosted by the president in March or April 2009. Nominators are responsible for submitting the complete set of nomination materials. Contact Deborah Haliczer at (815) 753-6039 or via e-mail at dhaliczer@niu.edu for more information.
The nomination referral form, nomination letter and three letters of support should be sent to Deborah Haliczer, co-chair of the SPSC awards committee, and must be received in the office of Human Resource Services (1515 W. Lincoln Hwy.) by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 3. There will be no extensions of the deadline.