Oct. 28, 2024

During the month of October, the following three (3) mandatory trainings for all employees will be available in Blackboard:

Each training varies in length from 45 minutes to one (1) hour. These trainings will be open from Oct. 7-31, 2024. All training must be completed by the last date of the training period prior to midnight. There will be no extensions available. Learn more about the trainings by visiting the NIU Calendar.

During the month of October, the following three (3) mandatory trainings for all employees will be available in Blackboard:

Each training varies in length from 45 minutes to one (1) hour. These trainings will be open from Oct. 7-31, 2024. All training must be completed by the last date of the training period prior to midnight. There will be no extensions available. Learn more about the trainings by visiting the NIU Calendar.

Registration opens Friday, Nov. 8 for our free, virtual Illinois Online Higher Education Symposium. NIU is proud to partner with all Illinois public universities to offer this inaugural, one-day event bringing together thought leaders and practitioners with expertise in online teaching and learning to discuss the latest trends in online learning, pedagogy and technology. Find more details and register.

Sponsored Programs Administration is pleased to announce that Data Dashboards are now available. These dashboards provide an easy-to-understand visual summary of submission and award activity since Fiscal Year 2020 broke down by year, quarter and other attributes. 

For more information, please visit our SPA NewsBlog.

The Division of Information Technology is offering IT-related application workshops in November. All monthly workshops are in virtual format over Microsoft Teams.

November’s Tuesday Tech Tips topic is “Outlook Rules.” This session is 30 minutes with allotted time to practice and to ask questions.

Do you know that you can request custom training for your team, department or division? Yes, you can! All you need to do is complete our custom workshop request form and select from a list of topics we have available to meet your department’s needs.  Please allow two to four weeks for custom workshops requests.

View our full workshop calendar.

Please direct any questions to Cindy Kozumplik, business analyst in the Division of Information Technology.

Effective Oct. 1, 2024, allowance maximums for lodging and meal per diems have been updated and should be verified through the GSA Per Diem Rates in accordance with 80 Ill. Adm. Code 3000.400, 3000.500, 3000.510 and Appendix A.  You may search for per diem rates by selecting the state and city of the travel location or by zip code.  You must also utilize the drop-down box to select the appropriate fiscal year of travel. Please note that the federal fiscal year runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30 of the subsequent year. 

Per diem on travel days is still based on time of travel using the quarter system per HETCB allowances. This information may be found here under the “Meals- Employees in Travel Status” section. When using the GSA meal per diem rate tables, please do not include the “incidental expenses” in the amounts submitted for reimbursement. The policy for day trip meal allowances for reimbursement of breakfast and/or dinner has not changed.  If you have any questions, please contact Accounts Payable Services at 815-753-1514 or email AccountsPayableSrvs@niu.edu.

A revised policy is open to review and comment for a 30-day period. This provides our NIU community the opportunity to consider and respond to the policy before it takes effect. The revised policy is:

Relocation Stipend Policy by Nov. 24.

To submit a comment, go to our Policy Library website. Click on “Comment on New/Renew Policies.” You’ll be able to review the policies and provide your comments. If you have any questions, please contact the university policy librarian at policy-library@niu.edu.

A new policy is open to review and comment for a 30-day period. This provides our NIU community the opportunity to consider and respond to the new policy before it takes effect. The new policy is:

University Vehicle Use Policy by Nov. 21.

To submit a comment, go to our Policy Library website. Click on “Comment on New/Renew Policies.” You’ll be able to review the policies and provide your comments. If you have any questions, please contact the university policy librarian at policy-library@niu.edu.

A total of 19 crowdfunding teams from across our NIU campus are raising money to help fund projects in their departments. Project initiatives include student travel, food insecurity, equipment, scholarships and so much more. Visit crowdfund.niu.edu to learn more and make you donation today.

Tip: Submit your event, lecture, training session or deadline to the NIU calendar to help inform Huskies about everything that is happening on campus. 

The month of October is closing for all financial reporting activity at noon Monday, Nov. 11, 2024. Journals not posted at that time will go into November business. Submit October journals before end of business Friday, Nov. 8. Final October reports are scheduled to be availableTuesday, Nov. 12, 2024. In addition, November reports are scheduled to be available Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024. These and other important dates can be found on the Controller's Office website.