Academic Affairs Newsletter

Provost Post

Academic Affairs Newsletter

Aug. 2024

Colleagues,

As the summer comes to a close and the fall semester begins, I am thrilled to welcome both new and returning students and faculty to campus. This is my favorite time of the year, filled with anticipation, excitement and new beginnings.

This summer, the team in the Provost's Office worked to develop a list of our key priorities for in the coming year.

• Student Success
• Faculty Success
• Innovative Academic Programs
• Inclusive Excellence
• Partnerships

With each of these priorities, we value and prioritize collaboration, communication and innovation, to support the best possible outcomes. Each one of us plays a role in working toward these priorities, and I thank you for the many ways you help ensure these come to fruition.

We are unveiling a new slogan at NIU this year: "I Can. I Will." This will be an ongoing campaign to encourage students that they are able to achieve their goals as Huskies. Incoming students will receive tech tattoos with this phrase as part of Week of Welcome, and you will see it used in other places throughout the year. We hope these words can be an encouragement to you as well!

The Division of Academic Affairs is committed to supporting the success of our students, faculty and staff and we are always here to help. You may contact us at provost@niu.edu with questions, ideas or concerns.

I am looking forward to a successful semester. Go Huskies!

With gratitude,

Laurie Elish-Piper, Ph.D.
Executive Vice President and Provost

Faculty Affairs

Welcoming new faculty

This week, we welcomed new faculty to NIU at the New Faculty Welcome and Orientation . The event provided an opportunity to meet and interact with fellow new faculty members, senior faculty members and key leaders in Academic Affairs while learning more about the university.

This event helps initiate a sense of belonging, engagement and community among faculty. Thank you to all who participated!

Creating community with department chairs

The Office of Faculty Affairs is providing mentoring and development opportunities for department chairs at NIU, while creating community in the process. New this year, we hosted a new chair retreat earlier this month. Each new chair is now paired with an experienced chair mentor to help them gain valuable insights for their leadership roles.

Furthermore, the Department Leaders Development Program brings chairs together to meet and work on professional development, while networking between chairs helps solidify the sense of community. Chairs are encouraged to attend these monthly meetings; the first one is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23 in the Capitol Room.

Faculty Resources website

Visit our Faculty Resources website, a one-stop location with valuable information about topics of interest to you. Find out about awards and honors, benefits and resources, development opportunities, diversity and inclusion resources, institutional memberships and more.

Steppingblocks Digital Career Counselor

NIU faculty have access to Steppingblocks Digital Career Counselor, a resource that can help students build their career game plan. Take a few moments to explore the features, including personality assessments, career searches and alumni outcomes. This resource can be utilized in the classroom to introduce students to the platform and help them plan their next steps after college.

Undergraduate Affairs

Facilitating connections between faculty and aspiring student researchers

The Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning and the College of Health and Human Sciences (CHHS) are launching NIU ForagerOne, a communication platform that enables faculty and students to connect based on research interests.

The platform is currently available to all faculty from CHHS and the following departments in other colleges: Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Computer Science, Counseling, Earth, Atmosphere and the Environment, Early Childhood Education, Kinesiology, Mathematics, Physical Education, Psychology, and Statistics/Actuarial Sciences. Faculty members in these departments are encouraged to post research opportunities.

Honors Faculty of Distinction

The University Honors Program is excited to launch the Honors Faculty of Distinction designation, which will recognize faculty involvement, service and excellence in core contributions to the program and the students who comprise it. Faculty (all ranks) and instructors are eligible for this recognition.

Each year, the new class of faculty and instructors will be recognized during Spring Honors Day. You are encouraged to read over the criteria and apply, if eligible, at any time until March 1, 2025.

Curriculum

Implementation of the new Curriculum system is complete and in place for 2025-26 catalog year curriculum proposals. This system will help faculty members and staff create effective curricula in less time, while increasing data consistency. The result will be an improved and more efficient process that benefits students, faculty and staff.

Visit the Curriculum website to learn more and submit a curriculum proposal.

Giving students an EDGE

The Enriching the Design of General Education (EDGE) pilot initiative kicks off this week at NIU. This is designed to support excellence in general education teaching by fostering a thriving and supportive community of practice among faculty, while emphasizing the unique philosophy and practices that define general education courses. EDGE includes a library of pedagogical resources, an ongoing community of practice with online and in-person events and asynchronous community through Microsoft Teams. This holistic approach will empower educators to collaborate with colleagues and share insights on innovative and evidence-based teaching strategies.

Student Affairs

Huskies Vote

NIU is committed to promoting political participation by teaching about civic engagement in democratic society. We know that encouragement from faculty, staff and classmates makes a significant difference in rates of student voter registration and turnout. NIU"s ALL IN Democracy Challenge - Huskies Vote Initiative has developed non-partisan voter engagement resources specifically for faculty and staff to share with students and to implement into the classroom to increase student voter turnout.

Check out the Faculty and Staff Resources to Support Students' Voter Engagement Guide for ways to integrate voter registration and election content into your courses. Faculty in all disciplines can find relevant resources to help share this information with students.

Resources provided will help you:

• Include language about making a voting plan on your syllabus. Use one of our templates.
• Share a slide about voter registration information during your class.
• Set aside time in class to talk about the importance and process of registering to vote.
• Share important deadlines and online resources to help find information about what's on the ballot without endorsing a particular candidate or position.
• Hold class discussions about the importance of voter engagement. Check out our resource guide with non-partisan discussion guides and activities.

