More than 500 music lovers filled the seats of the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall last week to enjoy the collaboration of NIU’s Avalon Quartet and internationally renowned violinist Rachel Barton Pine.
Their beautiful notes rang across the auditorium – and from coast to coast.
Forty-four unique viewers, from Maine to California and 10 other states, tuned in to watch the concert via Web cast. The online audience also included Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, South Dakota and South Carolina in addition to Illinois.
Without much publicity – the school sent out a “tweet” on its Twitter account about 10 minutes prior to the concert’s beginning – “it spread across the country. Pretty exciting stuff. Talk about extending the reach and the impact of our university,” said Paul Bauer, the proud director of the NIU School of Music.
“It was the first time we had a four-camera setup,” Bauer added. “We got some feedback from people on e-mail that was as complimentary as you could have possibly hoped for, not only about how high the quality was on the technology but also the artistry of the performance. People aren’t accustomed to seeing this level of quality from a live Web stream.”
The feed featured NIU’s logo embedded atop the screen and a crawl along the bottom with the names of the works being played. The Web site also provided a PDF of the evening’s program.
Last week’s concert soon will become available on the school’s YouTube channel (divided into movements to meet YouTube’s 10-minute limit) with high-quality audio and video equal or superior to the live broadcast. It’s also available 24-7 at the whim of the consumer.
Bauer and the school’s faculty now are eager to Webcast most concerts, many with two cameras and special occasions with four.
Wednesday’s concert of the NIU Philharmonic and Gamelan will receive the four-camera treatment, Bauer said, promising “unique camera angles looking down on the instruments like they’ve never done before.”
NIU now is honoring tradition and riding the cutting edge at the same time, he said.
“There always will be live audiences. There is something you only get from a live performance. When you transfer it to any kind of medium, even the highest quality recording possible, it’s different than the live experience and the interaction. The live concert will always be important,” Bauer said.
“However, we’re in a digital age where the audience is consuming their media in remote fashion and electronically. People are not less interested in consuming music, but they’re getting it in different ways,” he added.
“For us to be current and relevant – and perhaps ‘relevant’ is the most important thing – we need to provide what we do in electronic fashion. To all the parents of our students who can’t make a weeknight performance, to watch their sons and daughters and hear them live from their homes is a terrific thing.”
The restless and aggressive pursuit of technological relevance goes far beyond live Web streams, however,
In April of 2007, music professor Greg Beyer employed Internet 2 to play percussion for a performance held in Fairbanks, Alaska. By January of 2008, Internet 2’s Global Concert Series was streaming the Philadelphia Orchestra live into the Music Building’s Recital Hall.
A year later, in January of 2009, the school streamed live performances from the Music Building as NIU hosted the Illinois Day of Percussion. In February of this year, NIU voice professor Orna Arania taught vocal lessons to students at the University of Nebraska via Internet 2.
By March, live performances of student and faculty recitals became frequent – almost daily – activities. This fall, a young musician from the Netherlands who had discovered the NIU School of Music on YouTube enrolled as a student.
Now NIU music professors are filming instructional videos for YouTube that coach high school instrumentalists on how to prepare their auditions for the Illinois Music Educators Association’s fall music festivals.
“As far as I can tell, NIU is the first to put up any kind of information like this,” Bauer said. “Most of our faculty have served as adjudicators and have a good take on how the average student comes in and plays. We’re giving free advice on YouTube, anytime they want it, in accessible little chunks. This is a highly valued resource for high school students throughout the state, and as their teachers get to know about it, it’s going to go viral.”
Mark Ponzo, a trumpet professor, first brought the idea to Bauer.
“I teach a lot of high school students in addition to my students here. That’s where my recruiting base is,” Ponzo said. “I’ve been preparing these kids for auditions for 20 years. Not all students have access to private lessons. Some of them are highly talented but have had little direction and have been given very few resources.”
