Among the hardest hit in today’s economic downturn are working-class families whose modest incomes limit their ability to save for college but also curtail their childrens’ eligibility for college financial aid.
A new program announced today by NIU helps make up the difference between state and federal grants and the cost of tuition – a move university officials believe will put a high-quality college education within the reach of more Chicagoland families.
The Huskie Advantage Program provides no-strings-attached “gift aid” to new freshmen entering the university in the fall of 2009. Any portion of tuition costs not covered by a combination of the Illinois MAP grant and the federal Pell grant will be covered by the new program.
“As a university that historically has served the sons and daughters of the working class, NIU has become increasingly concerned about issues of affordability,” said NIU President John Peters. “The Huskie Advantage program reflects our commitment to making high-quality education accessible to citizens of all economic backgrounds.”
At the heart of the financial dilemma for many prospective students are complex financial aid formulas that assume a more substantial family contribution than many parents can now afford.
According to NIU Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver, the ability of working-class families to save enough for their children’s college education has slipped dramatically in recent years – but state and federal aid guidelines have yet to adjust to new economic realities.
Under state and federal financial aid formulas, families at the lowest end of the income scale qualify for grants that cover most or all of their student’s college costs. Just above the poverty level, however, are thousands of families making just enough money to get by – but too much to qualify for the amount of aid needed to affordably send their children to public universities.
NIU officials illustrated the problem with a real-life example from last fall’s financial aid counseling sessions: A student whose parents both work entered their combined $52,000 income on his financial aid application. With a state MAP grant of $3,300 and a federal Pell grant of just $890, the student’s unmet tuition need totaled $1,960 – an amount he could not impose on his cash-strapped family, and for which he could not obtain an affordable loan.
“Under the Huskie Advantage program, that student’s financial aid award letter would have shown the remaining tuition balance marked ‘paid’ by the institution,” Seaver explained. “Increasingly, the amount of shortfall that keeps students from realizing their dream of attending NIU is the $1,000 or $2,000 that financial aid won’t cover and that Mom and Dad just don’t have.”
The Huskie Advantage program is targeted at freshmen because beginning college students have the greatest need and the fewest financial aid options. Low-interest federal loans, for example, are capped at $3,500 for freshmen – an amount that increases every year thereafter.
“By the time students reach their junior years, there are many more options available,” Seaver explained. “Unfortunately, freshmen are regarded as something of a bad risk by lenders, so at the very time students need that help the most, it is the least available.”
Based on a study of the university’s current freshman class, Seaver estimates the Huskie Advantage program will help betwen 900 and 1,000 new NIU students each year.
“Every fall, we survey students who were admitted to NIU but chose not to attend,” Seaver said. “Over the past two or three years, we’ve seen a sharp increase in the number who say they simply couldn’t put a financial package together that allowed them to join us as freshmen. We’re confident that this program will not only increase freshman access but also enhance our students’ chances for long-term success at NIU.”
For more information, visit www.huskieadvantage.niu.edu.
In the field of particle physics, which often makes use of high-tech circular particle accelerators, what goes around comes around.
The same could be said of medical physicist George Coutrakon, who left Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in 1987 and moved to the West Coast to help build the world’s first hospital-based proton therapy treatment system for fighting cancer.
Coutrakon’s career is now coming full circle. He returned this fall to the Chicago area as the newly named technical director of the $159 million Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center (NIPTRC), an NIU initiative under construction in Chicago’s western suburbs.
For the past 18 years, Coutrakon served as director of proton accelerator physics and operations at Loma Linda University Medical Center in southern California. He also has worked as a consultant on various proton therapy center startups in Italy and the United States, including two years with the NIPTRC project.
Coutrakon’s new full-time post is a joint appointment with the Department of Physics and NIPTRC. He will oversee the proton therapy center’s equipment installation and commissioning of the proton beam for cancer treatment.
Coutrakon also will develop equipment and beam delivery systems for a research-focused radiobiology program at the center and is working with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to initiate a medical physics graduate program. The goal is to provide a master’s degree in medical physics at NIU, where he also will teach classes.
Under construction at the DuPage National Technology Park, the proton center will offer state-of-the-art cancer treatment while also advancing research on proton therapy, a noninvasive and precise form of radiation for certain types of pediatric and adult cancers. NIU and NIPTRC officials broke ground this past summer after state officials approved the project, the first of its kind in Illinois.
