The newly named NIU Board of Trustees Professors will be honored at a reception and ceremony Wednesday, Oct. 22, in the Altgeld Hall Auditorium – and each will receive a unique medallion created by one of the university’s own.
The event will begin at 3 p.m. with the awards ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m.
NIU President John Peters announced last month that anthropologist Dan Gebo, chemist Narayan Hosmane and historian Christine Worobec were appointed as the inaugural recipients of the BOT Professorships.
The professorships recognize faculty who have achieved a consistent record of excellence in teaching, academic leadership and service and outreach. Special emphasis is placed on selecting faculty members who have earned international acclaim for their scholarship or artistry and continue to engage students in their research and professional activities.
With those criteria in mind, Jamie Obermeier, an assistant professor and silversmith in the NIU School of Art, designed the BOT Professorship medallion. “We wanted to create something unique and of high quality,” he said.
Each sterling silver medallion weighs between 2 and 3 ounces and is imprinted with the Latin terms for research, mentorship and service. The medallions also feature images of a swallow and the university entranceway at Castle Drive.
“The main entrance and gate to the university is one of the best visual features of our campus,” Obermeier said.
“I chose the image of a swallow after researching the word ‘mentor,’ ” he added. “In Greek mythology, Mentor was a good friend of Odysseus, and was left in charge of Odysseus’ son during the Trojan War. Later Athena, the goddess of wisdom, who was disguised as Mentor, took the form of a swallow. I think all of these references mesh nicely with one another, and with the spirit of the award.”
More information on this year’s BOT Professorships and profiles of the award recipients is available online.
With construction equipment rumbling in the background, NIU President John Peters joined U.S. Rep. Bill Foster at the proton therapy center construction site last week to announce $4.8 million in new federal funding for the project, along with $1.2 million for the neutron therapy program managed by NIU at Fermilab.
Foster called the cancer-fighting programs “vital to saving lives and creating jobs.” He credited Sen. Dick Durbin and Rep. Danny Davis in working with him to secure the total $6 million in funding.
“This is exactly the kind of investment we should be making in our universities,” Foster said.
NIU has played a leading role in development of plans for the state-of-the-art Northern Illinois Proton Treatment and Research Center. It is under construction at the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago, the site of the press conference.
Beginning in 2010, the center will offer proton therapy, an advanced and highly effective form of radiation currently unavailable in Illinois. The noninvasive therapy is the treatment of choice for certain pediatric and adult cancers.
Peters said the Illinois congressmen “clearly recognize the benefits that this center will bring to cancer patients in this region and beyond.
“The center also will create new jobs and, as a place of learning and research, serve to train the next generation of medical professionals and spur new technologies aimed at improving quality of life,” Peters added.
Even as the center is being constructed, NIU is laying the groundwork for proton therapy-specific nursing, education and allied health programs. This center not only will deliver proton therapy but also bring a holistic approach to treating adult and pediatric patients.
Proton therapy is offered at only a handful of centers nationwide, and neutron therapy is available at only two sites in the country. NIU assumed management responsibilities for the Institute for Neutron Therapy at Fermilab in 2004. Neutron therapy blends advanced medical science with cutting-edge accelerator physics developed at Fermilab.
Peters said he envisions NIU as being a leader in producing professionals needed for the delivery of particle therapies. He credited Foster, a scientist who once worked at Fermilab, with being a quick study on the importance of bringing proton therapy to the region.
At one point during the press conference, Foster turned to face the nearby Fermilab campus, with its signature building, Wilson Hall, towering in the distance. The building is named in honor of the laboratory’s first director, the late Robert R. Wilson.
Foster called Wilson a “personal hero” and said the inaugural laboratory director would be proud of this moment. During the 1940s, Wilson had proposed the use of protons to treat cancer.
Half of the 298 children at DeKalb’s Chesebro Elementary School are Latino.
Because Spanish is their native tongue – the language they hear and speak at home and bring with them to the classroom – their learning needs are different. They require dual-language instruction, not always a part of the college preparation for elementary education majors.
Chesebro teachers have proven quite successful in that challenge. The school makes adequate yearly progress as prescribed by the No Child Left Behind legislation as students consistently meet or exceed federally mandated standards.
Yet as the gap between the children’s test scores and those standards started to narrow, the school leadership team began to ponder becoming a professional development school in partnership with Northern Illinois University.