He had been considering publishing an instructional guide, but realized he could “interface with them in a format they’re used to using all the time. These kids are out there surfing the Net, and this is something no one else has.”
Ponzo mapped an outline of his session for Dan Nichols, the School of Music’s talented technology guru, and the two filmed the video in about 35 minutes. Three more members of the brass faculty have filmed their own videos now, offering audition advice on French horn, trombone and tuba.
“It’s gotten nearly 200 hits in a week and a half, which is good,” Ponzo said. “Music teachers think it’s great. We’ve even heard feedback from the IMEA board. They think it’s very positive. They really like them and want to see them for all the instruments.”
Two or three more professors will launch IMEA audition videos in the next two weeks, said Bauer, whose goal for next fall is to post videos for all instruments and voices.
He is pleased to see – and to enable – faculty innovation and initiative. The possibilities are endless, Bauer said, but nothing will happen if faculty aren’t putting ideas on the table.
Meanwhile, NIU is racing ahead of other schools of music after nearly three years of learning the technologies, determining what was needed and wanted and testing the equipment.
“As director, I can make sure we have the technology available. I can make sure we have the support there. But I can’t make these videos happen. The ideas and the follow-through have to come from the faculty. When Mark Ponzo did it, and showed the example to others, it was, ‘I could do that’ and ‘I could do that,’ ” Bauer said.
Now NIU is “a leader in the country” on harnessing the power of the Internet and “forging ahead,” he added, delivering major kudos to Walter Czerniak, associate vice president for information technology, and Jay Orbik, director of Media Services.
Czerniak and Orbik have shared, and enthusiastically committed to, Bauer’s vision from Day One.
“We’ve got a unique combination of folks here. It’s not just a faculty member or an administrator trying to pull this through. If Wally Czerniak wasn’t on board, this wouldn’t happen. Without Jay Orbik, we wouldn’t be operating at the quality we have been,” Bauer said.
“Jay, Wally and I are well-positioned in our roles to allow people who work around us to do new things. What we’re doing hasn’t been done before. It’s not on the list. When ITS looks to bill us, set up a new connection or solve a new problem, it’s not on their charts.”
Today’s opportunities were born a decade ago with the communications infrastructure improvements promised by NIUNet.
“Unfortunately it was a project similar to plumbing. No one sees the pipes nor notices the diameter. They are only concerned that when they open the faucet they want to see high pressure and as much as they need,” Czerniak said.
“Watching and listening to the Avalon Quartet and Rachel Barton, and knowing that we had installed a big enough pipe, was a great feeling. It certainly was much more entertaining than digging the ditches and pulling the fiber,” Czerniak said. “Congratulations to Paul and his staff on a great performance and sharing it with the world.”
Orbik, who already had purchased two high-definition robotic cameras for his operation, now has acquired two more that are permanently mounted in the concert hall for the four-camera shoots.
“When Paul Bauer asked for video support to his Internet 2 projects, it was like mixing his chocolate with our peanut butter. It was the perfect comination,” Orbik said. “We are very excited about this, and look forward to helping others on campus take full advantage of Internet 2’s educational applications. We want NIU to be a leader in the nation in the this field, and this is a great first step.”
NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has announced the 50 recipients of its Golden Anniversary Alumni Award.
The award honors individuals who have distinguished themselves either in professional fields or through involvement in civic, cultural or charitable service. Recipients of the college’s Golden Anniversary Alumni Award will be honored during a Friday, Sept. 25, gala dinner on the NIU campus, launching a year-long celebration of the college’s 50th anniversary.
“The Golden Anniversary Alumni Award winners span the five decades of the college, and their accomplishments are a testament to the opportunities that an NIU liberal arts education can provide,” said Christopher McCord, dean of the NIU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
“These alumni have built on their NIU education to create lives and careers that have contributed to the worlds of education, science, scholarship, business, law, medicine, philanthropy, community leadership and government service,” he added. “I salute their individual accomplishments, and the contributions of the college faculty and staff, both past and present, who helped them realize their full potential.”
