Sept. 22, 2025

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

Volunteers are still needed to assist with the Homecoming Block Party on Thursday, Oct. 2. If you would like to volunteer to help with this event, you should communicate with your supervisor about release time or flexible hours. With supervisor approval, and assurance that appropriate coverage is maintained for the unit/department, all employees are encouraged to volunteer and participate in Homecoming week activities. We hope you'll help us welcome Huskies back to DeKalb for our 118th Homecoming. 

Sponsored by The Law Office of Doyle and James, LLC, this tasting event at Jonamac Orchard features live music and lots of #HuskiePride.  Registration is now open.

While this event is for Huskies who are 21 and over, Jonamac Orchard also provides fun activities for people of all ages, including apple picking and a corn maze.  Visit Jonamac Orchard's website to learn more about all the fun activities for Huskies of all ages.

All Huskies fans are welcome to join us for an evening of sweet treats, hot drinks, fun festivities and #HuskiePride at the MLK Commons, between the Holmes Student Center and Founders Memorial Library. There will be music, yard games, glow-in-the-dark activities, fire pits and more. There’s no better way to get fired up for Saturday’s Homecoming football game!

This event is presented by State Farm Agent Scott Zeimet.

Nominations for the 2026 Board of Trustees and Presidential Professorships are now being accepted. Please consider nominating a colleague for one of these prestigious awards. 

More information about each award and the criteria and procedure for nomination is available by visiting the links below.

All professorships share the same nomination deadline of Monday, October 6, 2025, followed by a Monday, November 10, 2025 deadline for full application materials. Note starting this year, persons who have been nominated and submitted the materials above within the last three years will automatically be considered in the current year’s competition. These candidates will be contacted and given the opportunity to update materials for their application.

The Office of the President seeks to identify a member of the Supportive Professional Staff or Operating Staff interested in serving a year-long professional development fellowship. The Office of the President Staff Fellow will be assigned special projects needed to carry out the functions of the Office of the President and will be afforded professional development opportunities. The fellow will be appointed for the 2026 calendar year and will report to the university’s chief strategy officer. Learn more about the President Staff Fellow Program, including how to apply. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, Sept. 30.

Effective immediately, Human Resource Services (HRS) is streamlining how departments report faculty and Supportive Professional Staff resignations and retirements.

What’s Changing: Departments will now use the Employment Separation Form in Kuali Build instead of submitting a vacate request in PeopleAdmin.  When you receive a resignation or retirement letter, complete the online form and attach the letter as documentation.

Benefits: This change enables faster communication with departing employees, immediate supervisor notification and more efficient processing across HR units. The vacate will be automatically processed in PeopleAdmin when the position is updated in the HR system.

Note: Civil Service employees currently resign directly with HR using the Employment Separation Form. This process remains the same, but the form has been transferred to Kuali and combined with the faculty/SPS form for streamlined reporting of all employee separations.

Questions? Contact HumanResources@niu.edu.

This communication is being sent to Department Heads and Business Managers.  Please forward to anyone in your units that processes vacates in PeopleAdmin.

The Department of Philosophy is calling for applications to their open Office Administrator position. To apply, visit: https://employment.niu.edu/postings/86523.  The closing date is October 1, 2025.

The department of Philosphy offers both an undergraduate program and a nationally ranked terminal Master’s program. The department has seven tenured faculty members, several instructors, 25-30 graduate students and numerous undergraduate students. The department provides general education courses to many NIU undergraduate students. This position is fully accountable for the administration of all office support functions necessary to sustain the mission of the Department of Philosophy.

Sept. 25 is Research Administration Day, a chance to recognize the many people who work behind the scenes to make research happen at NIU.

We especially want to thank our research administrators, along with staff across the university who support faculty, students and colleagues throughout the research process. By helping projects get off the ground, keeping things running smoothly and turning today’s ideas into tomorrow’s innovations, their efforts facilitate the success of research across campus to improve our lives.

If an administrator has made a difference to your project, whether from RIPS, your department, college or other unit, we invite you to share a note of appreciation. Please go to our Appreciation Kudos Board to post your message.

Thank you for helping us celebrate the people who keep research moving forward at NIU.