Now teachers, professors and college students are working to make Chesebro a school that not only transcends educational barriers such as multiple languages and differing cultures but celebrates those differences as opportunities for incredible learning.
“Our teachers are really excited. This allows more collaboration and more professional development for everyone,” Chesebro Principal Sharon Giless said. “In addition, it’s exciting for Northern. Chesebro is an urban, diverse school. More and more for teacher certification, those types of building experiences are not only required but really help to build the repertoire of new teachers.”
The PDS model is dedicated to raising student achievement, improving teacher preparation and enhancing performance of teachers. The first NIU-DeKalb Community Unit District 428 professional development school is Wright Elementary School, which opened in 2004. A third PDS will open in the fall of 2011 at the new DeKalb High School on Dresser Road.
“Late last spring, we met with the school leadership team. They were curious about whether this was something they’d want to do,” said Sharon Smaldino, who heads the School-University Partnerships Office in the NIU College of Education. “Their call had come out of the blue. We were surprised but had no doubt in our minds that this was something they saw as a benefit.”
“When I came to Chesebro, I realized that we needed community resources,” Giless said. “I had previous experience with a PDS in my last school district, and I had visited Wright, talked to the principal and had a chance to review what they had done. I called Sharon Smaldino.”
Meetings were scheduled every third Tuesday morning. A mission statement and goals were drafted. An all-day retreat was held with NIU faculty and teachers from Wright Elementary School, the first NIU-District 428 professional development school. National conferences were attended to gain outside perspectives.
In May, the group presented its proposal to the school board. When school began this fall, Chesebro launched its rebirth.
“Our community is changing,” said Becky McCabe, assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction in the DeKalb Public Schools, “and the demands from the community as well as the world are that children need to have more than one language, and they need to be academically secure in that language.”
Framers of the Chesebro partnership expect that:
Planners have created a three-year implementation schedule.
Year One, which began in August, has a focus on language and literacy in English and Spanish, including an afterschool program that offers Spanish as a foreign language. Year Two (2009-10) branches into math, bilingualism and best practices for English language learners.
Year Three (2010-11) adds a dual-language component: One class that enrolls both English and Spanish speakers will journey from kindergarten through fifth-grade together and receive instruction in both languages. It is expected that all of those students will become bilingual, and parents who want their English-speaking children to learn Spanish can volunteer to place them in the dual-language class.
Michael Morris, a professor in the NIU Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, will play an integral role this year as he works with some of the NIU pre-service teachers on their Spanish and teaches Spanish to English-speaking Chesebro students after school.
As NIU faculty begin to conduct practical research at Chesebro and pre-service teachers seek out clinical experience there, McCabe said she believes her dream will come true: Eager students will flock to NIU to earn teaching degrees and become well-prepared teachers in bilingual education.
Meanwhile, she said, the community will grow to value dual-language learning.
“Chesebro is becoming a lab where pre-service teachers as well as faculty work directly with people on the front line with kids, and we will all benefit from this collaboration. We will become better instructors. The children will become better learners,” McCabe said.
“This is an educational experience for all children that is rich and global,” she added, “and many of the communities where the students from NIU will return to as they become teachers are diverse. They’re going to have more children from different cultural backgrounds. They need to be prepared to teach all children. That’s what No Child Left Behind is all about.”
“Everyone comes out a winner,” Smaldino said. “The collaborative nature of a professional development school is about mutual benefits with a focus on children. The PDS model addresses what’s important to Chesebro, and we want to do what’s right for Chesebro. That’s the key.”
For more information, visit www.dist428.org or www.niu.edu/dist428partnership/.
It’s a small world when it comes to the technology and the skilled operators needed to fly performers high above the stage.
One company has headquarters in Las Vegas; the second in Kentucky. The third of these three outfits is located on the second floor of NIU’s Stevens Building, home to the School of Theatre and Dance.
There, inside a crowded conference room of sorts, the school’s technical director holds court over pizza and pop with his students and his alumni employees.
Dubbed the “think tank,” it’s the place where they brainstorm innovative solutions to the technical demands of directors and choreographers. It’s where they facilitate the imaginations of others, sometimes with pencil sketches on paper and sometimes with a simple deck of cards that can simulate an actor’s flight patterns.
