Academic Convocation features two faculty and student research presentations during the traditional program. This year’s selected presenters are Ms. Joan Petros and Dr. J.D. Bowers.
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Ms. Joan Petros and students from the College of Business will present on McDonald’s Environmental Footprint. Ms. Petros led a team of students from the Experiential Learning Center to conduct research and deliver insight and solutions to assist McDonald’s in reducing its environmental footprint. The team consisted of upper-level business and engineering students from a variety of majors. They focused their research on reducing landfill waste, reducing energy consumption, and improving in-store green initiatives. The actionable ideas were classified in five categories: Revitalize, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Renew. The team generated over 100 ideas to research and evaluate, and later present to over 40 McDonald’s executives. The College of Business Experiential Leaning Center (ELC) creates unique, hands-on educational experiences for teams of students who are guided by faculty coaches. The collaboration with students, staff, and McDonald’s allowed NIU students to gain experience with real world research, consulting, and management. |
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The other presentation will be given by Dr. J.D. Bowers, from the Department of History, and two students, Ms. Shay Galto and Ms. Christina Mackenzie. The three of them will discuss Genocide and Human Rights Abuses: Prevention and Education. Each spring semester Dr. Bowers teaches a course on the history of genocide and offers an additional, optional summer course in Washington D.C. that allows students to meet with government officials, foreign dignitaries, and leaders of NGOs. In 2008 several students -- Galto and Mackenzie among them -- built on these experiences and formed STAND, a student-led anti-genocide organization. In cooperation with the Genocide and Human Rights Institute, the group brings speakers to campus, raises funds for relief agencies, and works with elected officials. Two of the students will continue research as they travel to Cambodia this summer to interview children and grandchildren of genocide survivors. Meanwhile, Bowers has just returned from Cyprus, where he spent three weeks with five other students studying the history and human rights dimensions of the Cyprus conflict between the Türkish and Greek communities that has been on-going since 1955. Dr. Bowers’ collaboration with students actively encourages students to think and study globally and seek out ways to put their classroom knowledge into action throughout their local, national, and world communities. |