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Laurie Elish-Piper
Laurie Elish-Piper

NIU College of Education Dean Laurie Elish-Piper and David Paige, director of the Jerry L. Johns Literacy Clinic, were honored Nov. 6 by the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers (ALER).

Elish-Piper received the A.B. Herr Award, which celebrates the distinguished service of a professional educator who has made outstanding contributions to the field of reading. Past recipients include College of Education retirees Jerry Johns (1995) and Norm Stahl (2009).

Paige was given the ALER Laureate Award, which recognizes influence on other reading professionals, longevity of membership in ALER, scholarship that involves collaboration with students, teachers and other professionals and participation in ALER conferences and activities.

“It’s truly an honor, and it really shows NIU’s strength as an institution in the area of literacy education,” Elish-Piper says.

“We have a long history of faculty who have been leaders in the profession, who have been leaders in the professional associations and who have made significant contributions to the body of knowledge and to the broader field of reading and literacy education.”

Formerly known as CRA – the College Reading Association – the Association of Literacy Educators and Researchers strives:

  • To stimulate the self-development and professional growth of teachers and reading specialists at all educational levels.
  • To encourage the continuing improvement of college and university curricula and encourage preparation programs for teachers and reading specialists.
  • To encourage the continuing improvement of administrative, clinical, diagnostic and instructional practices related to the learning process.

Journeying to South Carolina to accept the organization’s top award took Elish-Piper full circle.

“CRA was really my professional introduction to the field of literacy education in higher education, and so I really grew up in that organization,” says Elish-Piper, who eventually served a term as its president.

“The very first professional conference I ever attended as a graduate student was CRA; at that conference, I was a doctoral student, and I gave my first professional presentation,” she adds. “That was the organization where I first served on a committee for a professional association, where I first began as a proposal reviewer for the conference, and where I had an opportunity to then become a committee chair.”

She found “very much of a family feel” and “wonderful mentoring.”

“In this association, we’re all literacy teacher-educators. We’re all interested in preparing teachers, reading teachers and reading specialists. Our research focuses on the preparation of these professionals to work with children, young adults and college students in reading,” she says.

“Therefore, this award is incredibly meaningful because I received so many great opportunities in this organization and so much wonderful mentoring. Many of my colleagues and collaborators are people who I met through this association.”

David Paige
David Paige

Paige is one of them.

“ALER is a vibrant organization that strives to welcome and include those new to higher education, as well as those with decades of experience. ALER provides a great platform for professional growth through collaborations with those both new and experienced in research,” says Paige, who served eight years on the board of directors, including as president in 2016-17 and three years as treasurer.

“Over the years, I’ve met members who’ve become both professional and personal friends. I’ve been privileged to have conversations with many who have contributed significantly to the field and have learned from others who have graciously shared their expertise with me,” he adds. “In short, ALER has always felt like a professional home, and I’m grateful to be a part of it.”

With Paige now at NIU – he joined the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in 2020 – the Huskie connection to ALER remains a robust one.

Many former doctoral students have received ALER’s Dissertation of the Year awards, including Michael Manderino, who later became a member of the College of Education faculty.

Now, thanks to her presence at the annual meeting, Elish-Piper is feeling invigorated like she did during her doctoral years.

“As dean, it’s difficult for me to attend conferences in my own discipline, so this reminded me of the importance of continuing to invest in my own work. I’m still very engaged in scholarship. I’m still publishing,” she says, “and this reminded me just how incredibly supportive this association is, and of the amazing opportunities. I’m looking forward to bringing some of my own doctoral students to this association to help them make some of these connections.”

She also felt an impetus to position her status as a Member Dean of the national Deans for Impact organization and as someone with legislative contacts in Illinois.

“In talking with my colleagues at the conference, we talked about the changing tides in the field of literacy education, and the importance of advocacy and taking leadership in pushing on important issues or pushing against mandates that we think are counterproductive in the preparation of reading professionals or the way that we teach reading,” Elish-Piper says.

“That’s how I can contribute to this association,” she adds. “I’m already thinking about a presentation next year that would focus on taking leadership and advocacy roles, as literacy professionals, to the state level to advocate for, and get involved in, crafting policy.”