A complete listing of the award winners with their biographies appears on the college’s golden anniversary Web site.
Liberal Arts and Sciences is the largest of NIU’s six undergraduate colleges. It boasts numerous graduate programs, including 11 at the doctoral level, for more than 1,200 master’s-level and doctoral students.
The college is also home to seven research centers and three interdisciplinary research and teaching programs: the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, Center for Southeast Asian Studies and the Women’s Studies Program.
The college currently has 550 faculty and staff and 7,700 students and counts more than 70,000 alumni. Virtually all NIU students, regardless of their career choices, benefit from the college’s general education and service courses.
Two of NIU’s liaisons to government agencies have new titles and responsibilities thanks to the recent reorganization that created the Division of University Relations.
Ken Zehnder is now director of state and local relations and Lori Clark has been named director of federal relations. Their work will come under the banner of the Department of Government Relations, a new department within the Division of University Relations.
“These changes continue NIU’s interests in good hands. Ken and Lori are highly regarded experts in their field, given their long careers in government, and offer familiar faces to our friends in public service as we make this internal reorganization,” said Kathryn Buettner, vice president of University Relations. “I believe this new structure and their new roles will allow for a smooth transition and exciting opportunities for NIU’s research agenda in Washington, D.C., and our legislative initiatives in Springfield.”
Zehnder, who came to NIU in 2001 as associate director for External Affairs, served as director of the Illinois Department of Revenue from 1995 to 1999.
His responsibilities as special assistant to Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar from 1991 to 1995 focused on public advisory board appointments. From 1981 to 1991, Zehnder worked in the Office of the Secretary of State of Illinois.
Clark came to NIU in 2005 after a 28-year career in Illinois government, 27 years of which were spent in at the Illinois Department of Commerce and Community Affairs and its successor agency, the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
She held a variety of positions within the department, including a four-year stint as deputy director of the Bureau of Technology and Industrial Competiveness. She also developed, implemented and administered numerous technology, workforce and economic development programs.
Based at NIU’s Chicago office, Clark represents NIU on a variety of organizations, including the Illinois Development Council (where she is a member of the Board of Directors), the State Science and Technology Institute, Mayor Daley’s Council of Technology Advisors and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s Economic and Community Development Committee.
As part of her new responsibilities, she will manage the creation and development of the university’s annual federal research agenda in conjunction with Provost Ray Alden.
“We have a great team in our newly formed Division of University Relations,” Buettner said, “and I am pleased to be able to help shape the development of a new communications division at NIU.”
NIU’s chapter of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars has earned Bronze STAR status from the national honors organization for high-achieving freshmen and sophomores.
Requirements for bronze status include an induction ceremony for new members, creating an on-campus membership recruitment campaign and sending at least one officer to NSCS leadership training.
“Bronze is just the beginning,” said Mark Rosenbaum, a marketing professor in the College of Business who has served as chapter adviser for two years. “I would like to build the chapter and raise our status in the organization, based upon our engagement in the community. My goal for next year is to have one community event per month.”
Status levels, which also include platinum, gold and silver, also are determined by chapter program success, community service, member engagement and on-campus involvement.
For NIU’s chapter, which formed in 2000 and inducted more than 165 new members Sunday, community service is the top goal.
And it’s already in progress. Students in the NSCS chapter promote the benefits of higher education to young teens at Clinton Rosette Middle School.
“It’s a way for the smartest at NIU to give back to the community,” Rosenbaum said.
Lucia Pantalena, a senior elementary education major from Carol Stream, brought the Planning to Achieve Collegiate Excellence (PACE) program to NIU last year. The Clinton Rosette students met after school with their NIU mentors from 2:45 to 4 p.m. Thursdays.
“The main goal of mentoring is to help them to want to go to high school and to pursue a college education. We are the ones who can make an impact on kids. We have good things to say about going to college. We have excelled,” said Pantalena, who is student-teaching this semester in Schaumburg.