Utilize Huskies Vote to check out upcoming events, voter registration drives and reach out to partner as we further promote Huskies' voter engagement. For questions and additional ideas to share with faculty and staff, please email us at  All_In@niu.edu

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Submit conference proposals and save the date - The Real Talk Conference

NIU's Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation Center's The Real Talk Conference 2024 is led by the Division of Academic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and the Division of Student Affairs and will be held Friday, Oct. 25 at the Holmes Student Center.

The theme for the 2024 conference is Opening Pathways to Embrace our Humanity, which represents the ability to enact transformative change that begins with access to opportunities for learning, truth-telling, trust and relationship building, examining the effects of segregation, polarization, colonization, and concentrated poverty towards addressing and enacting equitable and just outcomes.

Submission for conference proposals is due Tuesday, Sept. 17. Keynote speakers will be announced in September. Mark the calendar to engage your students and embed the conference into your course curriculum.

Join us for Fall 2024 FACCE sessions

At ADEI, our conception of diversity is expansive. It encompasses differences and similarities not only in race and ethnicity but also in language, personality, learning preferences, life experiences, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, country of origin, ability, cultural, political, religious, and other affiliations.

The Faculty Academy on Cultural Competence and Equity (FACCE) re-imagines the collective richness we (students, staff and faculty) bring by offering cultural competence and equity-based pedagogy and practice professional development to capitalize on the endless creativity and innovative potential our diversity presents in and out of the classroom. Join us at Fall 2024 FACCE!

Teaching and Learning

Week of Engagement

The first week of class provides an excellent opportunity to create an environment where students feel comfortable and excited to be a part of your classroom. The Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning (CITL) offers a Week of Engagement Toolkit  to increase your connection with students and promote a sense of belonging.

You'll find tips on creating a student-centered syllabus, recommended strategies for inclusion and accessibility, activities to build engagement, helpful resources and more when you visit the Toolkit website. Meanwhile, CITL staff are available citl@niu.edu to answer your teaching questions. Have a great semester!

Become a teaching mentor

We are excited to announce the launch of a new teaching mentorship initiative aimed at continuing to foster excellence in teaching and learning at NIU. This new teaching mentoring program, being piloted for the 2024-25 academic year, aims to build a vibrant teaching community at NIU and offers a unique opportunity to contribute to our university's teaching excellence support while gaining professional recognition and development.

Learn more and submit a brief self-nomination by Friday, Aug. 25 to express your interest in becoming a Faculty Teaching Mentor.

Join us to celebrate 25 years of excellence at CITL!

For 25 years, CITL has supported effective and innovative teaching in pursuit of transformative learning experiences at NIU. To celebrate this milestone, we invite you to our open house from 2-4 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 11 at the CITL offices in the Wesley Foundation Building on Locust Street.

Meet the CITL team, explore the Digital Media Studio and enjoy a photo showcase of our history. Join us for engaging activities and light refreshments as we celebrate our journey in fostering innovative education at NIU. We look forward to seeing you there!

Research Development

New VP of RIPS

On July 1, 2024, Richard Mocarski began his tenure as Vice President for the Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships (RIPS). Mocarski has more than 20 years of progressive research administration experience across a variety of institutions, most recently San Jose State University. His PhD is in communication and information sciences and his research focuses on reducing barriers to healthcare for health disparate groups through culturally informed communication. Mocarski is excited to support NIU faculty in their research, artistry and creative activities and will be announcing a RIPS open house shortly.

Academic Corner

College Welcomes New Leadership

The College of Health and Human Sciences (CHHS) welcomes new and familiar faces to key roles in the college leadership team.

• Laura DeThorne joins NIU as the interim chair, School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders (AHCD). Former AHCD chair, Sherrill Morris, is now the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.
• Henna Muzaffar, associate professor, nutrition, steps in as interim chair for the School of Health Studies.
• Shondra Clay, associate professor, health sciences, takes on the interim chair role for the School of Interdisciplinary Health Professions.
• Lt. Col. Harold Larsen joins NIU with over 18 years of service in the U.S. Army as the chair for the Department of Military Science where he oversees the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) at NIU.

Disability Resource Center

New resources available!

Welcome to fall semester. We are excited to bring you new resources as you work with students with disabilities. Please visit our Resources for Faculty and Staff webpage to view the latest legal information as well as the syllabus statement.

As we seek to increase knowledge of disability justice and allyship, please check out our newest resources at our webpage. We will continue to add to these resources throughout the year.

Did You Know?

• Learning spaces are found across campus. This includes classrooms, common spaces, labs, study spaces and more. NIU strives to provide students and faculty with facilities that support success and support our values. Visit the Learning Spaces website to explore these spaces and learn about technology and accessibility upgrades that have been made to numerous classrooms.
• The NIU events calendar has a new look. Check out the calendar and find out about upcoming and trending events, academic calendar information and more. Click the "Filter" button to narrow your search by date range, experience, event types, topics or target audience. Log in to submit your next event and share the link once it's posted!
• The Division of Information Technology recently replaced the university's Canon printers with new Ricoh printers. The updated printers are user-friendly, secure and reliable, provide additional functionality and save overall costs for the university. Visit the AnywherePrints website for updated faculty and staff print pricing rates. Faculty and staff are encouraged to think about our campus sustainability plan before printing and to share information electronically when appropriate.

Shout-outs

Shout-out to the Grounds team for keeping campus looking so beautiful. The flowers this summer - wow!

Thank you to Anna Klis, Daryl Dugas and Gibson Cima for going above and beyond in creating welcoming classroom environments at the beginning of each semester.

Your Turn

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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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 .