Most recently, they’ve determined how to help Tarzan and Jane swing on vines through and over jungle treetops – or at least the jungle-like scenery built for a touring company of Disney’s Broadway musical.
“We’ve done quite a few shows now in New York. Word is starting to spread among the big-budget shows about us,” says Tracy Nunnally, who teaches his students the tricks of the trade and hires them to work for his company. “The quality of our equipment is equal to or superior to the ‘professional’ equipment.”
“You’re being modest,” says Bill Auld, a 2005 master’s of fine arts graduate now employed with Nunnally’s Hall Associates Flying Effects. “I’ve had nothing but happy reviews.”
Sure enough, the industry has taken sharp notice of the problem-solving and operational expertise coming out of DeKalb. Everyone wants their flying effects safe and “pretty,” which is exactly what Nunnally delivers.
Gigs for Nunnally and crew this semester include the outdoor flight of an angel in Georgia, a European show launching its tour in London and massive Christmas pageants in Michigan, Tennessee and Texas. There’s also a possible magician levitation in Barcelona and another levitation for a TV commercial being filmed in the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, top names in the backstage business have come to DeKalb to do business with Hall Associates while they share their expertise with performance and technical students in the School of Theatre and Dance. Paul Rubin, aerial choreographer for “Tarzan,” and Rick Sordelet, one of the leading fight directors for stage and screen, were on campus in February to film videos depicting how the vine-swinging and fight scenes would look with Hall’s flying effects in use.
“One of the cool things about being a student here is that you get to be a part of the bigger picture,” says John Moore, a 2007 MFA alum who also works for Hall Associates.
“Not just a part of the bigger picture,” Nunnally adds, “but a part of the bigger project.”
Auld and Moore recently attended a 10-day “workshop” at SUNY-Purchase with Rubin and actors serving as theatrical guinea pigs.
They attempted “a whole bunch of different things” until Rubin nailed down what he wants the flying effects to look like and which equipment will accomplish that. Part of the complicated and extensive packing list for the trip included plenty of harnesses, cables and tools to assemble things on site.
“You have to stay one step ahead of the typhoon. Our job is keeping the typhoon calm, not adding to it,” Nunnally says. “An adequate company delivers everything that was promised, on time and on budget. A superior company anticipates what you need before you need it.”
Moore, who will travel with the show to set up the rigging, also met the three other techs on the tour so they can learn to work as a team.
After Auld and Moore returned to DeKalb, work began inside the Stevens Building to design and build the perfect equipment for the “Tarzan” job.
The cables and harnesses will make their debut on campus at the fall dance concert, which this year will include flight and enable NIU dance students to “fly on literally Broadway-quality equipment.” For the backstage gurus, it’s a chance to test the equipment before it hits the road.
Moore is due in December in Charleston, S.C., where “Tarzan” will “tech.” Rehearsals there with actual actors, costumes and scenery will better illuminate the specific flying needs. The show opens in Atlanta and continues with its two-week engagements in San Jose and Dallas, where it closes in mid-March.
It’s a busy and exhausting life – the “accountability to Broadway” and the millions of dollars riding on the success of the productions is stressful enough alone – but one Moore never would trade. “I love this job,” he says. “It’s the most fun job I’ll ever have.”
“When people ask what I do,” Auld adds, “I say, ‘I travel the world and fly people on wires.’ ”
Of course, plenty of new Aulds and Moores are being nurtured in Nunnally’s farm system.
Half of his job responsibility is research, he says, which comes in the brainstorming of new and improved theater-magic gadgets that please demanding producers, directors and actors.
Class assignments with real-world implications aren’t the type of theoretical homework where grades of B or even C will do; only As are acceptable because living, breathing actors might soon dangle above the stage on wires that correspond with those answers.
There’s also the practical work. One of his graduate students will help with the welding of the “Tarzan” rigging. Others are cleaning the harnesses used over the summer.
Not all of the Hall Associates work is done by students, of course. Nunnally has seven full-time employees who handle the bulk of the day-to-day work, and NIU students fill in when learning opportunities match teaching opportunities. Once students have learned crafts that benefit the company, they are compensated for their time.
Students in the school’s performance curriculum also benefit from Nunnally’s presence. Sordelet’s combat workshop in February provided training from a Yale University professor and, for some, a cool video for their portfolios. Sordelet’s professional standing also can produce golden tickets for performers who impress him.