“It’s a terrific project,” Coutrakon says. “The center will have a balance between academic and clinical use. It holds a lot of potential for cancer research, and the affiliation with Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation further strengthens the project.”
The Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation (NMFF) will supply radiation oncologists to provide proton therapy to patients.
“We’re thrilled to have George as a full-time member of our team,” says John Lewis, NIPTRC executive director. “We were seeking the most experienced and qualified medical physicist in the field of proton therapy, and George Coutrakon was at the top of the list. He’s really been a pioneer in the field of proton therapy for the past two decades.”
“His Fermilab roots and his extensive experience with startup proton therapy facilities will be especially helpful,” adds NIU Provost Raymond Alden, a member of the proton center’s Board of Managers.
Coutrakon earned his Ph.D. in physics in 1983 from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He spent more than a decade conducting research at Fermilab, first as a graduate student and later as a research associate.
It was Philip Livdahl, former deputy director of Fermilab, who helped convince Coutrakon to take a position as a medical physicist with Loma Linda University Medical Center, which was working with Fermilab on the first hospital-based proton treatment system
“Livdahl told me there would be many future opportunities in the field of proton therapy, and he was right,” Coutrakon says. “What I found interesting about proton therapy was its ability to focus the beam on a tumor and spare healthy tissue in a way that other radiation therapies could not do.”
Coutrakon worked on the design and construction of radiation detectors for the beam delivery system at Loma Linda, as well as beam-line commissioning. The accelerator was built at Fermilab, and then disassembled for shipping to California. At Loma Linda, a team of 50 to 60 physicists, engineers and technicians worked round the clock for a year in order to install and calibrate the system.
“When we started commissioning the beam in July of 1990, we had three shifts a day,” Coutrakon says. “It was just as busy at 3 in the morning as it was at 3 in the afternoon.”
Loma Linda treated its first patient for an ocular melanoma Oct. 22, 1990.
“It was a success,” Coutrakon recalls. “Statistically, the cure rate for ocular melanoma is 95 percent with protons. The only other modality with comparable success is removal of the eye.”
Also in 1990, Coutrakon was named director of proton accelerator physics and operations at Loma Linda. In this role, he supervised the technical aspects of expanding the center with a research area and three high-tech cancer treatment rooms, each equipped with tube-shaped 90-ton gantries.
Each gantry encircles the patient and allows for delivery of the proton beam at any angle. The same infrastructure, completed by 1994, remains in use today at Loma Linda. The proton center there has treated about 12,000 patients.
Coutrakon’s other responsibilities at Loma Linda included ensuring the proton beam quality, training the staff of accelerator operators and overseeing system upgrades. His duties will be much the same once the Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center is completed.
For now, however, job one is to make certain that new equipment meets specifications and is installed and ready to treat the first patient in 2010. Toward this end, Coutrakon will hire three to five medical physicists to assist with commissioning the beam.
“It’s an exciting time to be working with all the different teams at NIU on new ideas and ways to launch a top proton therapy and research center,” Coutrakon says. “There’s a lot of creativity at this stage because the technology has advanced so far from the 1990s. It reminds me of the early stages at Loma Linda.”
NIU’s Drew McCormick spent some time this past summer inside the walls of Cook County Jail. Not to worry, though, he wasn’t in any sort of trouble.
McCormick is a budding filmmaker and graduate student in NIU’s Department of Communication. The Sycamore native traveled in August to Cook County Jail to videotape and direct an educational film aimed at a unique audience: incarcerated parents.
His 11-minute video, titled “Reach: Connect your Children to an Education,” will teach inmates how to advocate from behind bars for their children’s educational rights. It’s narrated by NBC-5 Chicago reporter LeeAnn Trotter, who donated her time to the project.
Many parents facing jail time end up making fragile arrangements for their children. And schools sometimes fail to recognize that children of incarcerated parents might fall under the definition of homeless. As such, their rights to public schooling are protected under federal law. A child can stay in his or her old school or attend one nearer to a new residence.
“A lot of (inmates) are, were or will be homeless – and they don’t know about the law,” homeless advocate Diane Nilan says. “The video serves as a great awareness tool. There’s nothing like this out there.”
Nilan is founder of the non-profit HEAR US, a Naperville-based organization that raises awareness about homelessness. HEAR US received funding to produce the video from the Cook County Sheriff’s Training Institute and Cook County Jail’s Women’s Justice Services.