Date posted: December 1, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Laurie Elish-Piper, David Paige honored by fellow literacy educators, researchers

Categories: Faculty & Staff Homepage

Date posted: December 1, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU participating in statewide effort to bolster early childhood workforce

Categories: Centerpiece Faculty & Staff Prospective Students

vicky-4

Vicky Baftiri believes in the “noble work” of modern-day journalism, and she has devoted her career to helping tell important stories in ways that people can understand.

Vicky Baftiri, ’03, M.A. ’05, has always been passionate about finding the truth. She and her three siblings were raised by a truth-seeking, matter-of-fact father.

“He stressed the importance of honesty,” she said.

With only one TV set in her house, Baftiri’s father would always watch the news, especially world news. Even though she was only a small child, Baftiri began to develop a high interest in current events.

“TV was the only medium that made him feel connected to what was going on internationally,” she said.

The daughter of Albanian immigrants from North Macedonia, Baftiri was born in Long Island, New York, before moving to Morris, Illinois, a small town about 65 miles southwest of Chicago. During the 1990s, as the Bosnian War was happening, she remembers her family being glued to their TV set in hopes of learning what was happening in her parents’ homeland.

“I would spend childhood nights watching the news with my dad. I remember thinking, ‘I want to do what the reporters are doing, informing the public of important events,’” she said.

As she grew up, Baftiri enjoyed listening to great storytellers, like her father and her great uncle, who told fascinating stories about WWII, what life was like for them in Yugoslavia, and folklore.

“One of my favorite memories of visiting my parents’ homeland was listening to Albanian folklore,” she said. “There were stories of wisdom, courage and legends. These are stories that have been told from generation to generation. Stories about loyalty and bravery, lessons of honesty and wisdom, and legends about faith.”

In high school, she started to develop a passion for creative writing, and her teacher took notice of her skills and gave her the confidence she needed to keep pursuing writing. When she visited her older sisters at NIU in the late 1990s, she fell in love with the campus.

“I researched their media studies and journalism program, and I thought it was the perfect fit,” she said. “I knew I would benefit from the renowned professors and advisors. At that time, the campus TV station, the student newspaper and variety of classes—they all offered great opportunities for learning.”

As a first-generation college student, Baftiri knew the value of education. Her parents each had completed only four years of education, having grown up in very poor villages in what is now called North Macedonia, a part of the former Yugoslavia.

“They finished 4th grade, and then they worked in the fields,” she said. “My dad was a shepherd at the tender age of nine, after his father died. He and his siblings had to work and take care of the family. Growing up, my dad would always say to my siblings and me, ‘Education gives you eyes.’ What he meant was knowledge gives you the freedom to become whatever you want to be. It’s a window of possibilities. It gives you a path for a better life, to be respected, and to make a difference.”

What a difference it made.

Baftiri was fortunate to have outstanding professors. Her newspaper reporting and media writing classes taught her many of the skills she still relies on today, like how to write TV scripts. The rigorous approach to education at NIU motivated her to be a critical and creative thinker, and that teaching approach propelled her career.

“I grew so attached to NIU, I wanted to continue my master’s degree in media studies there,” she said. “That speaks volumes to the student experience and the many aspects of intellectual and academic development I gained.”

emmy

Baftiri with her Emmy Award.

During her graduate studies, Baftiri was required to take on an internship in journalism, and she lined up an apprenticeship at WGN-TV.

“If it wasn’t for this requirement of getting an internship, I don’t think I would be in my current role,” she said. “I didn’t know anyone in the industry, but I applied anyway after my NIU advisor told me about the opportunity. To my surprise, I got a call back a couple of days later from the assistant news director. He asked me to come in the next few days, do several interviews, and take a writing test. I stayed up all day and night practicing how to turn newspaper copy into TV scripts. I couldn’t afford to fail this test or bomb the interviews. This was my only shot. I couldn’t screw it up.”

When the day came for the interview, Baftiri walked into the iconic WGN building on Chicago’s North Side, where drawings of Bozo and legendary TV journalists graced the hallways. It was a “pinch-me” moment she will never forget.

“Here I am, a daughter of immigrants, English as my second language, trying to be a journalist in Chicago?!” Baftiri remembered. “I couldn’t believe it.”

The next day, when she got the call that she was hired for a paid writing internship, it was one of the best moments in her life.

“My whole life I felt like the underdog and here I was about to write for WGN, Chicago’s local news station with a national audience at the time. My hard work in college was finally paying off,” she said.