“The students who knew what the possibilities of this were,” Nunnally says, “were just salivating.”
The NIU Chemistry Club invites the public to celebrate National Chemistry Week (October 19-25) with a fun-filled evening of chemistry demonstrations.
The demonstrations will begin at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, in Faraday Hall 143. This year’s theme of National Chemistry Week is “Having a Ball with Chemistry.”
“We interpret the theme in several ways,” says Professor David Ballantine, faculty adviser of the Chem Club. “First, we have fun with chemistry. Second, many of our demos involve balls. Third, since modern sports equipment is made of special polymeric materials, some of our demos look at the properties of polymers.”
Featured experiments will include a methanol cannon demonstration, using the combustion of methanol to launch a ball. Other demonstrations will showcase burning gel, methane bubbles and a volcanic eruption. The evening will conclude with a real crowd pleaser – the making of ice cream using liquid nitrogen.
Some of the experiments may involve loud noises and produce smoke and/or unpleasant smells and might not be appropriate for small children. To ensure the safety of the audience and presenters, flash photography will not be permitted. For some experiments, audience members may be asked to move away from the demonstration area.
Parking will be available in the NIU Parking Deck along the west side of Normal Road. The Parking Deck is open for general parking after 7 p.m., except for reserved and handicapped spaces.
NIU Art Museum Director Jo Burke and Assistant Director Pete Olson recently attended the Illinois Association of Museums’ (IAM) annual conference and picked up two “Superior Achievement” honors given to the museum by IAM in the “Scholarly Publications” and “Exhibition” categories.
The scholarly publication – exhibition catalogue “Revisiting Modern Japanese Prints: Selected Works from the Richard F. Grott Family Collection” – was designed to accompany the exhibition in spring 2008 of the same name.
(NIU’s other honor came for the spring 2008 exhibition “Examining Audubon.”)
IAM Awards Chair Beth Carvey’s reasons behind the publications award include its well-written and informative text, professional look and design and especially the “collaborative element of the project through the involvement of students, faculty, museum staff and university publications.”
Members of that honored group include Burke; Assistant Professor Helen Nagata; Professor Emerita Helen Merritt; students from Nagata’s Asian Art Seminar for fall 2007 who wrote essays for the catalogue; Jessica Schultz, publications editor; and designer Barb Kolb.
“The high caliber of this project would not have been possible without the support of the NIU Foundation through a Venture Grant and the James and Helen Merritt Foundation of the NIU School of Art,” Burke said. “The catalogue enlightens viewers by bringing the joy that collector Richard Grott discovered in the prints to those who view and read the catalogue.”
The award-winning catalogue can be viewed and purchased at the NIU Art Museum.
Jason Rhode, assistant director of NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center has received the 2008
Rhode has made tremendous contributions to the group and Web-based education through his innovative workshops on state-of-the-art Web-based technologies, engaging tutorials and a willingness to share his expertise and experience with others.
SLATE is the Midwest Blackboard Users Group created from the concept that all institutions deploying and/or currently using Web-based components to enhance their teaching and learning activities, have the same questions, the same challenges and the need for the same solutions.
A broader and more accessible and dynamic support system can be established by drawing together the expertise of the people involved in the entire academic experience and those designing, supporting and using these applications: faculty, support staff, systems administrators, instructional designers, librarians and students.
Current membership comes from K-12, higher education and the corporate sector.
SLATE currently has 60 participating regional and global institutions among K-12, higher education and the corporate sector; NIU is one of the eight core institutions that established SLATE in 2002. The group meets each month at a participating institution to share best practices in web-based education and challenges.
The SLATE Star Award “was established in 2004 as a way to recognize an individual who has shown leadership, demonstrated initiatives, presented new ideas, improved procedures, established effective relationships or provided substantial resources that have affected the success and promotion of SLATE, the educational experience and/or the general Blackboard Community of Practice.”
It is time for all NIU employees to complete their annual online ethics training.
Under the terms of the State Officials and Employees Ethics Act, all full-time, part-time, regular and temporary faculty, staff, graduate assistants, extra help and student employees must complete this annual training.
