March 2, 2026

This semester, Student Wellness is rolling out a new training option for faculty and staff called Mental Health First Aid (MHFA). MHFA is an evidence-based skills-focused training that teaches teams how to recognize the signs of mental health and substance use challenges. You will learn how to offer support and connect someone with the help they need. MHFA gives you and your team the tools to step up with confidence when someone is struggling. During your training, you’ll increase your knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental health and substance use challenges and after your training, you’ll feel more confident talking about mental health and substance use.

Due to higher than anticipated interest, two additional workshops have been added, broken up into two parts:

The Office of the President seeks nominations for individuals to serve on the Presidential Commissions. The NIU Presidential Commissions serve as advisory groups to the president of the university and were created to help foster an inclusive environment for the NIU campus and community.  Through collaborative efforts and research, the commissions provide advice and/or recommendations to the president that foster a sense of belonging and increase opportunities for all members of the Huskie community to flourish. Accordingly, we seek nominations for individuals with interests, experiences, or expertise related to the commissions’ work to enrich their efforts and ensure that their recommendations reflect the diverse viewpoints of the NIU community. Please note, the commission requires one 1.5-2-hour meeting per month during the academic year, and the ability to volunteer for additional subcommittees.

To nominate someone or self-nominate, please complete the online application which seeks general information and a brief statement of interest by Friday, March 20, 2026 The Commission review panel will evaluate all nominations, and the nominees will receive an email notification of their acceptance by May 15, 2026. If you have any questions, please contact Liz Wright at ewright1@niu.edu.  

NIU Presidential Commission Application

Explore the Presidential Advisory Groups website for more details and insights into the commissions.  

The Digital Accessibility Steering Committee is excited to announce the launch of a new initiative aimed at continuing to develop digital content that is accessible to all individuals. As part of our ongoing commitment to faculty and staff development and student success, we invite you to self-nominate as an Accessibility Ambassador who will provide technical guidance to fellow faculty and staff members.

This new program will run from May 2026 to May 2027, and aims to build a vibrant community of peer support at NIU and offers a unique opportunity to contribute to our university's commitment to digital accessibility, equity and inclusion while gaining professional recognition and development. We anticipate a time commitment of one to three hours per week.  

Please see our website to learn more information. Please submit your self-nomination by Monday, March 16.

The Presidential Commission on Well-being is pleased to announce its call for submissions for the Well-being in Action Award. This award recognizes employees (faculty, staff and graduate assistants) that have demonstrated exceptional commitment to fostering a culture of well-being on our campus. The honoree will be recognized at the Joint Presidential Commissions Awards Ceremony Thursday, April 30, 2026.

Submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. CDT Monday, March 30, 2026. Submit your nomination.

We will soon implement a new system, Simple Journal, designed to provide an alternative and more efficient method for submitting journal entries.

Training sessions are now available and are strongly recommended prior to using this new system. These sessions include a comprehensive, step-by-step walkthrough of the entry and submission process, along with time for questions throughout.

Register for training today.

The Office of Research Development invites faculty to Drop-in Writing Time. We will host two weekly sessions throughthe week of April 20.

Virtual: Wednesdays from 9 to 11 a.m. on Teams.

In person: Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon at 71 North Partnership Studio Garage.

Drop-in Writing Time is open to all NIU faculty and provides participants with dedicated time to work independently on writing for external funding pursuits and/or advancing research, scholarship or artistry. ORD Research Development Specialists will be available during sessions to support grant writing as needed. An adjacent room is available for ORD consultation and faculty collaboration for in-person sessions, and breakout rooms are available for virtual sessions.

Download these events to your calendar using the link for virtual sessions and for
in-person sessions. With any questions, or to sign up for communications about these events, please email Sadie Schaus (sschaus@niu.edu).

Program staff at the National Endowment for the Humanities will provide a virtual funding opportunity update beginning at 1 p.m. EST/noon CST/11 a.m. MST/10 a.m. PST. Thursday, March 5.

Julia Nguyen, senior program officer in the Division of Lifelong Learning, and Daniel Sack, deputy director of the Division of Research, will share information about current grant opportunities, deadlines and application requirements, and offer suggestions for writing an application. 

Register and receive the Zoom link for this one-hour, online event. 

This update will focus on individual grant programs with the application deadline April 8, 2026: 

It also will feature information about the education and media grant programs with the application deadline June 25, 2026: 

The virtual update is presented by NEH in partnership with Fostering Opportunities Through Collaborative University Synergies (FOCUS). FOCUS is a collaboration among research development professionals at Montana State University; University of Idaho; University of Nebraska-Lincoln; University of Nevada, Reno; and Utah State University. 