“There are students who live in DeKalb who might not have stepped foot on campus before. Going to college isn’t such a familiar topic as people might think,” she added. “You would think that they had grown up going to football games and experiencing the college life, being so near to campus, but they didn’t.”
Pantalena was exposed to Clinton Rosette when she became a Big Sister to a young girl who was a student there.
“I had brought lunch to my Little Sister there before. I had visited her there. I had a feel for the environment,” she said. “I scheduled a meeting with the guidance counselor and principal and just sat down with them.”
Six mentors were paired with students last spring. They kept notebooks of topics discussed and progress made, and stayed in touch with Pantalena through e-mail to update her on the weekly encounters.
A guidance counselor at Clinton Rosette already has called Pantalena this fall to report that students are asking about a mentoring program for the new school year.
“Mentoring is a big commitment,” she said, “but you get to know a child really well in a very short period of time.”
Other benefits of NSCS membership include access to myriad scholarships, academic travel, career resources and leadership and networking opportunities.
Membership is by invitation only and based on grade point average and class standing. More than 625,000 students are members of 235 chapters located in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
For more information about NIU’s chapter, visit http://www.sa.niu.edu/nscs.html.
NIU’s Art Education Division has announced its speaker for fall 2009: Ms. Shabazz.
The eldest daughter of Malcolm X Shabazz is a producer, writer, diplomat and captivating speaker. Her significant associations and relationships encompass youth and academic administrations, business institutions, government embassies, diplomatic offices, international chambers of commerce, communications networks and notables of the entertainment world and human-interest communities.
Ms. Shabazz will deliver an open lecture from 5 to 5:50 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Room 100 of the Visual Arts Buidling. Her lecture is titled, “MALCOLM X SHABAZZ: The Man and Father Away from the Podium.”
A reception in honor of Ms. Shabazz’s visit will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the NIU Center for Black Studies.
Debbie Smith-Shank, professor of art education, has been chosen as a Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association. She will be inducted during the first general session of the 2010 NAEA convention, scheduled April 14 to April 18 in Baltimore, Md.
Established in 1982, this title is conferred on NAEA members who have made distinguished contributions to the work of the Association. Presently, there are about 80 NAEA Distinguished Fellows. According to the NAEA, responsbility comes along with this honor: “This an opportune time for you to offer your services to the NAEA membership.”
“I am so honored to have selected to be part of this very special group of art educators,” Smith-Shank said.
Smith-Shank joins NIU’s other senior art education faculty member, Douglas Boughton and Kerry Freedman, as NAEA Distinguished Fellows.
Milivoje M. Kostic, professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, delivered a seminar lecture earlier this month at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Kostic’s seminar, “The Second Law of Energy Degradation, Including Biological and Intelligent Processes,” discussed one of the most fundamental laws of nature. The Second Law of Thermodynamics made its appearance around 1850 and, almost a century later, physicist and philosopher Percy Williams Bridgman still complained that “there are almost as many formulations of the Second Law as there have been discussions of it.”
Kostic’s teaching and research interests are in thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, heat transfer and related fluid-thermal-energy sciences. He recently published several articles in prestigious energy encyclopedias and presented a number of invited plenary lectures at international conferences and several institutions.
More information is available at www.kostic.niu.edu.
NIU political scientist Ross Corbett has a new book out through SUNY Press titled “The Lockean Commonwealth.”
The tension between executive prerogative in times of emergency and the importance of maintaining and preserving the rule of law has been a perennial concern for modern democratic states. In his book, Corbett reappraises John Locke’s contribution to this timely topic, paying careful attention to the arguments put forward in Locke’s famous “Two Treatises on Government.”
Nominations are being sought for NIU’s 2010 Presidential Research Professorships, which recognize outstanding accomplishment and future potential in academic research or creative artistry.
