Aug. 11, 2025

We're excited to welcome Huskies home for our 118th Homecoming celebration happening the week of Sept. 28 - Oct. 5, 2025..

Calling all Huskies! Help us kick off Homecoming from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29 in the MLK Commons.

Come celebrate with the NIU Marching Band, our 2025 Homecoming Court and the winners of the student organization Paint the Windows Contest. You can also purchase your 2025 Pride with Purpose shirt and make a donation to the Huskie Food Pantry.

 As we gear up for another exciting academic year at Northern Illinois University, we’re thrilled to welcome our faculty back to campus. This fall, we’re kicking off the semester with a series of events designed to reconnect, recharge and refocus our community.

Whether you're looking to engage in professional development, attend important administrative meetings or catch up with colleagues at social gatherings, there’s something for everyone.

Check out some of the featured events here and visit this NIU Calendar channel to view all events scheduled for Faculty Welcome Back. Please share this with faculty in your area.

We look forward to a vibrant and successful semester together.

Week of Welcome is packed with energy, connection and NIU pride—and you can be part of the experience! Volunteers help set the tone for new students by supporting fun, engaging events like the Color Run, Jewel Jamboree and our brand-new Pajama Party. Whether you're hyping up the crowd, helping with setup or welcoming students, your presence makes a difference. It's a great way to meet colleagues and kick off the year. Sign up to support WOW events.

The City of DeKalb project to convert the Lucinda Avenue and Normal Road intersection to a roundabout is nearing completion after 13 weeks.  Curb work was finished last week, and crews are set to begin asphalt paving during the middle of this week, depending on weather conditions.  The City expects to open the road and roundabout to traffic by Thursday, August 21, weather permitting. Learn more about the project and its progress by visiting the NIU Construction and Project Update website: go.niu.edu/campus-project-updates.

Applications are now being accepted for NIU Impact, the NIU Foundation's crowdfunding platform with which students, faculty, staff members and researchers can raise money to turn their great ideas into reality. Since its inception in 2021, NIU Impact has helped raise over $450,000 from more than 3,300 total gifts.

Fall crowdfunding campaigns run Oct. 9 through Nov. 6. Please apply by midnight, Sept. 18. To submit your crowdfunding application, or to register for one of our informational webinars, visit the NIU Foundation crowdfunding page.

Questions? Contact Cody Carter, ccarter1@niu.edu .

Please join us via Zoom at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19 as Karen E. Samonds, the 2025 David W. Raymond Award recipient, will present “Enhancing Student Learning with Virtual Anatomy Resources.”

Samonds is a professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at NIU. Her research integrates comparative anatomy, systematics and biogeography with field paleontology to address topics in vertebrate evolution.

NIU Libraries has updated the search bar on our website to make it easier for you to find and request articles, books, e-books and more.

What’s New 

The new design replaces multiple tabs and dropdown menus with three streamlined options: 

Need help getting started? 

Check out our guide to learn how to use the new search bar and get the most out of your results. 

Why the Change? 

This update is based on best practices in library website design, usability research on how people use our NIU Libraries website and a review of how other university libraries design their search tools. Our goal is to make searching faster, easier and more intuitive for everyone at NIU. 

We know change can take some getting used to, but we’re confident this new design will improve your experience. A big thank-you to the NIU Libraries Discovery Task Force and Website Committee for their thoughtful work on this project. 

Parking Lot 3, south of the Music Building, will be temporarily closed for repaving Friday, Aug. 15, weather permitting. The parking lot is expected to reopen for full usage Monday, Aug. 18. While this lot is closed, please find alternative appropriate parking in nearby parking lots.

If you have any questions, please contact Parking Services at parking@niu.edu or 815-753-1045.

Beginning September 2, the university will reactivate the convenience fee for all credit card payments used to pay for tuition and fees. The fee will be 2.85% or a minimum of $3 per transaction.

We encourage students with an outstanding balance to plan ahead if using a credit card, to avoid the convenience fee that will be assessed starting Sept. 2, 2025. 

As a reminder, ACH/eCheck payments remain free of charge and are a great alternative for avoiding fees.

The university’s enhanced payment platform offers a more convenient and user-friendly experience for students and families. Features include the ability to securely save payment methods, receive automatic receipts via email, get payment notifications, and more tools to simplify managing your student account payments.

Payment Options:

For questions, please contact the Bursar’s Office.

Parking permits for the 2025-2026 academic year are available for purchase. 2024-2025 permits expire Aug. 15, 2025. Annual permits for the 2025-2026 academic year will be valid until Aug. 15, 2026.

The parking permits are virtual; you will not get a hangtag or sticker for your vehicle. Your license plate will act as your parking permit. You have the option to add another vehicle to their permit, with a maximum of two vehicles allowed. At no time are the primary and secondary vehicles allowed to be parked on campus at the same time under the same virtual permit.

You can obtain your new virtual permit online.  

For those only needing temporary parking, there are short-term parking options available. Short-term permits can be purchased online and options include daily weekly and monthly permits. Short term parking is also available at the visitor pay lot and through the AMP Park mobile app in lots throughout campus. A map of campus parking options is available online.

Parking Services offers several payment options:

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Parking Services at 815-753-1045 or at parking@niu.edu.                                     

The university has announced openings for two Office Administrator positions. These opportunities are being advertised to current NIU employees.

As the gatekeeper to the football program’s day-to-day operations & student athlete development needs, this position requires knowledge of the game of football, compliance with NCAA, conference, and institutional requirements, and experience working with Collegiate Student Athletes support.

This position is responsible for promoting the program in any way possible and overseeing administrative operations including; communication with internal and external constituents, student athlete and staff scheduling, summer football high school camps, coordinating all aspects of team travel, setting up team community service and team bonding events, logistically planning all team meals, coordinating communication with alumni & donors, and performing other related duties as assigned.

This position is open to current NIU employees. 

To apply, please do so online here:  https://employment.niu.edu/postings/84766. The priority review date for applicants is 8/22.

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. 

Financial Month End Close

The month of July is closing for all financial reporting activity at noon Monday, Aug. 11, 2025. Journals not posted at that time will go into August business. Submit July journals before end of business Friday, Aug. 8. Final July reports are scheduled to be available Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025. In addition, August reports are scheduled to be available Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2025. These and other important dates can be found on the Controller's Office website.