Academic Affairs Newsletter
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Happy Homecoming week!
As we welcome Huskies home for our 117th Homecoming, this is a great time to take pride in our university. I hope you can participate in some of the activities this week, cheer on our teams and enjoy what it means to be a Huskie.
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The success of our students is a top priority, and with that in mind, we recently developed the “I Can. I Will.” campaign to point students to resources, while providing encouragement along their journey. You may have seen the digital signs throughout campus. Also, we are adding “I Can. I Will.” messages as screensavers in classrooms throughout campus.
NIU’s graphics team has created a graphic you can use as part of your email signature. Feel free to download this “I Can. I Will.” graphic and add it below your existing signature.
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As representatives of NIU, I ask you to provide this same encouragement to our students whenever possible and let them know support is available.
Furthermore, we have developed a model of student success to help our students thrive here at NIU and beyond. Please visit our website to learn more about the six components of this student success model and contact me if you have any questions or suggestions.
Thank you for supporting the success of our students and thank you for all you do!
Laurie Elish-Piper, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost
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Department Leaders Development Program update
We are pleased to share the Department Leaders Development Program (DLDP) had a productive first session Monday, Sept. 23. The session was filled with great resources and collegial conversation, and associate dean Rachel Gordon presented on the topic of faculty service load.
We encourage chairs/directors to participate in this professional and networking opportunity. Our next DLDP meeting will be from 3:15-4:15 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28 in the Holmes Student Center Capitol Room. Visit the DLDP SharePoint page to find more information on the program, access the chair/director survey and review the presentation on faculty service load.
Get your nominations in!
Nominations for Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Awards are due by Friday, Oct. 25. The purpose of these awards is to acknowledge and recognize outstanding graduate teaching assistants for their contributions to the teaching mission of NIU. Visit the award website for information and to download the nomination form.
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National Transfer Student Week activities for you and your students
Show your community college pride Wednesday, Oct. 23 by wearing colors and branding of your community college, as we celebrate National Transfer Student Week! Stop by the NIU letters in MLK Commons between 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. to have your portrait taken.
Whether you're a proud graduate, former student, previous employee or supporter of a community college, this is your chance to celebrate the important role community colleges play in shaping students’ academic journeys. Let's come together to show our transfer students just how much we value their unique experiences.
Also, please encourage your community college transfer students to participate in an engaging focus group hosted by the Office of Community College Initiatives from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22 at Peters Campus Life Building 100. Students should register in advance to provide feedback and help improve the community college transfer experience.
Check out what one current transfer student has to say about her experience at NIU!
Register for general education monthly brown bag discussions
Enriching the Design of General Education (EDGE) is a joint initiative of Undergraduate Affairs and the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. This community of practice meets monthly during the academic year, alternating in-person and online. Faculty, instructors and graduate students who are teaching or will be teaching a general education course are invited to participate.
Please register for one of these upcoming EDGE sessions scheduled from noon-1 p.m.
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Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
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Register or volunteer for The Real Talk Conference
Join us for NIU's Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center's The Real Talk Conference 2024. The event will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25 at the Holmes Student Center. A pre-conference workshop, “Designing Engagement for Equity: Building Inclusive Community Engagement with Human-centered Design” is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 24.
Presenters and speakers:
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- Asheli Mann-Lofthouse (she/her/ella), organizational anthropologist
- Marisa Miakonda Cummings (she/her/wau), senior advisor for Administration for Native Americans in the Administration for Children and Families
- Ijeoma Oluo (she/her), Seattle-based writer, speaker and internet yeller
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Register or volunteer today!
Empowering domestic violence survivors to begin their healing journey
NIU honors national Domestic Violence Awareness Month (DVAM) through events and opportunities to learn, support and share resources. The month is recognized to increase knowledge about the signs of domestic violence, share resources and information on how to support those who have been impacted by domestic violence, and discuss ways to report domestic violence within our community.
NIU’s Prevention Education and Outreach team, along with campus partners and community partners such as Safe Passage, will be sharing safe and practical strategies to prevent sexual violence for a more inclusive and safer campus community during DVAM events. Please help by attending and promoting these events – all are Business Passport and Honors credit approved.
Become an Undocumented Ally – register for training
The Undocumented Student Resource Center encourages you to sign up for undocumented ally training which will take place from 9 a.m.-noon Wednesday, Oct. 30 in the Holmes Student Center Regency Room. This is open to NIU faculty, staff and students.
Participants will learn how to be effective advocates for undocumented students, and will learn about:
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- State and federal legislation that affects undocumented students
- Educational, economic and psychological challenges faced by undocumented students
- Campus and community resources that support undocumented students and improve their educational experience
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Open Classroom Weeks offer new insights
Join us for NIU's Open Classroom Weeks! Sit in on a colleague's course to learn new approaches to teaching and make connections across disciplines. Unlike peer observation for tenure and promotion, the focus is on learning as opposed to critiquing. Some of NIU's best faculty are opening their classrooms to colleagues interested in exploring teaching strategies and techniques. All participants and the featured faculty are also invited to a networking luncheon on from noon-1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30.