Faculty members may be nominated, or may initiate their own candidacy, by submitting letters of nominations or self-nominations to James Erman, interim vice president for research, by Monday, Oct. 12.
The nomination and self-nomination letters must include the candidate’s qualifications in accordance with the award specifications. Four complete sets of application materials must then be submitted to Erman’s office by Monday, Nov. 2.
Up to three new Presidential Research Professors are designated each year. Upon appointment, each award recipient will receive a base-salary increment of $2,000.
Additionally, a grant of $5,000 will be provided during each year of the appointment, provided the recipient remains a full-time NIU faculty member. The grant money is to be used for scholarly activities. Award recipients also receive one semester of release from teaching and other non-research responsibilities.
More detailed information on the award and on the call for nominations is available online.
NIU will offer free flu shots to any full- or part-time faculty or staff with health care coverage through one of the State of Illinois Health Care Plans including the HMO. Retired employees and survivors with State of Illinois health care coverage, not yet eligible for Medicare, also are eligible to receive the free flu shot.
Flu shots will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, and from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 14, in the Holmes Student Center, Duke Ellington Ballroom.
Participants must present state health insurance cards and NIU OneCard IDs and be prepared to provide the last four digits of their Social Security numbers to receive free flu shots. Adult dependents and other also can receive flu shots at a cost of $37 each. Flu shots for children younger than 19 must be received at the DeKalb County Health Department.
For more information, call (815) 753-9191.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú, an activist for indigenous Guatemalans whose personal story of triumph brought their plight to the world’s attention, will visit NIU and deliver a public lecture Tuesday, Sept. 22.
The Nobel Laureate will deliver an hour-long talk on her life experiences beginning at 7 p.m. in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center.
Menchú was awarded the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to protect the rights of indigenous peoples during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960-1996). Only 12 women have received the Nobel Peace Prize in its more than 100-year history.
NIU’s CHANCE Program will host a fall ice cream social from 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 22, in the CHANCE lobby of Williston Hall. All are welcome.
Renowned ethnomusicologist Yao-Hua Wang, a professor at the National Fu-Jian Normal University in China, is visiting the NIU School of Music through Tuesday, Oct. 13.
During his visit, Prof. Wang will lecture about Chinese music on topics such as traditional Han court music, religious music and the folk music (instrumental, vocal and narrative genres) of various regions in China. Chinese music theory and philosophy also will be discussed in his lectures.
A prolific author in both Chinese and Japanese, Wang has published hundreds of monographs and journal articles on traditional Chinese music, Japanese Okinawan folk music and Nanyin, the classical chamber music of the Han tradition. He also is the chief editor of a series of college music textbooks on Chinese and world music.
His Chinese lectures will be delivered to MUSC432/532 (Music of China) from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays in Room 202 of the Music Building. Jui-Ching Wang, instructor of this class, will translate.
Wang also will give a public workshop on different styles of folk songs in China from noon to 12:50 p.m. Friday, Oct. 2, in Room 171 of the Music Building.
All the events are free and open to the public. For more information, e-mail jcwang@niu.edu.
NIU faculty and staff can learn more about the university’s P-20 initiatives from 1 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, at the P-20 Poster Expo in the auditorium of Altgeld Hall.
Faculty and staff will present more than 50 posters that offer a glimpse of projects, internships, community services and other activities at all levels from pre-school to graduate study (“P-20”). The posters come from five colleges, NIU Outreach, the Office of Pre-Collegiate Programs and other units that deliver education and training programs and services in local schools, workplaces and communities.
Lemuel W. Watson, executive director of NIU’s Center for P-20 Engagement, will begin a discussion about how the new Center for P-20 Engagement can best serve and empower NIU personnel and the surrounding communities across the region.
In response to questions about what is meant by “engagement,” Watson will conduct NIU’s first large-scale discussion of engagement as a “modus operandi” that brings shared benefits to local communities and to NIU. Last year, the Carnegie Foundation awarded NIU the Community Engagement classification, recognizing the university’s extensive involvement with partners throughout northern Illinois.