The apprenticeship lasted six months and went by very quickly. Many of Baftiri’s mentors didn’t want to discourage her, but they gently suggested that, when her internship was over, she should start at a smaller TV market to get more experience. No one really starts working in the third-largest television market right out of college, they said.

“Many journalists scratch and claw their entire careers in hopes of getting a job in the top five markets,” Baftiri said. “But the late, great journalist, Allison Payne, took me under her wings and requested I work with her on stories. I couldn’t believe it. She saw my passion, my drive, my dedication, and she spoke to the higher-ups and the assistant news director offered me a freelance job.”

Baftiri started to work on special projects with Payne, doing larger stories on Sen. Dick Durbin, then-Sen. Barack Obama, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and more. Other anchors in the newsroom took notice of Baftiri’s projects and requested to work with her. She began to produce stories on WWII and features like “Haunted Chicago,” as well as daily stories about mothers who lost children to gun violence and the months-long corruption trial of former Illinois Governor George Ryan.

vicky-1

After 15 years in journalism, Baftiri is passionate about telling Chicago stories.

“Allison Payne saved me. She changed the trajectory of my life. I credit my entire career to her,” Baftiri said. “I don’t know what my future would have looked like if she didn’t believe in me.”

After working at WGN for three years, Baftiri was recruited to be a segment producer for two national shows for NBC Universal—Open House, a real estate, renovation, and design show, and “1st Look,” a lifestyle show that airs after Saturday Night Live that features the best in entertainment, fashion and food. As a segment producer, she worked on Chicago segments that would then be transferred to New York where an editor put together half-hour shows to include stories from Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. She also interviewed celebrities like Perry Farrell, Ivanka and Eric Trump, and famous designers like Vern Yip and Nate Berkus, and many more.

In 2010, Baftiri received an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Achievement for Informational Programs” for her work on  “Open House.”

“It truly is a humbling feeling to be recognized for hard work, dedication, and creativity,” she said. “This is a cut-throat field, and the competition is high. You wonder if all the sacrifices you make are worth it. So, this honor was something that I am very proud of.”
While Baftiri says NBC was a “fun gig,” but quickly found it less fulfilling than her journalism roots. “I wasn’t doing the stories that I thought made a difference,” she said.

Taking a chance on other opportunities, Baftiri began freelancing in advertising and then for CBS Chicago as a writer/fill-in supervising producer. There, she had the amazing opportunity to write and produce newscasts for two legendary broadcasters—Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson. Since 2017, Baftiri has returned to her roots at WGN, where she works a supervising producer of her own show, the WGN Evening News at 6 p.m.

“The stories I run include investigative stories, crime, political stories, stories about community, health, family, corruption, features and feel-good stories,” she said. “It’s a tough job, but a job I deeply enjoy. The daily deadlines and speedy rush of a newsroom can be overwhelming, but I understand my duty, that my role is a public service, and that we have the power to shape people’s perspectives. It’s a massive responsibility that I don’t take lightly. We work day-in and day-out to provide factual coverage that does not perpetuate myths or stereotypes or spread misinformation.”

Baftiri is involved with the entire editorial process, from story selection, storytelling and checking scripts, to making sure the video and graphics illustrate the story accurately.

“My team and I make sure there is a good balance of hard news and features. In a time where the news is all doom and gloom, we really try to give a good variety of stories to our viewers,” she said. “It truly takes a village to put on the news, and I’m lucky to have an extraordinary team who helps me make it happen every single day.”

In an era where many people are becoming citizen journalists, it is hard for readers and viewers to distinguish what is true and what is not. Baftiri works each day to cut through that noise.

“At the end of the day, I do what I do, not for the notoriety or the money, but for the greater good of humankind. This work is a noble act,” she said. “We hold people of power accountable for their actions, uncover fraud. We are constructive but never careless. We are unafraid to ask hard questions to uncover the truth. Without great journalists, we would be left in the dark. It goes back to my dad’s saying, that ‘education gives you eyes.’ I believe that journalism gives you eyes. Unbiased, factual stories open your eyes to see the world.”

Date posted: November 30, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU launches career of Emmy Award-winning journalist Vicky Baftiri, ’03, M.S. ’05

Categories: Alumni Faculty & Staff Homepage

Finding skilled laborers has been an ongoing challenge for Illinois manufacturers. According to Whiteside County Economic Development (WCED) of Morrison, Illinois, the labor shortage and skills gap is expected to worsen as a boom of skilled manufacturing workers reach retirement age, leaving Illinois manufacturers with an even greater shortage of skilled labor that is expected to continue through 2025 and beyond.