The training covers such topics as accepting gifts and bribes, conflict of interest, inappropriate use of university resources for personal matters, whistleblower protection and avoidance of political activities during the work day. Everyone who receives a paycheck from the university must complete this training.
Ethics training concludes at midnight Friday, Nov. 14. There are no extensions.
Employees are notified by e-mail and through campus mail. Training should be completed during normal work hours. Employees should check with their department on whether special arrangements are being made for workstations for employees without computers, or for scheduling of training times.
Employees can contact the Ethics Training Administrator at (815) 753-6039 or Human Resource Services at (815) 753-6000 for information or assistance. Technical questions will be addressed by Information Technology Services Helpdesk at (815) 753-8100.
The State of Illinois Office of the Executive Inspector General notes that employees who do not comply with the annual training mandate can be subject to fines and disciplinary actions.
For further information, contact:
An artists’ reception for the Latino Student Art Exhibition will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the center located at 515 Garden Road.
The exhibition will showcase the work of Wendy Palma, Yaczen Pelayo, Jose Ruiz Santana and Abel Guzman. It is sponsored by the Latino Resource Center, the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies and the Jack Olson Gallery.
The exhibit will remain on display through the end of October.
The Office of the Provost presents the third issue of
“The Multiculturalist,” the online publication which focuses on multicultural curriculum transformation at NIU.This issue features Provost Alden’s call for participation in the Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute and highlights the National Association for Multicultural Education. Professor Bill Goldenberg and undergraduate Patrice Rounsaville share methodologies and insights.
Readers also will find links to print and video educational resources. Direct questions and suggestions for The Multiculturalist to Donna Askins at daskins@niu.edu or (815) 753-0816.
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 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.
CSA Sinfonia performs a wide array of music at its first concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the Concert Hall of the NIU Music Building. The concert is free and open to the public.
The selection includes “American Salute” by M. Gould, several pieces by the inimitable Leroy Anderson and orchestral movements of by Mendelssohn, Beethoven, Schubert and Tchaikovsky.
Directed by Linc Smelser, the group performs classical pieces as well as some contemporary music. Smelser is the conductor of the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra.
Sinfonia members are from DeKalb, Sycamore, Oswego, Batavia and St. Charles. Members audition in spring for a place in this high-quality regional orchestra. There are still a few open spaces in this year’s ensemble; those interested in learning more should call and may be invited to audition.
For more information, call (815) 753-1450 or visit www.niu.edu/extprograms.
“Understanding and Managing Conflict” is the topic for Thursday, Oct. 30, workshop sponsored by NIU’s Civic Leadership Academy.
This workshop offers practical instruction on techniques of negotiation and the theory and practice of conflict resolution.
Negotiation is an art grounded in the science of personal interactions. Having an understanding of the dynamics of both negotiations and conflict will give participants the basic tools to help them develop effective negotiating strategies, respond professionally and interact calmly and with purpose under a variety of “negotiating” conditions.
Presenter Andra Medea is the author of “Conflict Unraveled” and the developer of the Conflict Unraveled Toolkit. She developed her system while teaching conflict management at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Articles and interviews about her innovative techniques have appeared in The Washington Post and Entrepreneur and on National Public Radio.
Registration and more information about CLA workshops are available online.The NIU Community School of the Arts presents the first CSJazz Band concert of the season.
This top-notch jazz ensemble performs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 2, in the Concert Hall of the NIU Music Building. The concert is free and open to the public.
Among the music to be performed are tunes by Charles Mingus, Sammy Nestico, Henry Mancini and Thelonious Monk. Performing in this concert are high school players from DeKalb, Sycamore, Elburn, Geneva, Poplar Grove, St. Charles and Somonauk.
Directed by Doug Stone, the group plays tunes by classic and contemporary jazz composers, including Stone himself. An accomplished jazz saxophonist, Stone is founder, leader and member of the Stone/Bratt Big Band that performs in the Chicago suburbs and was heard in DeKalb recently when the group performed at the CSJazz spring concert.
CSJazz band members audition in spring for a place in this top regional jazz band. The audition date for the 2009-2010 group is on May 30, 2009.
For more information, call (815) 753-1450 or visit www.niu.edu/extprograms.
NIU’s LGBT Studies Program will hold a silent auction on its Web site through Tuesday, Oct. 28, to raise funds for the program.
