Nov. 25, 2024

Human Resource Services (HRS) reminds the campus to be mindful of the winter holiday closures and how those dates might impact recruitment. Hiring Officials are encouraged to be vigilant when setting close dates, and are recommended to schedule them at least two weeks before and one week after the New Year’s holiday closure to accommodate the schedules of search committees and the Talent Acquisition team’s assessment/referral process. HRS recommends closing dates after Jan. 2, 2025 for all searches posted after on or after December 13, 2024. If you have any questions, please reach out to TalentAcquisitionHRS@niu.edu. 

Effective Jan. 1, 2025, the minimum wage in Illinois will increase to $15.00 as authorized by Public Act 101-1. As a result, Human Resource Services (HRS) will run a program that will convert the pay rates for any hourly employees who are paid less than $15.00 an hour to the new minimum of $15.00 effective January 1.  Accordingly, units will need to adjust resource allocations in cost centers to support the new minimum wage. No additional resources will be provided to fund the increases. Please note that this change occurs in the middle of our fiscal year, so it will be necessary to account for future changes in the budgeting process that may occur in the spring at NIU. While it is not necessary to submit requests to change pay rates for those employees to be raised to the new minimum, if your department has adjustments that need to be made outside of this process for students and extra-help employees, HRS would appreciate receiving the paperwork by Dec. 13, 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.

Nominations are now open for this year’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (EUTA) and Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction (EUIA) awards. These longstanding annual awards recognize outstanding individuals who positively impact NIU’s student learning experience. The EUTA is available to tenured and tenure-track faculty. The EUIA is available to non-tenure track instructors.

Nominations are due to departments Friday, Dec. 13. Departments will select nominees and send materials to colleges for review and, ultimately, submission to the Committee for the Improvement of the Undergraduate Academic Experience by Friday, Jan. 31, 2025 for final selections. Nominees may not participate in the selection process.

Nominate someone for EUTA recognition.
Nominate someone for EUIA recognition.

We are excited to invite you to be a part of an incredible opportunity to shape and inspire our next generation of leaders at Northern Illinois University. Our Huskie Leadership Academy, hosted by Student Involvement, is a dynamic seminar series designed to introduce first-year students to key leadership concepts that they can apply in their personal, academic and community lives.

The academy runs Jan. 29 through March 5, with sessions from 4 to 6 p.m. every Wednesday. Each week, we will explore different facets of leadership such as personal growth, community engagement and driving positive change here at NIU.

We would be honored to have you share your expertise by leading a session on a leadership topic of your choice. Whether it’s a specific area of leadership you’re passionate about or a unique perspective you’d like to offer, your insight would be invaluable in helping our students grow as future leaders.

To submit a proposal for your session, please complete this brief form.

Thank you for considering this exciting opportunity to inspire and mentor our emerging leaders. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

Looking for a way to support Founders Memorial Library while giving a unique gift to give this holiday season?Considering purchasing our 2025 Nickels and Dimes or 2025 Michael Day Campus Wildlife calendars that are for sale on the University Libraries website.

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.

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:

Change or Closure of University Operations Pay and Benefit Policy by Dec. 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.

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. 

The month of November is closing for all financial reporting activity at noon Monday, Dec. 9. Journals not posted at that time will go into December business. Submit November journals before end of business Friday, Dec. 6.  Final November reports are scheduled to be available Tuesday, Dec. 10. In addition, December reports are scheduled to be available Wednesday, Dec. 11. These dates and other important dates related to the Controller’s Office can be found on the NIU Controller’s Office Calendars and Important Dates webpage.

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.

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.