Guests will include NIU personnel, local and regional superintendents, school district grant writers and representatives from key educational organizations as well as from government, business, industry and community agencies.
For more information, e-mail pbowman@niu.edu or call (815) 753-1403.
The NIU Philharmonic, under the direction of conductor Lucia Matos, will present its first concert of the semester at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall.
On the program are Sibelius’ “Karelia” overture, Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 5” and “Hollow Psalm, for Javanese Gamelan and Orchestra” by NIU alum David Gordon. Gordon will attend the concert; School of Music professor Brian Hart will introduce and interview Gordon during the intermission.
Gordon composed “Hollow Psalm” in 1998 for the Chicago Sinfonietta and the NIU Gamelan Ensemble. Since that time, he has revised the work extensively, producing what is essentially a brand new composition. At some points, the orchestra and gamelan flaunt their tuning differences; at other points, they manage to find common ground.
The concert, which will be
broadcast by NIU Media Services with four cameras, is free and open to the public. The auditorium is accessible to all. For more information, call (815) 753-1551 or (815) 753-1546.Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend a talk by Thailand Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya, who will visit campus next week.
The foreign minister’s talk will begin at 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 28, in Wirtz Hall 101. The post of foreign minister is equivalent to the post of secretary of state in the United States.
“He’ll be talking about continuing cooperation between Thailand and the United States in the areas of education, economics and foreign affairs,” said Deborah Pierce, associate provost of International Programs at NIU.
“The foreign minister wanted to visit NIU because he’s impressed by what we do here in Thai studies,” she added.
NIU Political Scientist Danny Unger, who specializes in Thai politics, arranged for the visit. Narong Sasitorn, Thailand’s consul-general in Chicago, will be accompanying Piromya.
Members of the Supportive Professional Staff are invited to join fellow SPS for a time of socializing, networking, good drink and tasty treats.
The event takes place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, in the Thurgood Marhsall Gallery of Swen Parson Hall.
The Friends of NIU Libraries invite the public to attend a talk titled, “The John Deere Story: Building a Frontier Business,” presented by Neil Dahlstrom at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 6.
Dahlstrom, co-author of “The John Deere Story: A Biography of Plowmakers John and Charles Deere,” will provide insight into the first 70 years of John Deere – from the “invention” of the steel plow in 1837 to becoming the largest steel plow manufacturer in the world by 1900.
The program is free and will be held in the Rare Books and Special Collections department on the fourth floor of Founders Memorial Library. Free parking is available after 7 p.m. in the Visitor’s Parking Lot located on Carroll Avenue.
For more information, call (815) 753-8091.
NIU’s public radio stations, WNIJ and WNIU, need volunteers to help answer pledge drive phone calls during the Fall Membership Campaign.
WNIJ (89.5 FM) will fundraise during various hours between Friday, Oct. 16, and Friday, Oct. 23. Weekday morning shifts start as early as 6 a.m. with Monday through Thursday evening shifts ending at 7 p.m. There are some mid-day and weekend hours to fill as well.
Classical WNIU (90.5 FM) will fundraise on just one day, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.
E-mail ddrake@niu.edu for more information about pledge drive volunteering at the Broadcast Center, 801 N. First St. in DeKalb.
The NIU Division of International Programs is seeking nominations for two awards that will be presented this fall during the annual International Recognition Reception.
The “Outstanding International Educator Award” honors an NIU faculty or staff member who has contributed significantly toward international education at the university. The Division of International Programs will recognize the award recipient with a travel reimbursement of $500.
The 2009 award recipient will have made sustained contributions to the enhancement of international education through teaching, research, public service and student-service efforts. The deadline for submitting completed nominations is Friday, Oct. 16.