Thanks for Helping Make Move-In a Success!

NIU Housing would like to send an extended thank you and recognize the NIU organizations, staff, and all our volunteers who came together to support our residents during move-in. Your dedication and teamwork exemplified tremendous Huskie Pride and helped make move in a success! Visti NIU Housing on Facebook  to learn more about this year's move-in and to  view a complete list of organizations that helped welcome Huskies to campus.

 Have you been considering changing a few nutrition habits and you’re looking for guidance? Do you know what to do, but need accountability to get there? NIU Recreation has you covered. Meet with one of our nutrition coaches to learn eating strategies for your nutrition challenge. Whether you want to lose weight, get stronger at the gym, improve a health marker or build a better relationship with food, we’re here to help. Sign up for a one-time fee of only $89 and meet with a nutrition coach through the fall semester. Better yet, bundle with six personal training sessions for only $205.

Northern Illinois University will host its annual flu clinic from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in the Holmes Student Center Ballroom.

Please note: COVID-19 and High-Dose flu vaccines will not be available at this clinic.

Appointments are required. Visit the Flu Vaccine Clinic Information and Instructions page to schedule your appointment and download the required Client Consent Form. Go to: Flu Vaccine Clinic Information and Instructions.

To reschedule or cancel, use the “Reschedule” button in your confirmation email.

For questions about vaccine eligibility or insurance coverage, contact the DeKalb County Health Department at 815-758-6673.

For assistance with booking or event details, contact NIU Employee Well-being at 815-753-9191 or email ksmith12@niu.edu.

Do you take care of yourself with regular exercise? Maybe you take a walk with a friend or ride a bike? Now, it is time to exercise your mind by learning a new skill or refreshing a skill that you have not used in a while. The Division of Information Technology (DoIT) has multiple workshops for you to enhance those skills. DoIT offers workshops in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, SharePoint, Teams, OneNote, Planner and Outlook. This semester there are two new workshops in Adobe and time management. All workshops are virtual over Teams and usually are one hour in format. DoIT also offers custom workshops for groups or departments; you select the topic and the format.

Check out our full workshop schedule. Please direct questions to Cindy Kozumplik, business analyst in the Division of Information Technology.

The Illinois Innovation Network (IIN) is a statewide network that advances research, public-private partnerships, and entrepreneurship to support innovation and economic development in Illinois. The Sustainability and Social Innovation Research Conference, taking place on Thursday, Sept. 25 and Friday, Sept. 26,  will provide a forum for NIU faculty and students to discuss their work on projects that are important to the future of Illinois and learn about research conducted by university faculty and collaborators from around the state. Topics will include climate resilience, food systems, advances in infrastructure and technology, equitable planning, ecosystem restoration, and social innovation to advance education and economic development.

WNIJ News invites you to “Public Radio 101.” Attend this free workshop to learn about news reporting and production, as well as the spirit that drives good journalism. No previous experience required.

Join us on Tuesday, Sept. 30 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the NIU Broadcast Center, 801 N. First Street, DeKalb.

We'll cover:

Students who complete this workshop will learn about additional volunteer and internship opportunities at WNIJ.

RSVP to WNIJ news director Jenna Dooley at jdooley@niu.edu with "Public Radio 101" in the subject line.

More info on the Northern Public Radio website.

The Office of Research Development is excited to announce the launch of the Faculty Grant Writing Group this fall, meeting at the 71N Partnership Studio Garage from 10 a.m. to noon every Thursday starting Sept. 18.

The Faculty Grant Writing Group is open to all NIU faculty and will provide participants with quiet, dedicated time and space to work on writing for external funding pursuits. ORD research development specialists will be available during sessions to support your grant writing as needed. An adjacent room is available for ORD consultation and faculty collaboration.

Sessions are drop-in friendly. Coffee and tea will be provided. Add the meetings to your calendar by visiting the event page. With any questions, please contact ord@niu.edu.

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 September is closing for all financial reporting activity at noon Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. Journals not posted at that time will go into October business. Submit September journals before end of business Wednesday, Oct. 8. Final September reports are scheduled to be available Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. In addition, October reports are scheduled to be available Monday, Oct. 13, 2025. These and other important dates can be found on the Controller's Office website.