“Drew did a great job,” Nilan says, adding that the rough cut has been well received in screenings with staff and inmates at Cook County Jail.
“The video moves fast and has a lot of content,” Nilan says. “Drew had his heart and soul in it, too, so it made it easy to work with him. People are very impressed.”
In addition to Cook County Jail, the video will be marketed to correctional facilities, lawyers and judicial systems nationwide.
NIU Communication Professor Laura Vazquez, who has worked with Nilan on other projects, put her in touch with McCormick. He was familiar with the topic of homelessness, having previously made a film about the Hope Haven shelter in DeKalb.
“He was grateful for the assistance from the people at Hope Haven, and in return volunteered at the shelter one night a week to teach folks living there how to draw,” Vazquez says. “I knew by this experience with him that he had the sensitivity to work on the jail project. I also saw that he was very talented, both in terms of camera work and editing.”
After a full day of videotaping at Cook County Jail, McCormick had plenty of material, which always means difficult editing decisions. All of Trotter’s on-camera segments were filmed at the jail, but McCormick ended up leaving background footage from the correctional facility on the cutting-room floor.
He opted instead for images and interviews with school children.
“Early in the editing process, I realized (inmates) know where they are, that they don’t need to see the razor wire and bars,” he says.
The final version of the educational video should be ready by early January.
“I’ve been interested in the issues surrounding homelessness, but Diane is really the crusader,” McCormick says. “I like to contribute, and I’d rather contribute by using my talents. There’s something more concrete to doing work that can help someone.”
Anne T. Berg, Ph.D., a research professor in biological sciences at NIU, has been named recipient of the prestigious 2008 Epilepsy Research Recognition Award for Clinical Science conferred by the American Epilepsy Society (AES).
The award recognizes Dr. Berg for her pioneering epidemiological research in epilepsy, contribution to understanding the difference in how the disorder manifests in children and adults, and meticulous devotion to the improvement of research methods.
The Epilepsy Research Recognition Award is part of AES’s public recognition program begun in 1989 to encourage and reward clinical and basic science investigators whose research contributes importantly to understanding and conquering epilepsy.
The award for clinical science will be presented Monday, Dec. 8, during the society’s 62nd annual meeting in Seattle.
Dr. Berg is widely recognized for her work in the field, and as a featured speaker at scientific meetings abroad. The AES award also acknowledges her service to the international epilepsy community and her exceptional ability to communicate complex issues.
Dr. Berg currently serves as an associate editor of the journal, “Epilepsia,” and as chair of the body within the International League Against Epilepsy that is working on the extremely complex matter of updating the classification and terminology used to differentiate the many different forms of epilepsy. She has had continuous research funding from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for 20 years, including a coveted Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award.
Epilepsy is the third most common neurological disorder after Alzheimer’s disease and stroke. It affects 50 million people worldwide, including 3 million in the United States.
The American Epilepsy Society seeks to advance and improve the treatment of epilepsy through the promotion of epilepsy research and education for healthcare professionals dedicated to the prevention, treatment and cure of epilepsy.
NIU Political Scientist Daniel Kempton was named Outstanding International Educator during the Division of International Program’s annual International Recognition Reception held last week.
Kempton is a scholar of Russian domestic politics, Russian foreign policy, missile proliferation and global terrorism. His 21-year career at NIU has been dedicated to international education. He actively pursues research on international topics and has won two Fulbright senior scholar grants, including one that sent him to Tver State University in Russia earlier this year to conduct research and teach a course on international relations.
Kempton also has taught courses in the NIU at Oxford program, having initiated participation of political science faculty in the NIU Study Abroad program. On campus, he has helped lead the International House in Douglas Hall, demonstrating a strong commitment to an international living-learning environment.
International Programs also announced two winners of the award for Outstanding International Department: the School of Art and the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The School of Art has contributed to the overall global profile of NIU by having faculty lead well-regarded study abroad programs, by infusing international offerings throughout their curriculum, and by hosting exhibits and conferences focused on international work. In the words of their nominator, the School of Art is “at its core a department in which international culture and meaning are at the forefront.”
The Department of Mechanical Engineering has conducted strong international outreach programs over the past eight years, including four iterations of a special summer training program for mechanical engineering students from a Korean university. In addition, the department is offering a study abroad program this summer at NIU for engineering majors, an underserved group in study abroad. Mechanical Engineering also is a leader in developing innovative program delivery models through four-plus-one agreements with Asian universities.
