Bill Finucane remembers the bad old days.
Those August afternoons when the campus was utterly unprepared for the onslaught of students, their families and the mountains of belongings that they brought with them when they descended on DeKalb prior to the start of fall classes.
“I recall one year when the line of cars stretched from Stevenson South to the tollway,” Finucane said last Thursday when he addressed some of the hundreds of volunteers who will be on hand this Thursday to ensure that things go much more smoothly for Opening Day 2009.
The chaos of those long-ago days has been replaced by an all-but-trademarked process that this year will be handled by nearly 200 faculty and staff who will pilot a fleet of 120 golf carts, which will be loaded by an army of nearly 500 students drawn from student organizations, all operating with the assistance of nearly 300 volunteer student guides.
And, said Phyllis Dupre, event and marketing coordinator for Housing and Dining, every one of those individuals should be smiling.
“This is a great marketing opportunity,” she told attendees at the Aug. 13 Red and Black Reception for volunteers. “The experience that we give those families is something they will be talking about for weeks, and we want them talking about us in the best possible way.”
Usually that has not been a problem.
Feedback from parents since the formal move-in assistance program began 12 years ago has been overwhelmingly positive. Parents who recall the nightmare that was moving into their own residence halls, or who have been through the process elsewhere with older children, speak in glowing and almost-awestruck terms about the organization on display, the helpful volunteers at every turn, and the back aches avoided thanks to all of that help.
Most who volunteer have equally great memories of the day. A show of hands at the reception found most in the crowd were Opening Day vets, with a few participating all 12 years.
Student Affairs is still accepting volunteers interested in working Opening Day, and is particularly in need of faculty and staff to work the afternoon shift which starts at noon.
Faculty and staff also are being recruited to participate in the House Calls program being conducted by Student Affairs.
That program involves teams of faculty and staff visiting residence halls, beginning at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 25, and touching base with all new students. The goal is not only to answer any questions that they might have, but also to help them establish a contact with at least one member of the faculty or staff as a way of making them feel more connected to the university.
To volunteer for either Opening Day or House Calls, visit housing.niu.edu on the Web and click on the “Volunteer” link.
Many considered this summer’s low temperatures and minimal rain to be ideal weather – including construction crews working on projects across campus.
As NIU prepares for Thursday’s return of students, a number of major remodeling and repair projects have been completed or are drawing to a close, including:
The campus crossroads underwent a major restoration this summer. The brick pavers that dominated the space were removed and replaced by additional green space, flower beds, new plantings and clean, level concrete walkways.
The result should be a greener, more user-friendly space that is easier to navigate, plow and maintain.
“It’s a substantial upgrade for the entire commons,” said Patti Perkins who oversaw the project for the Division of Finance and Facilities.
The only major work remaining is the planting of Quaking Aspen trees near the Balance of Equality sculpture on the east end of the plaza – a task best done during cooler fall weather.
Work to install fire sprinklers in the Lincoln and Douglas residence hall complexes was completed early and under budget. Training of hall staff, maintenance staff and local fire departments is already complete.
The $2.7 million project was the first phase of a four-year plan to bring the university in compliance with a state law mandating that all university residence halls in Illinois be equipped with sprinklers by 2013.
“Tom Wroblewski and his team working on that project did a fabulous job,” said Jeffrey Daurer, director of capital budgeting and planning for the Division of Finance and Facilities. “Not only was it completed ahead of schedule and under budget (but) it also looks great. You can’t even tell the work was done.”
The Neptune complex is scheduled for sprinkler installation next summer.
On Aug. 10, the Academic Advising Center moved into new quarters at 633 W. Locust St., former home of the Wesley Foundation. The newly remodeled space is a dramatic upgrade from the department’s previous home on the fourth floor of Adams Hall, Director Julie Schaid said.
“We are very pleased,” Schaid said. “We’re now centrally located, accessible to students and we have much more space, including more advising offices and a central area with computer workstations where students can sit down and register for classes immediately after talking with an adviser.”
The artificial playing surface of Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium was replaced in May. The old surface was becoming worn, and impact testing on the turf indicated it was at the end of the product lifestyle. The new turf and underfill will reduce impact on student atheletes, especially the Huskie football team, which uses the surface for practices and games. The new playing field has earned rave reviews from players during summer workouts and the recent start of fall practices.