Talk with a colleague about teaching
Looking for new ideas to boost your teaching or connect better with your students? Chat with a Faculty Teaching Mentor! These mentors are fellow faculty who can offer helpful tips and fresh perspectives on topics such as:
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- How to talk to a student
- How to respond to disability accommodation requests
- How to make changes based on course evaluations
- How to integrate active learning into lectures
- How to create more engaging discussions in online or in-person classes
- How to better assess student learning without being overwhelmed with grading
- How to use technology tools to enhance student participation and feedback
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Whether you are updating a course or trying something new, they are here to support you. Schedule a conversation and get personalized guidance to enhance your teaching!
Featured event – LLM 101: Opportunities and Challenges
Large Language Models (LLM) are a recent innovation in natural language processing technology that employ transformer architectures pre-trained on massive amounts of digital text scraped from the Internet. Applications like OpenAI’s ChatGPT as well as Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini can now generate original content that is, in many cases, indistinguishable from human written material.
Join professor David J. Gunkel from 2-3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30 as he will demystify the technology of LLMs, evaluate the costs and benefits of machine generated content in different areas of human communication, and explore the impact these technologies are likely to have on writing and its future.
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RIPS leadership open house
Join the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships (RIPS) at 71 North, located on the bottom floor of Founders Memorial Library, from 9-11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 24 to meet the leadership team and learn about the services we offer in support of your research or creative activities. We hope to see you at this informal, pop-in event and learn more about the amazing work you are doing!
Brown bag lunch with the vice president of RIPS
You’re invited to have lunch with the Richard Mocarski, vice president of RIPS, from noon-1 p.m. every Tuesday at 71 North. Bring your lunch and discuss your research or creative activity. See you there!
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CEET Events Connect Students with Career Opportunities
The College of Engineering and Engineering Technology’s (CEET) tradition of connecting students with career opportunities was on full display in September.
On Sept. 13, a pop-up expo at the Engineering Building hosted a variety of companies that demonstrated their products in sensors, structures, automation, and rapid prototyping to over 100 CEET students, many of whom are seniors in the midst of brainstorming their Capstone Design projects.
On Sept. 24, at the CEET Job and Internship Fair, more than 45 companies met with hundreds of Huskies. Embodying the impact of events like this one were 2024 CEET grads Emma De La Cruz and Sheldon Blackamore, whose “full circle moment” found them on the company side of the table.
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Disability Resource Center
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Communication about accommodations
We encourage students with disabilities to share their letters of accommodation with you as faculty and discuss how accommodations effectively can be implemented in your classroom. Also, you may proactively reach out to the student to schedule a meeting. This collaborative approach fosters an inclusive environment and ensures that students receive the support they need.
If you have additional questions, we are hosting “DRC Access Chats” through the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning to provide more information. Join us at noon Friday, Oct. 18 to learn more.
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You are invited to the upcoming workshop, Designing Engagement for Equity:
Building Inclusive Community Engagement with Human-centered Design to learn how to apply design thinking and human-centered design principles to your research, teaching or partnerships, and benefit from a more empathetic, inclusive community-engaged project.
RSVP today for this free event, scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 24 in the Altgeld Hall auditorium.
Attend the morning session to learn the basics of design thinking. Stay for the full day to delve deeper into incorporating human-centered design in your specific community-engagement action plan. You’ll leave with the tools you need to elevate your community partnerships, classroom projects and community-focused research.
Contact Jeannine East at jeast@niu.edu for more information.
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- Your proposals are being sought for Huskie Trek Talks 2025! Like Ted Talks, these are short, impactful stories of the work you undertake as innovators, educators, administrators or leaders. Deadline for proposal submission is Friday, Nov. 15. Finalists will be chosen and notified in December. Presenter coaching will take place in January and February in preparation for the Saturday, March 1 Huskie Trek Talks event.
- You can inspire your fellow Huskies with your unique story. Our Huskie Spotlights elevate voices across NIU’s diverse campus community and let you experience the stories of students, faculty and staff members in their own words. Huskie Spotlights are first-person Question/Answer profiles with a photo featured on the NIU website. The form is easy to complete, and a Huskie Spotlight can be a great addition to your personal portfolio on LinkedIn and other platforms. Learn more and submit yours today.
- University Libraries will host an open house beginning at 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 for its alebrijes exhibit. The exhibit will be open for public viewing and alebrijes artists will be available for conversation and discussion.
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Thank you, Matt Baron, Eva Richards and Mark McGowan for helping enhance student success through your communications work. Appreciate you!
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Do you have comments, ideas for future newsletter topics or shout-outs about your colleagues to share? We would love to hear from you. Please complete this form to submit your feedback. Thank you!
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This message has been approved for distribution by the appropriate NIU party and is distributed by the Division of Enrollment Management, Marketing and Communications. NIU Mass Email Policy.
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Northern Illinois University's vision is to be an engine for innovation to advance social mobility; promote personal, professional and intellectual growth; and transform the world through research, artistry, teaching and outreach. Learn more about NIU’s vision, mission and values.
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