President's Office seeks applications for President Staff Fellow Program.
The Office of the President seeks to identify a member of the Supportive Professional Staff or Operating Staff interested in serving a year-long, full-time 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 2023 calendar year and will report to the president’s chief of staff. Learn more about the President Staff Fellow Program, including how to apply. The deadline for applications is Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2022.
Faculty Senate seeks Faculty Personnel Advisor.
Faculty Senate is seeking a faculty personnel advisor to serve a three-year term, consisting of the remainder of 2022-23, as well as all of 2023-24 and 2024-25.
The faculty personnel advisor’s role includes such activities as the following:
- Advise faculty members about the personnel policies and procedures within the university and the courses of action open to them.
- Advise and assist faculty members who are experiencing difficulties with the
personnel process.
- Advise and assist faculty members dissatisfied with personnel decisions.
- Observe the workings of the personnel process and recommend needed changes or clarification.
- Advise faculty members pursuing the resolution of other concerns or issues.
For additional information, including a summary of anticipated workload, see former FPA Steven Howell’s 2021-22 Summary of Service.
The advisor must be a full-time faculty member, have experience with the personnel process at various levels and be familiar with the administrative structure and operations of the university. The advisor shall receive an annual stipend equal to one month of the median salary of all tenured professors. For a more detailed description of the faculty personnel advisor role, see Faculty Senate Bylaws, Article 13.
Interested faculty members should send a letter of self-nomination describing their interest and qualifications to Ismael Montana, president of the Faculty Senate, montana@niu.edu, by Friday, Oct. 7. Questions should be directed to Ismael Montana at montana@niu.edu.
Travel Reimbursement training available.
As per the announcement in May 2022, Accounts Payable Services in the Division of Administration and Finance has enhanced the university’s employee travel reimbursement process to increase efficiency and provide a more robust method for submitting employee travel vouchers. From June 1st, employees had the ability to submit and approve travel vouchers completely electronically through the OnBase system, eliminating the need for paper or Excel forms.
Live training sessions were made available in May in addition to online guides and video tutorials, so travelers, travel voucher preparers and approvers could become more familiar with the new process but due to the feedback received, Accounts Payable has decided to provide live training once more, so, please take a moment to register and attend these live training sessions.
Thank you for your continued commitment to advancing the mission of NIU and for being a trusted steward of NIU resources. We look forward to serving you through this enhanced process. If you have any questions, please contact us at AccountsPayableSrvs@niu.edu.
Human Resource Services offers virtual Microsoft Office Training
Enhance your Microsoft Office skills in September and October with virtual training classes and then follow up office hours for questions offered by Human Resource Services. Trainer Cindy Kozumplik will hold classes via Teams. The first training is on Sept. 13 and will help your skills using Microsoft Word. Advanced registration is required to attend the sessions and you can view the listing of sessions by visiting the HRS Newsblog. If you need to request an accommodation, please contact Training@niu.edu.
Two flu shot clinics scheduled for fall semester.
The DeKalb County Health Department, NIU Employee Assistance Program and NIU School of Nursing will host two flu shot clinics this fall in the Holmes Student Center, Duke Ellington Ballroom on Wednesday, Sept. 14 and Wednesday, Oct. 12, 2022 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
To book an appointment and to download your client form to bring with you, complete the Flu Vaccine Appointment and Client Form.
Please review additional information on the webpage before booking your appointment. Please keep your original confirmation in case you need to cancel or reschedule you time or day. The information is at the bottom of your confirmation email.
Note: To ensure safety, entrance will be at the east side door of the Ballroom with the exit through the west door. Face masks are required. There will be no COVID-19 vaccines available at these clinics.
Ellington's Restaurant to open Tuesday, Sept. 27
Be sure to mark your calendar: Ellington’s Restaurant will reopen its doors Tuesday, Sept. 27 with exciting new menus prepared by hospitality and tourism management students. Enjoy a delectable lunch buffet while supporting students as they gain hands-on experience. Service will take place every Tuesday through Nov. 29 with the exception of Nov. 8. When available, menus will be uploaded to niu.edu/ellingtons. Dining Dollars, Huskies Bucks and debit/credit accepted.
Huskie Fresh announces its fall lineup of take-home meal kits
Whip up a quick healthy meal after a long day on campus. If you have a kitchen, you can enjoy a Huskie Fresh meal kit! Huskie Fresh is excited to roll out 10 new kits this fall semester. Meal kits are partially prepared and finished at home in about 30 minutes. Next on the line up – Celebrate National Latinx Heritage Month with our Central and South American-inspired kit, Mexican soup with Brazilian cheesy bread. Get cooking with Huskie Fresh.
NIU Nutrition at the Recreation Center is introducing NIU Nutrition Newsletter!
Subscribe to the monthly newsletter to receive program updates and helpful nutrition tips.
Policy Library Update – Remote Work Policy available to review.
A new policy is posted on the Policy Library website and is open to review and comment for a 30-day period. This provides the NIU community the opportunity to consider and respond to the new policy before it takes effect. The policy is:
To submit a comment, go to the Policy Library website. The revised policy will appear on the right side of the screen. Click on the policy listed above. You will be asked to sign in to SharePoint. All comments are due Tuesday, Sept. 6. If you have any questions, please contact Rebecca Hunt, university policy librarian, at rhunt@niu.edu
Seeking nominations for Lincoln Laureate.
Each of the four-year, degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois chooses one senior student to receive the prestigious Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award. The nomination deadline is Sept. 9.
Students must be nominated by a department chair. Multiple units can collaborate to nominate a specific student (appropriate when a student has more than one departmental home). Each nominating department must submit:
- Departmental nomination letter.
- Additional letter of support from a faculty or staff member.
- Student’s CV.
Nominees must be seniors graduating from NIU during the 2022-2023 school year (August 2022, December 2022, or May 2023). Student laureates are selected based on their overall excellence in curricular, cocurricular and extracurricular activities. Nominees should have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and should have demonstrated significant leadership and accomplishments. For more information about the award and process, please visit the NIU Lincoln Laureate webpage.
To nominate a student, please have the department chair complete the electronic intent to nominate form as soon as you are able. Upon submitting this form, nominators will receive a link to a OneDrive folder to upload candidate materials. Using OneDrive allows nominators the ability to edit or add materials from now until noon, Sept. 9. For more information, please email Jason Goode at jason@niu.edu.
New programs to recognize and support faculty who cut costs for course materials.
The Course Materials Affordability Task Force (CMAT) is pleased to announce two new programs, sponsored by NIU Libraries, to encourage academic departments and faculty to transition to low-cost (total materials cost of under $40) or zero-cost materials in their courses. The ACM Awards recognize departments offering the highest percentage of course sections using low- or zero-cost course materials in the academic year with acknowledgment on NIU’s Open Education website and a financial award. Additionally, individual faculty who consistently offer courses designated in MyNIU as requiring low- or zero-cost materials will also be recognized.
The ACM Integration Cohort will focus on converting existing courses to low-cost or zero-cost course materials courses. Participants will learn how to locate, evaluate and integrate affordable course materials with support from CITL staff and subject specialist librarians, and will receive a $500 stipend upon completion of program requirements. All full-time and adjunct teaching faculty are eligible to apply, but the number of participants will be limited based on funding.
Visit the NIU Open Education website for more information. Cohort applications are due Sept. 30, 2022.