“Making NIU a more global university, as President Peters has asked, along with helping our students become global citizens, is a university-wide project,” said Deborah Pierce, associate provost of International Programs at NIU.
“As we work toward realizing the vision of global NIU, we in International Programs are most grateful to Professor Kempton, to the School of Art and to Mechanical Engineering, as well as to all our internationally active faculty and departments, for their leadership and support.”
When Rodrigo Villenueva’s NIU Jazz Lab Band took first place last March at the prestigious jazz festival at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, he immediately began dreaming aloud about an international tour.
Maybe to Peru, site of the acclaimed Festival Jazz en Peru, where the NIU Jazz Ensemble and the NIU Liberace Jazztet played a few years ago. Or maybe to Mexico, his beloved homeland.
Eight months later, in a journey Villanueva believes was “meant to happen,” he and 17 young musicians are headed just south of the border.
“They are thrilled, and I feel very proud to be sharing with them what my country is all about. The people are very friendly,” says Villanueva, who came to NIU in 2004.
“This is more than just a musical experience for them. It’s a cultural experience. Every time you visit a different country, you find different things,” Villanueva adds. “NIU has a lot of international students, but not as many as some other universities. My students haven’t been exposed. When I asked about passports, 75 percent of them didn’t have one. They haven’t traveled abroad.”
December, of course, will change that.
Performances are booked at the first JazzUV International Jazz Festival in Xalapa and the XIV San Miguel De Allende Jazz & Blues International Festival. The band also will perform at two of the most exclusive jazz clubs in Mexico: La Encrucijada Jazz in Queretaro City and El Zinco Jazz Bar in Mexico City.
Gigs at the festivals – Xalapa is Monday, Dec. 1, and Tuesday, Dec. 2, and San Miguel is Wednesday, Dec. 3, and Thursday, Dec. 4 – include top-spot concerts on their own and as a support unit for guest artists. They’re also delivering a Monday morning master class on rehearsal and conducting techniques.
The Mexico schedule will bring the band’s performances to 11 this semester, nearly six times the typical number of autumn appearances.
That number also includes a recent support slot on campus for guest trumpeter Alan Vizzutti and an 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 25, concert at the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall that will offer a wide variety of big band compositions and arrangements from the second half of the 20th century.
“Eleven is way over what we really do. They all deserve an ‘A’ at the end of the semester. They are the most disciplined group I’ve ever worked with here at NIU,” Villanueva says. “It’s been amazing just to see them get prepared and get excited, especially the ones who’ve never been away.”
Meanwhile, Villanueva expects his students will make the trip with a mature outlook.
For one thing, they’re traveling for free. The festival organizers are paying for lodging and ground transportation while the NIU School of Music is picking up the tab for airfare and per diems, he says.
They also realize that their conductor hopes to recruit Mexican students to NIU. The level of musicianship among the Jazz Lab Band members will impress all of Mexico, he says, even the students in the country’s best conservatory of music.
And they understand the door that is opening is typically reserved for a school’s premier group. International tours are common for the legendary NIU Jazz Ensemble and its conductor, Ron Carter.
“They know they need to really represent well not only their school but their country. They don’t have to pay a dime to go to Mexico, so this is a job, a gig – you really have to do it well and get it right,” Villanueva says.
“This is a very unique opportunity. Usually when you have three or four jazz ensembles, the band that gets to tour is the top band. For the second band to be in the spotlight makes the students willing to work harder,” he adds. “Our school of music has a very strong program, and the jazz program has become stronger and stronger in the last 10 years. We’re actually keeping up and stepping up the tradition the school has. I’m trying to keep up with Ron Carter and put my ensemble in the perspective that we might be the second group – but we’re still a very good group.”
Next week’s trip also serves as a test for the future of the Jazz Lab Band’s road adventures.
“If all goes well, I hope to make this happen every two or three years. I’ve worked hard getting the right people involved in Mexico as far as invitations and places we’re going to play,” he says. “And in terms of life experience, this is something the students will recall the rest of their lives.”
More than 40 alumni of the NIU Choral Program will return to campus the first weekend of December to perform in the annual holiday concert, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.
Eric Johnson, the director of choral activities in the NIU School of Music for the last decade, invited graduates from around the world. Responses came from as far away as Germany and New York City, where some are singing on Broadway, to Los Angeles and several points in between.