The second major honor, the award for Outstanding Contribution to International Education at NIU, recognizes the academic unit or support unit that made the most significant contribution toward international education on campus during the last academic year. The deadline for submitting completed nominations is Friday, Oct. 23.
The International Recognition Reception will be held from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, in the Holmes Student Center Sky Room. Deputy Provost Harold Kafer will speak at the event.
More information on the awards and nomination forms are available online at www.niu.edu/international/ or by calling Sara Clayton at (815) 753-9526.
DeKalb’s Nehring Gallery opens its 2009-10 season with “Women in the War Effort: WWI & WWII Posters” on display through Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The exhibition is the sixth annual showing of vintage posters from the collection of John S. Wright. This year’s posters represent nine themes – WWI Posters, WWI & WWII Exhibit Introduction, Buy War Bonds, Nurses, Women in the Factory and the Farm Fields, Farm and Garden Food, Women in the U.S. Military Services, Security and German Mothers.
A reception will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, with remarks by Wright regarding his poster collection.
A Wednesday noon series of gallery talks also is scheduled:
As in the previous poster shows, a drawing will be held for a poster donated by Wright with proceeds benefitting Nehring Gallery.
The Nehring Gallery is located at 111 S. Second St. in the Nehring Center for Culture and Tourism. Beginning this season, the gallery will be open for special events and tours only or by appointment; call (815) 758-6363. Groups are welcome. The accessible entrance is located under the Nehring Gallery awning.
Nehring Gallery is operated cooperatively by the DeKalb Park District, the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts and the NIU Division of University Outreach. For further information, visit http://www.nehringgallery.org/.
Procurement Services and Human Resource Services invite faculty, staff and student organization officers to attend NIU’s fourth annual Supplier Diversity Networking Fair.
Scheduled from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 7, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center, the fair will showcase products and services from 100 businesses primarily owned and operated by minorities, females and/or persons with disabilities.
Visitors can compare and sample a wide variety of quality products and services in a low-key, non-pressure setting. They also can enjoy free breakfast, a lunch buffet, give-aways and door prizes.
To register, e-mail name and position title, department/organization and the names and titles of those attending to bep@niu.edu by Tuesday, Oct. 6. Registration also will be taken at the door.
For more information, visit www.niu.edu/procurement/bep or call (815) 753-6000.
Most active users of CICS, TSO, Wylbur or other mainframe services already know that all services related to the mainframe are being discontinued at the end of the semester.
Users of these services who either are unaware of this initiative or have not spoken with an ITS representative should contact the ITS helpdesk immediately to obtain assistance. E-mail helpdesk@niu.edu or call (815) 753-8100.
The ITS Helpdesk is offering
clues and tips that will enable faculty and staff to identify hoaxes and urban legends. Two minutes is all it takes to become informed.Phi Sigma Biology Honors Society, the Pre Professional Association and the Chemistry Club will host a blood drive from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20, in the Holmes Student Center Capital Room.
Refreshments will be provided after the donation, and every donor will receive a free pair of flannel pants.
To schedule a time to donate, contact Kate Krise at (815) 821-5688 or by e-mail at katekrise@yahoo.com. Walk-ins also are welcome.
Join NIU’s Alumni Association on a trip to France next March. This travel program combines the ambiance and culture of Paris with the history and geography of Normandy.
Whether it’s the lovely tree-lined boulevards with their animated cafes or the brilliantly illuminated monuments and squares or the exciting nightlife, Paris is inviting. The “City of Light” offers a vast array of scenic, cultural, culinary and emotional experiences.
Normandy is a distinct region on the northern coast of France famous for the D-Day landings of June 1944. Normandy also offers the beautiful French countryside with deep river valleys and forests, fine manor houses, thatched cottages and picturesque seaport villages.
The Division of International Programs will host its Fall 2009 Brown Bag Series from noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays in Faraday West, Room 300.
Attendees are invited to bring lunch and listen to speakers covering a variety of topics such as international perspectives, cultural diversity and study abroad experiences.
