| Week of January 11, 2021
Contents: | | NIU Well-Being Tip: Encouraging Student Wellbeing
by Counseling and Consultation Services and Employee Assistance Program
As employees, we have all faced new challenges as we have moved through this academic year. Our students have been facing their own set of challenges, too. They have had to address feelings of grief and loss for not being able to enjoy the college life they had expected or known. Some have had to cope with losing a job, experiencing loneliness, lacking social connection, changes in living arrangements, food insecurity and other stressful uncertainties. In addition, students also face the stress of navigating social media, peer pressure, and, of course, trying to make sense of their lives during this time.
Here is what you can do to help students with their self-care: - Talk with your students and see what they are doing for their own self-care.
- Direct them to the resources that are available for them on campus. When we see they may need more support we should try to help provide them to the extra help they might need.
- Be empathic and show your understanding for the challenges they may be facing. This could be the support a student might be seeking. Simply knowing they are not alone in their thoughts, feelings and experiences can be an incredibly powerful tool.
- Normalize seeking help and support. Help students understand that it’s okay for them to ask for help and to seek assistance when they need extra support.
- Incorporate wellness and self-care into your class assignments or work environments. This can be done by checking in with students, creating assignments or extra credit opportunities around wellness, sharing articles or resources (like Mission Wellness), promoting wellness events found on the NIU Calendar, or by requesting a presentation from Student Wellness.
As we have shared from the very beginning of our articles, we are all NIU Huskies and we support one another in every aspect of our campus experiences. Don’t know where to direct your students or the services which are available? Listed below are some of our campus resources to start your search: - NIU Counseling and Consultation Service
- NIU Student Wellness
- NIU Mission Wellness
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| | Free Drive-Thru COVID-19 Testing Available at the Convocation Center
NIU, the Illinois Department of Public Health and the DeKalb County Health Department are partnering to offer our community free, drive-thru COVID-19 testing from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 11 and Tuesday, Jan. 12. Employees and students who are not in the NIU Surveillance Testing program are strongly encouraged to participate to help reduce the spread of the virus. Simple nasal swabs will be used, and participants will be called with results within 4-7 days. Testing will take place in the Convocation Center parking lot at 1525 W. Lincoln Hwy. Participants must be in cars, and should enter from Lincoln Highway.
You can schedule your test ahead of time by creating an IDPH MyChart account (click on Sign Up) and choosing the following testing location: lllinois Department of Public Health NIU Convocation Center Mobile Testing. When you sign up ahead of time, you'll also be able to receive your test results via MyChart. |
| | Resources for Teaching Remotely | Help students succeed in your class by clearly identifying assignment due dates. Provide a clear schedule of the activity and assignment due dates for your course. This could be accomplished in multiple ways, ranging from including a matrix with activity due dates in the course syllabus, creating a course quick guide with listing of due dates by week/unit/module, and/or using due dates in Blackboard activities and assignments so that they are listed in students’ Blackboard course calendar and activity stream.
You can also post expectations and course policies in your syllabus and in your online course. Let students know what is expected of them and how they can meet those expectations. It’s important to add these to your syllabus, but students will appreciate being reminded of the expectation within the course. Consider adding discussion etiquette guidelines to discussion forums or being specific about attendance requirements before a virtual class meeting. |
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| What advice would you give to students currently attending NIU?
“I would urge students to be curious, to immerse themselves in the opportunities that a university provides. Be open to learning new things and following the interests that develop from those experiences.” Sean Farrell Professor, Department of History |
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| | Applaud a colleague is a show of appreciation for those co-workers who go above and beyond. These are just a few of the employees throughout the university that go the extra mile:
• Robin Kenney
• Lizabeth Román
• David Rapp
• Christine Holloway
• Ken George and Physical Plant Group
• Brian Murphy
• Fall 2020 UNIV Educators
• Mary Kay Soesbe and Jamie Colbert
• Kevin Lam
• Karyn Smith |
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| Read recent applause and take the time to applaud a colleague for a job well done > |
| Upcoming Events
Please check the calendar for more information and for online-only events as they become available!