Work on the new East Campus chilled water plant, located just to the east of the Campus Life Building, made huge strides this summer.
Most of the external concrete walls were poured, work began on a brick facing and the wiring of the building was essentially completed. Most significantly, four 1,200-ton chillers were installed and connections to the chilled water lines were completed.
Plans call for the plant to come online by next summer. Ultimately the facility will cool nearly all of the campus east of Normal Road, allowing the university to retire and remove individual building air conditioning systems, many of which are long past their projected lifespan. The new cooling technology is far more energy-efficient than the systems currently in use. It also takes advantage of the economy-of-scale principles and is environmentally superior.
This summer’s progress allowed Finance and Facilities to arrange for the relocation of construction trailers, restoring 20 parking spaces in the Campus Life parking lot in the process.
The NIU Department of Public Safety will hold its annual NIU Police Auction Saturday, Aug. 29, on the east side of Huskie Stadium under the student bleachers. Items will be available for viewing at 9 a.m. Bidding begins at 10 a.m.
Items included in this year’s auction include, bicycles, jewelry, iPods, a Rolex watch and other miscellaneous items.
For more information, visit http://www.niu.edu/publicsafety.
Lemuel W. Waston, dean of the College of Education, invites the campus community to its Gala Celebration fundraiser to support the college’s programs and students.
The celebration takes place from 5:30 p.m. to midnight Saturday, Aug. 29, in the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center. The cost is $100 per person and $175 per couple, including two drink tickets per person.
The evening will include cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres, a silent and live auction, dancing and cordials on the patio at the evening’s end. The dress is cocktail attire (black tie optional).
RSVP to Gail Hayenga at (815) 753-8370 or via e-mail at ghayenga@niu.edu by Friday, Aug. 21.
The Community Dance School at NIU, sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, will begin its fall 12-week session Monday, Sept. 14. Classes meet weekly until Dec. 18.
Instruction is offered for ages four through teen and adult. Classes include creative movement, ballet, lyrical, modern, tap, jazz, Irish step dancing, Scottish Highland dancing, jazz/hip hop, ballroom, Latin and swing.
Students are taught by NIU faculty and instructors who hold degrees in dance education, have danced professionally or are currently dance performance majors at NIU. Meredith Lutz, a former Scottish Highland dancing competitor, will teach Scottish Highland dancing, and Bryn Wilke, with the Mayer School of Irish Dancing, will teach Irish soft and hard shoe. Barbara Heimerdinger, an NIU faculty member, will teach ballroom, Latin and swing.
Registration will be held Saturdays (Aug. 22, Aug. 29 and Sept. 5) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Anderson Hall, Studio 130. The cost for each class is $95. For more information, call (815) 753-0277 or (815) 756-4092.
The DeKalb Festival Chorus – a volunteer, auditioned chorus of 55 voices – is ready to welcome new singers.
Rehearsals are scheduled Monday evenings on the NIU campus.
The fall concert (Sunday, Dec. 13) will include works by Lauridsen, Parker, Biebl and Thompson, as well as Rutter’s “Gloria” performed with the Prairie Brass Band. In late spring (Saturday, May 8), the chorus will perform Bernstein’s “Chichester Psalms.”
Call (630) 453-8006 or e-mail festivalchorus@gmail.org to schedule an audition Monday, Aug. 24, or at a time to be arranged with Director Jen Whiting. For more information, visit http://www.dekalbfestivalchorus.org.
NIU’s Academic Advising Center has moved to a new location on campus between the parking deck and the library at 633 W. Locust St.
The center serves students who are undecided about their major and without a current college affiliation or who are seeking alternative majors or reassessing their current academic situation.
The new facility will provide opportunities for enhanced programming and services related to major exploration and student success initiatives. The building abbreviation is “AC.” Please make a note of this information for referrals. All Academic Advising Center telephone and e-mail contact information remains the same.
An open house to showcase the new facility is being planned for mid-September. More information is coming soon.
Media Services is offering training on using the audiovisual equipment in Provost-sponsored SMART classrooms.
Both new and returning instructors should benefit from these brief seminars. The seminars will include information about any recent changes to the equipment in the rooms.
These seminars are open-ended and run continually; drop in at any time. A complete demonstration with hands-on practice takes about 30 minutes. Those who cannot attend one of the above sessions can contact Keith Bisplinghoff at (815) 753-0172 for other training opportunities.