Nov. 18, 2024

Donations are being accepted for the Huskie Food Pantry, which works to support NIU students who face food insecurity. Please donate food or household items. Items of most need to be donated include pasta, pasta sauce, condiments, spices, cleaning products, soap, shampoo and feminine products. Fresh foods such as bread, vegetables, fruit and yogurt. Frozen items such as microwaveable meals, juice, small bags of frozen fruit and vegetables. A full list of items needed by the pantry can be viewed on the Huskie Food Pantry website.

We look forward to celebrating our graduates during commencement ceremonies Saturday, Dec. 14 and Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024 at the Convocation Center.

Please consider volunteering your time at one or more events to help make these events successful for our graduates, families and guests. Volunteers are critical to creating a fun, organized and celebratory event for NIU graduates.

If you are able to help, please visit the commencement volunteer website and fill out the volunteer form by no later than Monday, Dec. 2, 2024.

Contact Cara Carlson at ccarlso2@niu.edu with questions and thank you in advance for your support of NIU graduates.

Sponsored by the Division of International Affairs, International Education Week draws attention to NIU’s increasing strides towards internationalization at NIU. International Education Week (IEW) is a joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. Their goal is to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences.

Don’t delay!  Submit your Trek Talks proposal today!

Have questions or still unsure about your submission idea? Contact NIU Foundation staff members Luke Sebby (lsebby@niu.edu) or Phil Zepeda (pzepeda@niu.edu) for guidance.

The Office of Employee Well-being is working on planning activities and events for spring 2025 and in the future. To help our office with our planning, we would like to gauge staff and faculty interest in some programming ideas we have and seek input from you on what you might like us to consider incorporating into our campus offerings. Please take a few minutes to complete this anonymous survey to express your interest and availability for several employee events and resources. This survey is open until Nov. 30, 2024. Thank you in advance for continuing to support our campus programming and allowing us to assist you in meeting your mental health needs.

Take the survey.

In preparation for the upcoming winter break, Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA) has prepared timelines for proposal and award actions to help faculty and staff plan and to ensure the highest level of support possible during this busy time. 

As with other university offices, SPA will observe the university break closure schedule.

Please see the Sponsored Programs Administration Newsblog for these timelines.

The TRISE initiative is excited to announce the awarding of five SEED grants to foster innovative educational research in the STEM fields. These grants support collaborative projects that bring together faculty and researchers across various colleges to address critical areas in STEM education and support diverse student needs.

Detailed information on each of the awarded projects can be found on our website (T-RISE SEED Grants), including descriptions and objectives.

Each of these projects is anticipated to reach completion by June 30, 2025. We look forward to seeing the contributions these research efforts will bring to STEM education and the support they will provide to diverse learning communities across disciplines.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) will host a free virtual event, the 2024 Fall NSF Virtual Grants Conference. This event is for anyone new to NSF looking to learn key insights into a wide range of current issues at NSF, and for those who are experienced and would like to catch up on the latest agency policies and information.

See our Sponsored Programs Administration Newsblog for additional information.

Please submit all approved payment requests to be processed prior to university winter break by Dec. 2, 2024, to allow sufficient processing time.  Submittal to Accounts Payable Services by this date does not guarantee receipt of payment by year end.  Some factors that may delay payment processing include missing supporting documentation; invalid approvals; insufficient funds on purchase orders; noncompliance with state and university regulations; payments requiring new vendor setup; and volume of requests.  If you have any questions, please send an email to  AccountsPayableSrvs@niu.edu or call 753-1514.  Thank you.

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:

Policy on Managing University Policies by Dec. 13.

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.

This casual lunchtime series is your chance to learn from NIU faculty about their experiences in community engaged research, teaching and collaboration.

At noon Nov. 21, don’t miss “Journey to Teach Scientific Argumentation: Lessons for Creating Mutually Beneficial Partnerships” with Professor Pi-Sui Hsu, Ph.D., NIU professor of educational technology, research and assessment, and 2024 Distinguished Engagement and Partnerships Professor.

For well over a decade, Professor Hsu has been partnering with middle school teachers and after-school educators in the U.S. and Taiwan. Her goal has been to test and improve methods for teaching scientific argumentation to middle school students, with a focus on educational technology. In this talk, Hsu will share the story of her collaborative research journey. She’ll share insights into how faculty can use fieldwork to build authentic, mutually beneficial partnerships. And she’ll answer faculty questions about their own potential collaborations.

Please join us in the HSC Illinois Room on the second floor of the Holmes Student Center. Hear Professor Hsu’s stories, ask your questions, make connections and leave with tools and inspiration to pursue your community engagement goals.

Learn more and register.

If you are a parent (18 years or older) with at least one child under 18 years of age living at home and speak English, you are invited to take part in a parenting study.                                                              

Compensation: $40 cash.

If you agree to participate in this study, in Part 1, you will be asked to provide demographic information such as gender, age, marital status, education level, ethnicity, race, primary language and number of children. 

In Part 2, you will be asked to rate pictures of child faces on different traits, evaluate children’s behaviors and describe your likelihood of using discipline and punishment for the described children’s behaviors.

In Part 3, you will be asked to view child faces paired with descriptive words (rapidly presented on the computer screen).

In Part 4, you will be asked to reevaluate the child pictures and behaviors seen in the Part 2 of the study. Finally, you will be asked questions about your general, child-related beliefs and your personality characteristics.

Estimated participation time: 45 minutes.

To set up an appointment, please call: 815-246-2362. If a research staff member is not available, please leave a voicemail with your name and telephone number. Your call will be returned as soon as possible.

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

Mark your calendars—Huskies United 2025 is this April 2-3, 2025.

The day will kick off at 4:25 p.m. on Wednesday, April 2 and continuing through April 3, for an exhilarating 1,895 minutes of giving that will sweep across our campuses and beyond. Together, we’re about to create a wave of lasting impact.

To join the excitement and create a dedicated giving page for your department, complete the 2025 Participation Form by January 10, 2025.