• Monday, Jan. 11 and Tuesday, Jan. 12: Free Temporary Drive-thru COVID-19 Testing Sites in DeKalb County
• Tuesday, Jan. 12: Men's Basketball vs Akron
• Wednesday, Jan. 13: Women's Basketball vs Central Michigan
• Wednesday, Jan. 13: STEM Café: Into the Nanoworld: Enabling Technologies of the Future
• Thursday, Jan. 14: SPS Council Meeting (Virtual)
• Thursday, Jan. 14: Ask an Expert: The January 6 Insurrection, Constitutional Processes, and the Peaceful Transition of Power
• Friday, Jan. 15: Dr. Mark Schuller's Book Launch; Humanity's Last Stand: Confronting Global Catastrophe
• Wednesday, Jan. 20: Esports Career Lecture: Sam Heckman, Former Pro Magic the Gathering Player
• Through Friday, Feb. 26: From the Mind of Ellen Roth Deutsch
• Through Friday, Feb. 26: Mirth and Mayhem: Landis Blair Selections of Drawings and Books |
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| Notices
Time to Update Email Signatures
With the close of 2020, it is time to replace the 125th anniversary logo in your email signature. It’s a good time to make sure your contact information is accurate and formatted per the university’s brand specifications. Instructions are available on the Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications website. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact marcomm@niu.edu.
Become a UNIV Educator
The Orientation and First Year Programs office is now accepting UNIV Educator applications. Please apply no later than Jan. 22, 2021. If you have any questions, contact Orientation and First Year Programs at orientation@niu.edu.
Mileage Reimbursement Rate Decrease Jan. 1, 2021Effective Jan. 1, 2021, the mileage reimbursement rate for employees using private passenger vehicles for university business decreased from 57.5 cents per mile to 56 cents per mile. The Travel Voucher form located on the Accounts Payable webpage, has been updated to reflect the new rate. Please use the updated form for any travel occurring on or after 01/01/2021.
• Rate per mile for travel that occurred through Dec. 31, 2020 – 57.5 cents • Rate per mile for travel that occurs on or after Jan. 1, 2021 – 56 cents
Please share this message with those in your department who engage in university business travel and those who process travel reimbursement requests.
For questions, please contact Accounts Payable Services at AccountsPayableSrvs@niu.edu.
Do Not Discard Expired or Expiring Unused Airline Tickets
Do not discard expired or expiring unused airline tickets. You may still be able to use them as airlines continue to extend expiration dates.
• Airline reservations must be cancelled prior to departure in order to retain the ticket’s value.
• Unused airline tickets generally must be used by the original traveler.
Most U.S. airline carriers have also eliminated change fees for domestic and some short haul international flights. There are restrictions, and each carrier is different, so review your carrier’s guidelines. Links to the major U.S. carriers are below:
• American Airlines
• Delta Airlines
• Southwest Airlines
• United Airlines
For questions, please contact Accounts Payable Services at AccountsPayableSrvs@niu.edu.
Reminder about account access for separated employees
Human Resource Services would like to remind supervisors and employees that when an employee has an end date on their employment record and/or separates from the university, their NIU account ID is disabled immediately following the date of separation from NIU and all permissions and authorizations are removed. Access to MyNIU HR Self Service remains for 60 days to allow the separated employee to view and download their final pay advice. After 60 days, the separated employee’s O365 email account will enter Microsoft’s deletion process. Please speak with your local IT support or email ServiceDesk@niu.edu for more information. This information is available on the Departure Checklist page of the Manager Toolkit.
Ice Rink at the Rec Center
The NIU Outdoor Adventures crew set up an ice rink on the east side of the Rec Center along Annie Glidden Road. The rink is not supervised and is open daily, weather pending, from sunrise to 10 p.m. when the light shuts off. Skate at your own risk. A variety of adult and child-size winter outdoor recreation equipment including ice skates, snowshoes, cross-country skis and snowboards are available for rent at the Adventure Center on Mondays and Thursdays between 3 and 6 p.m. or by emailing for an appointment. For more information, please visit go.niu.edu/ice or email outdooradventure@niu.edu. Be sure to also check out the Outdoor Adventure schedule of over 50 safe and fun activities and events offered this spring.
