NIU Today

During the first 21 years of their lives, individuals with autism are offered critical support services through their local public schools. By law, those services must include “transition” planning that begins when the students turn 14½, providing nearly seven years of preparation for the next stage of their lives. Yet when that assistance ends, many...

Thirty-nine early childhood education students from NIU recently enjoyed inside looks at a Montessori school. Donations to the NIU College of Education from alumni Anthony L. Kambich (B.S. ’59, Physical Education) and Carolyn A. Kambich (B.S. ’60, Elementary Education), founders of North Shore Montessori Schools in 1966, financed the Tuesday, Feb. 13, and Tuesday, Feb....

Kevin Allison had spent most of his young life on the ice in pursuit of one dream. “I was always a figure skater. I was always training. I was getting my degree at the same time – my undergraduate degree – but I had no real direction,” says Allison, 28, a Wheaton native who was...

NIU will confer an honorary doctorate degree this fall to James Fruchterman, who has devoted his career to bringing “Silicon Valley’s technology innovations to all of humanity, not just the richest five percent.” The CEO and founder of Benetech will receive his distinction during the Graduate School commencement, scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec....

Greg Conderman has been named chair of the Department of Special and Early Education (SEED) in the College of Education effective July 1. Conderman has been serving as acting chair for SEED since last June. Dean Laurie Elish-Piper offered her congratulations, stating “Greg Conderman has done a remarkable job as acting chair of the Special and Early Education Department...

Want a challenging and rewarding career with guaranteed employment and free tuition? Thanks to a five-year $1.25 million grant recently awarded to NIU by the U.S. Department of Education, the Visual Disabilities Program of the College of Education’s Department of Special and Early Education (SEED) will enable the launch of a new master’s degree. Beginning...

Gregory Conderman has been named acting chair of the Department of Special and Early Education (SEED) in the College of Education. Conderman brings years of expertise and experience in special education to the post, which beings June 16. Before entering higher education, he taught special education for seven years, and worked as an educational consultant...

NIU’s Department of Special and Early Education and the eLearning Services Digital Convergence Lab have secured a federal grant to develop an online training tool to meet the needs of teachers of students with visual impairments nationwide. The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitation Services awarded the five-year, $500,000 grant in September. Stacy Kelly, an...

Northern Illinois University’s College of Education, through its Department of Special and Early Education (SEED), is adding a new graduate program that will allow individuals to meet the coursework requirements for becoming board-certified behavior analysts as part of a master’s degree or a stand-alone course sequence. NIU’s College of Education was recently awarded approval from...

The Department of Special and Early Education invites the campus community to an open house honoring Penny Winterton from 2:30 p.m. 4:30 p.m. Thursday, May 29, in Room 146 of Gabel Hall. After 25 years of dedicated service to NIU, Winterton is retiring. For more information, call (815) 753-8421 or email LHarris1@niu.edu.

Lucia Hoffman could have done her student teaching in the suburbs or in Chicago. She chose instead an eight-week internship at Amka Afrika School in Babati, Tanzania, during January and February 2014. An early childhood major in the NIU College of Education, Hoffman worked with her Tanzanian co-teacher Paschalina and 25 pre-schoolers in an English-language...

NIU’s Department of Special and Early Education invites the campus to attend an open house honoring Lynette Chandler, professor and program coordinator for special education. The event is scheduled from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 6, in the north room of the Gabel Hall Learning Center. Chandler is retiring after 22 years of dedicated...