Please send questions about the March 5 update to unlrd@unl.edu. 

Join us for NIU Cares Day of Service March 27, 2026

NIU Cares brings together NIU students, faculty, staff and alumni to serve and support the DeKalb community for our annual day of service Friday, March 27, 2026.

The day kicks off at 11 a.m. in the Ellington Ballroom, Holmes Student Center where you will meet your service team, enjoy a complimentary lunch, get free Cares Day merch and learn about your service project. Then, from 1 to 3 p.m., you'll take part in your service project. Transportation will be provided to your assigned location and back to Holmes Student Center once you’re done.

Participants engage in a variety of service projects, such as:

It’s a day dedicated to service, engagement and Huskie pride, reinforcing NIU’s commitment to making a positive impact. Sign up today. The deadline to register is March 9.

The NIH Basic Instrumentation Grant (BIG) Program (S10; Clinical Trial Not Allowed), supports the acquisition of state-of-the-art scientific instruments that are essential for advancing modern biomedical research. For full details of this opportunity, please see the NIH BIG NOFO. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) limits the number of proposals an institution can submit to this funding opportunity to one application per institution. The Office of Research Development (ORD) will manage an internal selection process to identify which proposals will be fully developed into proposals to the NIH Basic Instrumentation Grant (BIG) funding opportunity. Information for internal submission is available on the InfoReady/NIH BIG portal.

NEA Grants for the Arts

The NEA announced new guidelines for the Grants for Arts Program on Feb. 19, 2026. The institutional limit has been removed and the internal competition on InfoReady has been taken down. For proposal development support, please email your RDS or fill out a Research Development Consultation Request.

Reminder: All current limited submission funding opportunities are listed on the ORD InfoReady internal competition portal. 

NIU’s Campus Climate Survey is open until March 6, 2026. The survey, which was sent to your NIU email address, will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Please note that your email address will not be linked to your responses. By partnering with Viewfinder to collect survey data on our behalf, we’re able to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of responses. Each employee has received a unique survey link tied to their NIU email address.

The survey includes sensitive topics related to individual identities, discrimination, sexual harassment and the overall campus experience. These topics may bring about different emotions, and there are several university resources available to support you before, during or after taking the survey. 

Resources for Employees: 

If you have questions, please reach out to JadeSilva Tovar, Assistant Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at equity@niu.edu. Further information can be found online. 

PCORE announces its call for nominations for the 2026 Deacon Davis Awards. This award recognizes significant contributions made by students, faculty, staff, departments or organizations in advancing belonging and the campus culture related to race and ethnicity on Northern Illinois University's campus. Awards will be presented at the Joint Presidential Commissions Awards Ceremony Thursday, April 30, 2026. Learn more. 

Nominations and one additional letter of support are due on or before Monday, March 23, 2026. Submit your nomination.

The PCPD invites nominations for the Exemplary Advocate Award for Faculty/Staff, the Exemplary Advocate Award for Community Partner, and the Gregory Long, Ph.D., Award for Excellence in Service and Leadership. Please see the Presidential Commissions Award site for more information and to access the nomination form. Nominations are being accepted through Monday, March 2, 2026.

Submit a clever, lightweight and creative idea for something we can attach to our weather balloon (to be launched April 26, 2026) such as a meaningful symbol, unique object or cool experiment that represents our university spirit without adding too much weight (less than 6 ounces which is a standard hockey puck).

Last year's winner was Steve D., for his suggestion of "space radishes," a packet of radish seeds that were planted in the NIU community garden after the weather balloon was recovered, simultaneously representing NIU's commitments to sustainability (community gardens/edible campus) and innovation (sending the seeds to edge of space). We look forward to seeing what new and unique ideas the Huskie community comes up with.

The deadline is March 26, 2026. The winner will be notified by email and receive $100 in cash. This event is hosted by Proxima Centauri Alpha, an honorary STEM society recognized by NIU. All NIU staff and students are invited to participate.

Submit your idea today.

Applaud a Colleague is a show of appreciation for those coworkers who go above and beyond. These are just a few of the employees throughout the university that go the extra mile:

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 February is closing for all financial reporting activity at noon Monday, March 9, 2026. Journals not posted at that time will go into March business. Submit February journals before end of business Friday, March 6. Final February reports are scheduled to be available Tuesday March 10, 2026. In addition, March reports are scheduled to be available Wednesday, March 11, 2026. These and other important dates can be found on the Controller's Office website.