This semester alone, six new undergraduate students and three new graduate students have enrolled in certificate programs; program administrators hope to continue this growth through increased publicity. However, because there is no budget for printing or other publicity, support is greatly appreciated.
All the books up for auction will be on display in the Holmes Student Center during the auction period. Stop by the display case between the Duke Ellington Ballroom and the Gallery Lounge to see the books.
Local NPR news station WNIJ will broadcast a fall membership campaign through Friday, Oct. 24.
During this time, listeners are encouraged to become members by making financial pledges of support toward the public radio programming they value. In contrast to the last several pledge drives, WNIJ’s campaign has been shortened by more than a day and a half, placing special emphasis on pre-drive, Friday “Power Hour,” and early week contributions, returning listeners to regular programming with minimal interruption.
Throughout the campaign dates, radio hosts will direct listeners to call a dedicated “Pledge Line” staffed by volunteers. The radio station Web site also is equipped to receive secure pledges online at www.wnij.org. Classical music listeners will have an opportunity to show their support during a one-day drive in November.
Northern Public Radio (89.5-WNIJ and classical WNIU) is the broadcast service of NIU.
All faculty and staff are invited to receive hands-on assistance with MyNIU by attending an open lab session.
The open lab is an informal setting. Come for a few minutes or stay for longer to become more familiar with MyNIU. This is great opportunity to learn more and to receive help with any area that you have access to in MyNIU.
The lab is from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, in Founders 297.
Visit the MyNIU training Web site to view job aids and other helpful resources.
Human Resource Services announces the opening of an on-campus Human Resource Service Center with an open house scheduled Tuesday, Oct. 21, in its new location: Swen Parson Room 110.
This office will provide many of the services offered at the main location at 1515 West Lincoln Hwy. Visitors can tour the new office during an open house between 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.
A dedication ceremony is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. with Eddie Williams, executive vice president for Business and Finance, and Steve Cunningham, associate vice president for Administration and Human Resources, as well as many HRS representatives in attendance. The open house will include refreshments, door prizes and giveaways.
“Common Ground,” an upcoming exhibition at the NIU Art Museum, will bring together a selection of contemporary ceramics produced throughout the state of Illinois.
The exhibition is scheduled from Tuesday, Oct. 21, through Saturday, Dec. 6. An opening reception will take place from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23. Guest artist Chris Berti will present a lecture from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in Room 110 of the Visual Arts Building/Jack Arends Hall before the reception.
“Common Ground” artists use common clay material to explore relationships to the world in which we live. Curated by artist Doug Jeppesen, a professor at Waubonsee Community College, the exhibition also includes Dan Anderson, Berti, Charity Davis-Woodard, Paul Dresang, Erin Furimsky, Shane Harris, Steven Hill, Doug Jeppesen, Jim Kearns, Ron Kovatch, Yih Wen Kuo, Tyler Lotz, Ron Mazanowski, Kurt Webb and Matt Wilt.
“There is a wide variety of subject matter in the exhibition,” Jeppesen said. “Concepts range from personal introspective issues of dealing with a recent illness diagnosis and iconic industrial Americana to the traditions of pottery that bring people together every day over a cup of coffee or a sip of bourbon.”
The NIU Art Museum is located on the first floor west end of Altgeld Hall. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Group tours may be arranged by appointment. More information is available at www.niu.edu/artmuseum.
“Common Ground” is funded in part by the llinois Arts Council, a state agency; Friends of the NIU Art Museum; and the Arts fund 21.
“Maley/Hand: Journey Toward Healing” is a poignant collaboration between Janette Maley and Art Hand – wife and husband, artist and photographer – that explores how they each faced Maley’s breast cancer in their own way, emotionally and artistically.
NIU’s Art Museum will host the exhibition from Tuesday, Oct. 21, through Saturday, Dec. 6. An opening reception is scheduled from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, including a 6 p.m. gallery talk by Hand. He will conduct an additional gallery talk from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 8.
Diagnosed in late 1998, Maley began making collages that she credited with helping her in her journey “to a life richer, more mindful of what I have and how I want to live.” She described the creation of the collages as “one of these remarkable experiences I have embraced” and noted that the inspiration for her images “comes out of my need to truly acknowledge what my life, my fight for life, has been.” Each image represents what Maley was feeling during different aspects of her treatment.
