Academic Affairs Newsletter
|
|
|
|
Hello Colleagues.
As the spring semester progresses, I’m pleased to share encouraging news about NIU’s continued growth and our strong commitment to student success. We have our largest spring enrollment since 2021 – a total of 14,644 students, which is a 3.4 percent increase from last spring. Our spring undergraduate enrollment is up nearly six percent, and our spring transfer enrollment is up nearly 17 percent – both are the highest numbers in six years. Online student enrollment also is up more than 13 percent.
Student success continues to be a top priority at NIU, and I’d like to share how this pertains specifically to our international students. NIU’s International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) office enriches the experiences of international students, visitors, employees and families as they engage with the university.
ISSS diligently works to support our students and the campus community as immigration system changes continue to take place. ISSS established a News and Updates page to address significant changes impacting our community. This is an asset for international students, as it provides important updates and serves as a hub for keeping track of changes affecting them.
A dedicated group of international students supports their peers by serving as ambassadors. These student ambassadors mobilize quickly to support students who may have lost luggage, require assistance enrolling their children in school, or have other urgent needs.
New students connect and socialize at welcome events with continuing students, creating community for them as they continue to adjust to their surroundings. Each semester, ISSS hosts an International Student Orientation and resource fair to support newly arrived students as they adjust to life in the U.S. Students learn about support available to them, academically and beyond, at this event.
To help our international students build a sense of belonging, ISSS hosts a variety of events. For example, over 300 students, faculty, staff and their families came together for Friendsgiving on Monday before the Thanksgiving holiday to share food, fellowship and fun. During the fall semester ISSS hosted monthly coffee events, building community among international students. On Friday, Jan. 30 approximately 80 new and returning NIU international students and scholars came together at the Huskie Den to celebrate the kickoff to the spring 2026 semester at a welcome/welcome back party. International Huskies and staff enjoyed bowling, billiards, pizza, good conversations and lots of laughs.
International students enrich our campus with global perspectives that strengthen our academic community, and NIU’s commitment to these students, and all students, is unwavering. Visit the ISSS website to learn more about our efforts to support international students and contact isss@niu.edu if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Laurie Elish-Piper, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost
|
|
|
Board of Trustees Professorship Lectures
You are invited to this special event featuring presentations from Tao Xu, Board of Trustees Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Aaron Fogleman, Board of Trustees Professor and Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of History.
The event will take place from 10:30 a.m. to noon Friday, March 27 at the Founders Memorial Library Gallery. Check out the NIU calendar event listing for more information on both presentations.
|
|
|
CURE presenter registration open
The Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement will take place Tuesday, April 28 in the Duke Ellington Ballroom. Students completing internships, clinicals, service learning and other forms of hands-on learning are invited to register for the Engagement Showcase. Students completing faculty mentored investigations or creative inquiry that seeks to make a scholarly or artistic contribution to knowledge can register a research and artistry project. Registration closes March 24.
Please encourage students to register and contact ugresearch@niu.edu for assistance and additional resources.
Course Evaluation Platform Moving to Anthology Evaluate
As per policy, all sections of courses offered for NIU credit must be evaluated. Our current contract for online course evaluations with Explorance Blue will end this summer, so spring 2026 will be the last semester we will use this platform. Faculty and departments should download any course evaluations in the system before access to Explorance Blue ends Tuesday, June 30.
We will be transitioning to Anthology Evaluate, the same parent company as Blackboard, starting with summer 2026 course evaluations. While significantly reducing annual cost, this system will maintain the same functionality and reporting. A cross-division implementation team is working on the transition and updates will be shared on this website. Contact vice provost for Academic Affairs Alicia Schatteman at aschatteman@niu.edu with any questions.
Free Kaplan test prep
Students have until Saturday, Feb. 28 to sign up and secure up to a full year of free prep for exams, credentials, licensure and career skills. Encourage students to take advantage of Kaplan’s industry-leading high-quality, realistic test prep that will give them a head start on their future.
Apply for 2026 Raymond Award
The application process is now open for the 2026 David W. Raymond Award for Use of Technology in Teaching. This award is open to all tenured/tenure-track faculty members.
Visit the award website and submit the applications materials, including a letter of support from your department chair, by March 20.
Winners receive a minimum award of $1,000 and are expected to give a public presentation to demonstrate the project. Contact Shannon Becker at sbecker@niu.edu with questions.
Career readiness
February is a busy month for career readiness, and your guidance can help students take full advantage of these opportunities. Encourage students to explore all five upcoming career fairs and to plan ahead, so they can view which employers will be attending. You can integrate career readiness into your course by:
|
Your support helps students prepare for their future, build professional connections and engage fully with the NIU career community.
|
|
|
Celebrating Black Heritage Month
The Center for Black Studies, in collaboration with partners across NIU, organizes events every February to celebrate Black Heritage Month. NIU faculty, staff and students are encouraged to attend these events to recognize, learn and celebrate the central role of Black diasporic experiences in U.S. History and globally – past, present and future.
|
|
|
Open Classroom Weeks
Join us for NIU's Open Classroom Weeks! You can 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 members are opening their classrooms Feb. 16-28 to colleagues interested in exploring teaching strategies and techniques. All participants and the featured faculty are also invited to a networking luncheon from 2-3 p.m. Tuesday, March 3. Learn more about Open Classroom Weeks and register now!