Those who are coming will spend Saturday, Dec. 6, in rehearsals and then perform as part of the Holiday Concert that begins at 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in the Music Building’s Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
The choirs of NIU will be joined by several guest ensembles including the NIU Philharmonic and NIU Brass Ensemble as well as members of the DeKalb Festival Chorus and the Community School of the Arts children’s choir.
“My vision for this concert was to invite school and community ensembles that have performed with us over the years to both commemorate this anniversary and provide a great foundation for future performances. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate our 10th anniversary,” Johnson said. “It’s hard to believe I’ve been here that long.”
The concert opens with Bach’s “Magnificat,” performed by the Concert Choir, Philharmonic and student soloists, and ends with all of the choirs joining to perform Daniel Pinkham’s “Christmas Cantata,” which is “a large and festive work for choir, brass and organ.”
In between are smaller performances of familiar carols and well-known holiday texts in new settings.
Members of the alumni choir, including some who graduated in the 1980s, will perform “In Dulci Jublio” by Michael Praetorius and Robert Shaw’s arrangement of “I Saw Three Ships.”
“They’re very excited to come back,” Johnson said. “A majority of them are involved in music, mostly as music teachers. And I always have some singers who are non-majors, and they’re looking forward to coming back and singing.”
Admission is $10 for adults, $7 for students and free for children 10 and younger. Reservations are strongly encouraged; call (815) 753-1551 to guarantee seats.
Visit www.niu.edu/music/index.shtml for more information.
Professors across the nation have once again rated NIU’s accountancy program among the elite in the nation.
The Public Accounting Report’s 27th Annual Professor’s Survey ranked NIU’s program 13th in the United States. Inclusion in the rankings places NIU in some highly regarded company, including six Big Ten schools (including Illinois) and Notre Dame.
The NIU program was the highest ranked non-Ph.D. granting public university program in the country.
The recently released survey asked accountancy professors what 10 programs they would recommend to students interested in entering the field. NIU’s accountancy programs have been a fixture in the survey almost since their inception.
“We are very proud to once again find ourselves in the upper echelon of programs on this list,” said Jim Young, chair of the NIU Department of Accountancy.
“The goal of this program has always been, and continues to be, sustained excellence, so it is very satisfying to be included on this list year after year,” Young said. “These rankings reflect the outstanding faculty, staff and students that we have at NIU. We are honored to carry on the tradition of excellence established by our colleagues over the past 35 years.”
Bolstering the program’s reputation, Young said, is that it has evolved and grown in recent years.
Over the last decade, the department has added a master’s of science in taxation and new programs to assist students preparing for CIA (Certified Internal Auditor) and CMA (Certified Management Accountant) exams. The department’s master’s of accounting science program has tripled in size during that time.
The NIU Department of Accountancy graduates approximately 200 undergraduates a year and 150 master’s students. The program is currently ranked 23rd in the nation by U.S. News and World Report.
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.
The NIU Philharmonic, under the direction of new conductor Lucia Matos, will present its second concert of the semester at 8 p.m. today in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
The Philharmonic will continue its season with Brahms’ “Tragic Overture, Op. 81,” Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade, Op. 35” and a special performance of Mozart’s “Horn Concerto No. 2” with guest artist John Fairfield, NIU horn professor.
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, call (815) 753-1551.
The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library has announced its hours through Jan. 11.
The law library will extend its hours for reading period and final exams, ending Thursday, Dec. 18. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays.
The library is open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 19, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22, and Tuesday, Dec. 23. The library is closed Saturday, Dec. 20, and Sunday, Dec. 21, as well as from Wednesday, Dec. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 4.
Hours in the first part of January are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 10 p.m. Sundays. Regular hours resume Monday, Jan. 12.
Call (815) 753-0505 for more information.
Join the NIU Community School of the Arts this December with a variety of music performances.
All recitals are scheduled in the Recital Hall of the Music Building unless otherwise noted, and many end with a gala reception. The recitals are free and open to the public.
Lessons, classes and ensembles in music, art and theater are offered for children and adults throughout the year. The spring semester begins in January. Scholarships are available for those in financial need; the deadline for spring applications is Monday, Jan. 5.
For more information about classes, ensembles and lessons, contact Renee Page at (815) 753-1450 or visit www.niu.edu/extprograms.
Members of the Greater Kishwaukee Area Concert Band will present a Christmas concert at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
Zach Harris, vocal soloist on “White Christmas,” will lead the audience in a sing-along.
The concert, sponsored by Milly Sulaver in memory of her sister Joan Sulaver, is free. The Music Building is accessible to all.