Hand photographed his wife, first as a way to record her body before surgery. The photographs continued throughout her treatment with chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and her struggle with her cancer’s return.
The couple exhibited their works many times together. Now, after Maley lost her battle, Hand wants to display the photographs and collages as a way to share their journey and that of women throughout the world facing breast cancer. The images are intimate, emotive, touching and a testament to the will of both Janette and Art to face illness personally and together.
The NIU Art Museum is located on the first floor west end of Altgeld Hall. Hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Group tours may be arranged by appointment. More information is available at www.niu.edu/artmuseum.
“Journey Toward Healing” is funded in part by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Friends of the NIU Art Museum; and the Arts fund 21.
Paul Ilsley, a professor in the College of Education’s Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, is retiring from NIU after 30 years of service.
A farewell reception is scheduled from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Friday, Oct.24, in the Clara Sperling Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.
All faculty and staff who are members of the Phi Beta Kappa Association are invited to contact Mary Cozad in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures at (815) 753-6447 or mcozad@niu.edu.
Efforts are being made to reactivate the organization and reinstitute the annual Hainds Award for the most outstanding College of Liberal Arts and Sciences graduating senior. Interested faculty and staff are asked to send their names, departments, e-mail addresses and phone numbers to Cozad by Saturday, Nov. 1.
The NIU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, now housed in the NIU Family Health, Wellness and Literacy Center at 3100 Sycamore Road, invites the community to schedule evaluations or participate in research projects.
Certified and licensed audiologists and speech-language pathologists provide speech, language and hearing evaluations as well as clinical intervention. For general information about the clinic or to schedule an evaluation, call (815) 753-1481.
In addition to providing clinical services, a variety of research programs are ongoing. Members of the community are welcome to contact individual faculty if interested in participating in a research project or would like more information about a specific area of study.
James Erman, NIU interim vice president for research, is seeking nominations for honorary doctoral degrees to be awarded from the university.
An honorary degree provides an opportunity for the university to recognize someone especially outstanding in a field of interest to the university. Recipients must be clearly exceptional among other outstanding persons in his or her field.
While a connection to NIU or the State of Illinois is not a requirement for nomination, any such relationship will be considered during the selection process.
A nomination must be accompanied by:
Any person affiliated with NIU may submit a nomination. The Honorary Degree Committee encourages nominations by groups as well as by individuals. Nominators should alert all university departments and divisions related to the area of the nominee’s accomplishments and invite those units to provide the committee with input regarding the merits of the nomination.
This year’s nominations, with the required supporting information, should be submitted to Erman by Friday, Dec. 19.
Past recipients of NIU honorary degrees have included Hermann A. Grunder, director emeritus of Argonne National Laboratory; J. Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; distinguished historian and Pulitzer Prize-winner Arthur Schlesinger Jr.; astronomer Carl Sagan; and Leon Lederman, former Fermilab director and winner of the 1989 Nobel Prize in physics.
Travel with the NIU Alumni Association this spring to experience the jewels of Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland brings back the joy of touring with breathtaking Irish landscapes, historical forts and palaces, famous coastlines and ancient accounts that mingle myth and legend. Visit myniu.com for more information about this and other exciting travel destinations.
NIU is seeking nominations for the 2008-09 class of Board of Trustees Professorships. Application portfolios are due Wednesday, Oct. 29.
The NIU Board of Trustees Professorships were established in 2007 by President John Peters and the Board of Trustees to recognize those tenured professors who:
In considering the qualifications of nominees, special emphasis will be placed upon those who are renowned scholars or artists and have engaged students in their research and/or other professional activities.
Up to three professorships can be awarded each academic year; the 2008-2009 awards will be made April 30, 2009, at the Faculty Awards Recognition Ceremony. The recipients will receive a stipend of $10,000 per year that will be renewed annually during the five-year term of appointment as Board of Trustee Professors.
The responsibilities of the professorship include delivering the Board of Trustees Professorship Lecture; participating in workshops for the professional development of junior faculty and in activities that advance the university’s reputation and mission; maintaining an active program of teaching, scholarship or artistry and service; and submitting a report detailing activities and accomplishments during the award period.
Additional information about the nomination process and the professorships can be found at http://www.niu.edu/strategicplan/board. Application portfolios should be submitted electronically to the Office of the Provost (kjahns@niu.edu).