Presidential Teaching Professor Seminar
This seminar offers a chance to learn from one of NIU’s thoughtful and inspiring Presidential Teaching Professors. Mylan Engel’s insights into critical thinking, student transformation and the purpose of higher education will leave you motivated, energized and equipped with new strategies for your own teaching or student support work. No registration is required - join us from noon-1 p.m. Thursday, March 5 in the Holmes Student Center Sky Room for this informative seminar.
Online learning tool review update
The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) has reached key milestones in the ongoing NIU online learning tool review process, which evaluates the effectiveness and usage of Blackboard-integrated tools to ensure they continue to meet the needs of faculty and students. Review summaries and analyzed faculty survey results for Respondus, VoiceThread and Yellowdig – grounded in three years of usage data – are now available and synthesize usage patterns, strengths, challenges and emerging recommendations.
Follow-up interviews with select faculty are underway to further contextualize these findings, and all published summaries and results can be accessed on the Online Learning Tool Review website.
|
|
|
School of Music’s Bobby Broom chosen to perform at International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert in Chicago
Bobby Broom, associate professor of jazz guitar and jazz studies in the School of Music, has been selected to perform at the International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert, April 30 in Chicago. Music legend Herbie Hancock, the UNESCO Global Jazz Ambassador, named the concert headliners, which also include School of Music alum Marquis Hill. Broom's most recent album, More Amor, spent several weeks atop Jazz Week’s North American chart last summer.
Check out the full story on the NIU Arts Blog.
|
|
|
Disability Resource Center
|
|
|
Accommodation in clinical settings
Questions often arise about how accommodations apply in clinical, practicum and field-based courses where safety and professional standards are essential. Accommodations do not lower competencies; they provide equitable ways for students to meet them. For example, a student with a chronic health condition may receive brief breaks during a full-day placement, or a student may use assistive technology for materials while still completing all required skills and evaluations.
The Disability Resource Center partners with students and faculty to identify reasonable accommodations that maintain standards, protect safety and support student access. Contact drc@niu.edu with questions.
|
|
|
How to create a community-engaged course
If you're curious about how to get started teaching community-engaged courses, join us at noon Thursday, Feb. 19 when vice provost for Academic Affairs Alicia Schatteman shares her experiences with community engaged teaching and learning at NIU. Learn about the new NIU community-engaged course designation and find out best practices to build and teach a successful community-engaged course.
|
|
|
Signing ceremony
On January 16, the Division of International Affairs and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS) hosted a signing ceremony in Altgeld Hall to formalize first-level MOUs with partners in Indonesia. Executive Vice President and Provost Laurie Elish-Piper signed the agreements with Dwi A. Yuliantoro, chair of the School of Government and Public Policy and representative of Nusa Widyantara.
The event was attended by Mary Earick, dean of the College of Education, along with faculty, staff, and students. CSEAS director Melissa Lenczewski and members of her staff also were present. As the primary host, CSEAS worked closely with International Affairs to coordinate the visit and signing.
These first-level MOUs reflect NIU’s strong and growing engagement with Indonesia and serve as a foundation for future collaboration, including faculty research, teacher exchanges and expanded student learning opportunities.
|
|
|
New assessment reporting process
The Accreditation, Assessment and Evaluation (AAE) team is implementing a streamlined annual reporting process designed to increase efficiency and enhance faculty engagement. Beginning April 1, 2026, all academic programs will transition to a single reporting deadline (April 1 each year) and a consistent format using the Assessment Summary Report or accredited-program alternative. This new approach conserves faculty time and effort, supports more meaningful use of assessment data, and builds a clear, longitudinal record of continuous improvement. AAE will provide ongoing guidance and consultations throughout the transition. View the AAE website for more information about review of programs and centers.
|
|
|
- Students intending to graduate in May 2026 must apply in MyNIU by no later than Feb. 15. Please share this date with students and colleagues. This is the only (and final) deadline for May 2026 graduation candidates. More information about applying for graduation is available at niu.edu/registration-records/graduation.
- Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) is new skills-focused training option for faculty and staff 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. You’ll increase your knowledge of signs, symptoms and risk factors of mental health and substance use challenges during training and become more confident talking about mental health and substance use. Visit the workshop signup website to join the Feb. 20 and 27 or the March 10 and 17 workshops.
- Each week a different student takes over the student-run HuskiesofNIU Instagram account and shares what life as a Huskie looks like for them, including organizations and programs they belong to and resources that have helped them along the way at NIU. Nominating a student for a takeover is a great way to promote undergraduate and graduate programs to current and prospective students. If you have a student who would be interested in taking over the account, please email socialmedia@niu.edu with their name and z-ID to nominate them.
|
|
|
Thank you to Jennifer Groce for her efforts in helping create a new form to support community-engaged course designation.
|
|
|
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!
|
|
|
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.
|
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.
|
|
|
|