“Setting the Course through Strategic Planning” is the title of the Civic Leadership Academy’s Thursday, Dec. 11, workshop.
This workshop is a “guided tour” of the practical techniques and fundamental principles of the strategic planning process. It focuses on developing skills and understanding the power of analyzing current organizational situations, laying out long- and short-range objectives, developing implementation plans and building an effective follow-up policy decision framework for an organizational strategic plan.
Topics will include environmental scanning, problem identification, SWOT analyses, strategy formulation, implementation planning and various sub-elements of the process such as the construction of scenarios.
Greg Kuhn, assistant director and senior research associate for the Center for Governmental Studies, is the presenter.
Registration and more information about CLA and its upcoming workshops is available online.
NIU’s annual Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute is scheduled for the week of May 11, 2009, at the Holmes Student Center.
Full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty, instructors and supportive professional staff are invited to participate in the institute, which assists participants in incorporating multicultural perspectives and content into their courses, improving communication with students and preparing alumni to participate in a diverse workplace and society.
The institute features plenary sessions by prominent specialists, focused thematic discussions by NIU faculty and students, syllabi critiques, video presentations and small group discussions. The sessions in the institute focus on topics such as race, gender, social class, disabilities and sexual orientation. Plenary sessions and some panels are open to the public; small group sessions are restricted to participants.
Approximately 220 individuals have participated in the institute since its inception, and they have benefited from opportunities to learn about multicultural issues, share experiences and ideas and establish lasting professional relationships. Participants have made a significant impact on NIU’s programs at all levels across all colleges.
Qualified faculty and instructional staff interested in participating in the institute are encouraged to apply for Multicultural Curriculum Transformation stipends. Individuals selected will receive $1,000 stipends to support transforming existing courses or developing new classes that address multiculturalism. Faculty and staff on 12-month contracts can participate in the institute but are not eligible for the stipend.
The deadline for applications is Thursday, Dec. 18. Information about applications for the institute is available on the Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Web site. Applications should be submitted electronically to mcti@niu.edu.
For more information, contact graduate assistant Charles Stapleton at (815) 753-8557 or e-mail mcti@niu.edu.
“Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges,” established in 1934, is a program honoring outstanding college students for their scholastic, extracurricular and community achievements. NIU is one of more than 2,300 institutions of higher education which annually nominates junior, senior and graduate-level students for these awards.
Students whose academic standing, participation and leadership in extracurricular activities and community service are decidedly above average should be considered for nomination. A campus selection committee will review all nominations and will recommend approximately 50 students, representing a variety of academic and extracurricular areas, to the national program for this honor. Students who have previously been named to “Who’s Who” cannot be nominated again.
Students selected will receive personalized certificates, local and national publicity, and be included in the 2008-2009 edition of “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.” “Who’s Who” recipients will be recognized further during the Kevin D. Knight Leadership Awards Ceremony in late April 2009.
Faculty and staff are encouraged to submit nominations for this honor. Nominations (with student signature) must be received by Student Involvement & Leadership Development no later than Wednesday, Dec. 17. Late nominations cannot be considered.
Please respond fully to all items on the nomination form. Nominators may solicit information from the candidate to give the selection committee a more complete picture of the student’s qualifications, but it is the committee’s intent that the form be completed by the faculty or staff nominator.
Women students, faculty and staff who love to sing and want to explore music from multiple cultures and traditions are invited to join the Women’s Chorus.
Rehearsals are held from 4:30 to 5:40 p.m. Mondays in Room 171 of the Music Building.
The chorus is a non-auditioned ensemble available for credit as MUSC 369 (undergraduate) and MUSC 769 (graduate credit). The Spring 2009 concert will feature music for women’s voices, instruments and dance from northern Spain. The chorus performs one concert per semester; the spring performance is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 20.
For more information, contact Glenda Cosenza at glenza@niu.edu.
The Committee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education is seeking nominations for the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching and the Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Awards.
Students in all majors are encouraged to make nominations for these prestigious awards. Nomination procedures, guidelines, and forms are available online for the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award and for the Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award.
The Committee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education is administering four different types of grants to support research in and projects for the improvement of instruction in undergraduate courses:
Use current grant forms only. Do not use any previous forms.
All proposals must be submitted to the committee by Tuesday, Jan. 20. E-mail the forms to jganshir@niu.edu by the deadline.
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.
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 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.