Personal Training Sessions now available at discounted rate Personal Training sessions are now available at a discounted rate! Start your year with a new workout routine. Sessions are available in-person or virtual. Visit go.niu.edu/PT for more information. Contact lkulchawik@niu.edu with questions.
Policy Library update – Two revised policies
Two revised policies have been posted on the Policy Library website and are open to review and comment for a 30-day period. This provides the NIU community the opportunity to consider and respond to the revised policies before they take effect. The revised policies are: 1. Tuition and Fee Wavier Policy. 2. Policy on Managing University Policies.
To submit a comment, go to the Policy Library. The revised policies will appear at the center of the screen. Click on “Comment on New/Renew Policies.” You’ll be asked to sign into SharePoint. All comments are due by Friday, Jan. 29. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Hunt, university policy librarian, at rhunt@niu.edu.
Go Paperless! Elect to Receive your 2020 W-2 Electronically. The Payroll office will process and mail calendar year 2020 W-2s by the Internal Revenue Service’s deadline of Feb. 1, 2021. These tax forms are required to be mailed to an employee’s home address unless the employee elects and consents to receiving the form electronically. When you opt to receive your W-2 form electronically, you will have convenient, secure access to your tax information as soon as it has been produced instead of waiting for the forms to arrive in the mail. The deadline to elect and consent to receiving your 2020 W-2 electronically is Friday, Jan. 8, 2021. Learn more about requesting your W-2 electronically.
Register for music lessons and classes at the NIU Community School of the Arts
Spring 2021 registration at the NIU Community School of the Arts is now open!
Our teachers and advisors include talented NIU faculty members and NIU School of Music students, as well as professional musicians and educators based in the community.
Learn to play a new musical instrument or brush up skills by taking private music lessons — register for music lessons online or in person and begin the week of Jan. 18.
Guitar and piano group classes for adults and for kids make learning to play an instrument more fun! Register now for online music classes starting in January.
CSA Sinfonia and Symphonette ensembles for musicians ages eight to 20 will hold rehearsals in spring — register today or call for more information.
As a member of the National Guild for Community Arts Education, we work to make high-quality arts education accessible to all. We offer private and group instruction in music and we are an outreach program of the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts.
Call for more information at 815-753-1450 and visit the NIU Community School website for complete details and to register.
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| Deadlines
Financial Month End Close
The month of December is closing for all financial reporting activity at noon Monday, Jan. 11, 2021. Journals not posted at that time will go into January business. Final December reports are scheduled to be available Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. In addition, January reports are scheduled to be available Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021. These dates, and other important dates related to the Controller’s Office can be found on the FMS Reports Calendar.
Friday, Jan. 15, 2021: DEADLINE EXTENDED: Nomination Deadline for 2021 Outstanding Women and Gender Advocacy Student Award
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021: DEADLINE EXTENEDED: Supportive Professional Staff Awards Nomination Deadline
Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021: DEADLINE EXTENDED: Nomination Deadline for the Presidential Supportive Professional Staff Award for Excellence
Friday, Feb. 5, 2021: 2021 Operating Staff Outstanding Service Awards Nomination Deadline |
| Celebrating our amazing history
America’s most enduring institutions are those created to meet specific needs and allowed to evolve as those needs change. Such is the story of Northern Illinois University, which this year celebrates its 125th anniversary. |
Featured Key Moment
Board enlarges campus with purchase of far-west land (1997)
NIU’s new Board of Trustees wasted no time making its presence felt in Springfield as well as DeKalb.
One of the board’s first major actions was a move recommended by President John La Tourette and Senior Vice President for Finance Eddie Williams: get permission to do public-private land deals, and expand the campus in the only possible direction – to the west. Learn more about the purchase of Far West Campus > |
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| This message has been approved for distribution by the appropriate NIU party and is distributed by the Division of Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications. NIU Mass E-Mail Policy |
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|  Northern Illinois University's vision is to be an engine for innovation to advance social mobility; promote personal, professional and intellectual growth; and transform the world through research, artistry, teaching and outreach.
Learn more about NIU’s vision, mission and values.
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