Upcoming lunches:
For other details, contact Heesun Majcher, director of the International Student and Faculty Office, at (815) 753-8275 or hmajcher@niu.edu.
The deadline is approaching for 2010-11 Student Fulbright Program applications.
The Fulbright U.S. Student Program offers fellowships on a competitive basis for graduating college seniors, graduate students and artists to study abroad for one academic year.
NIU students seeking more information should contact Deborah Pierce, Fulbright Program adviser and associate provost of International Programs, at (815) 753-1989 or dpierce@niu.edu. General information on the program also is available online at www.us.fulbrightonline.org.
Applications must be submitted both electronically and in hard copy to Pierce (Williston Hall 406) by Friday, Sept. 25. For the national deadline, applications must be received at the Institute of International Education (IIE) electronically by Oct. 19, and in hard copy by Oct. 21. The IIE administers and coordinates the Fulbright U.S. Student Program on behalf of the U.S. Department of State.
For more than 60 years, the federal government-sponsored Fulbright U.S. Student Program has provided future American leaders with an unparalleled opportunity to study, conduct research and teach in other countries. Fulbright student grants aim to increase mutual understanding among nations through educational and cultural exchange while serving as a catalyst for long-term leadership development.
About 1,500 grants are awarded annually. The program currently operates in more than 150 countries worldwide. Fulbright English Teaching Assistantships are now available to more than 40 countries. Fulbright full grants generally provide funding for round-trip travel, maintenance for one academic year, health and accident coverage and full or partial tuition.
Applicants must be U.S. citizens at the time of application and hold a bachelor’s degree or the equivalent by the beginning of the grant.
In the creative and performing arts, four years of professional training and/or experience meets this basic eligibility requirement. Professional applicants lacking a degree but with extensive professional study and/or experience in the field in which they wish to pursue a project may also be considered.
The NIU Foundation is calling for proposals for its annual Venture Grants, to be awarded in late fall of 2009.
Venture Grants back NIU faculty and staff in their commitment to excellence in teaching, learning and affecting positive change in the larger community.
The grant program will focus support toward the university’s strategic planning initiatives. Grantees will be selected based on their potential to advance two of the plan’s major imperatives.
Based on the strength of applications, as determined by the NIU Foundation Grants Committee, more than one proposal can receive funding. The combined budget for FY2010 is $35,000. This is for one-time, short-term (one year maximum) funding.
To be considered for FY2010 grant awards, proposals must be received in the Foundation Office, Altgeld 135, no later than Wednesday, Oct. 14. Applications and forms are available online.
All faculty and staff from units within the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, the Division of Administration and University Outreach and Intercollegiate Athletics are eligible to apply. Awards will be announced in mid-December.
For more information, contact Diane Johnson at (815) 753-9469 or via e-mail at dianejohnson@niu.edu.
All letters of nomination for the 2010 Presidential Teaching Professorships should be submitted to Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver, Office of the Provost, Altgeld Hall 220, no later than Monday, Sept. 28.
Following receipt of a letter of nomination, the selection committee will invite each nominated faculty member to prepare materials in accordance with the published procedure. Only full professors with tenure and at least six years of service at NIU are eligible for the award. The Presidential Teaching Professorships were established in 1990 to recognize those outstanding teachers who have demonstrated over time that they:
The procedure calls for a rigorous and thorough portfolio review including contacting former students. The 2010 recipients will be announced next spring.
Provost Ray Alden has called for nominations for the 2009-10 NIU Board of Trustees Professorships. Nominations are due Friday, Sept. 25.
The 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 2009-2010 awards will be made at the Faculty Awards Recognition Ceremony in April 2010. The recipients will receive a stipend of $10,000 per year that will be renewed annually during the five-year period 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 is available online. Application portfolios should be submitted electronically to the Office of the Provost, Kathleen Carey (kjahns@niu.edu).