However, the region’s economic development organizations and higher education institutions hope to narrow the gap. A collaboration has formed between NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology (CEET), Sauk Valley Community College (SVCC) and WECD to engage teams of senior engineering students to solve real-world challenges that manufacturers are facing.

In the CEET Senior Design Program, students form multi-disciplinary teams of three plus a graduate assistant and a faculty mentor, to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a hands-on learning experience to construct a prototype or process for area manufacturers.

With funding provided by SVCC and WCED, Bonnell Industries of Dixon, Illinois was provided with $5,000 toward the sponsorship of a Senior Design project that will support a special short-term project for the 62-year-old local manufacturer of truck, snow removal, and road maintenance equipment.

Manufacturing Director Ray Ziganto joined CEET to work hand-in-hand with Illinois manufacturers as part of a grant from the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in partnership with the Illinois Manufacturing Excellence Center (IMEC) to seek out small-to-mid-sized Illinois manufacturers needing additional resources to stay competitive. Ziganto’s role is to pair manufacturers with teams of enterprising senior engineering students to solve technology and engineering challenges.

“Through this partnership, that is getting rave reviews from students and manufacturers, companies get solutions to real-world challenges that help grow and improve their businesses,” said Ziganto. “We’re looking to expand the program, and attract more manufacturers.”

Throughout the Senior Design program, teams meet weekly under the mentorship of an industry-experienced faculty member whose role is to keep the teams progressing. In addition, a representative from each of the client companies is invited and encouraged to attend the weekly meetings to answer questions and ensure that the projects are on track to meet the desired objectives.

At the end of the spring semester, the teams exhibit their completed projects in an event that is open to the public called Senior Design Demonstration Day, which will be held on Friday, May 6 from noon to 4 p.m. at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb.

“Partnerships like these truly serve to benefit everyone involved and the state as a whole,” said Mansour Tahernezhadi, Ph.D., senior associate dean for CEET. “It’s a win-win situation where students get real-world learning experience, and manufacturers fill the skills gap in the labor force. The outcome is tremendous – a real workable solution to an engineering challenge that the manufacturer is facing.”

The Bonnell Industries team includes students Samual Brown, Kyle Dick, and Jeremy Steegmueller with Teaching Assistant Tyler Vogen and Faculty Advisor Robert Sinko, Ph.D.

For more information visit go.niu.edu/seniordesign or contact Ray Ziganto.

Date posted: November 29, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Manufacturers tap into new engineering talent to fill labor shortage

Categories: Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

Touring the Rec Center
The FLEX group tours the Rec Center.

The topic of the day was, appropriately enough, confidence and self-efficacy.

In other words, Associate Professor Jenn Jacobs told her students in KNPE 310: Psychological Aspects of Sport and Exercise, the power of the mind. Or, she clarified, the perception of one’s ability to perform a specific task successfully.

“My favorite theory of all time,” Jacobs said. “It teaches you how to believe you can do something. What is more important than that? Nothing.”

Among the many unfamiliar faces in her classroom that Nov. 9 afternoon were a half-dozen graduate students from the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education as well as four people with no connection to NIU at all.

One wore a gray Calvin Klein long-sleeve T-shirt and distressed blue jeans. Another sported a black top with red pants. The others were non-uniformed employees of the Illinois Youth Center in Warrenville, where the first two are incarcerated.

For the two young men, the day on the NIU campus was a reward for their active participation and good conduct in Project FLEX – which are, of course, outcomes directly tied to their belief in themselves.

Launched in the fall of 2018 by Jacobs, colleague and officemate Zachary Wahl-Alexander and graduate student Tim Mack, Project FLEX (Fitness Leadership Experience) offers structured physical activity to young men within the facilities and aspirations and resources to lead more productive lives outside once their sentences are completed.

By May of 2019, three young men earned the privilege of the project’s first campus trip.

Coming to DeKalb provided this month’s pair with tours of Huskie athletic facilities, the Rec Center and the Omega Delta fraternity house. They ate endless helpings of lunch in New Hall. They played hoops in an Anderson Hall gym.

Yet their favorite part of the day, they would say in a debriefing session, came in the classroom.

Blending easily among the regulars, they learned from Jacobs about Bandura’s four states of self-efficacy: performance accomplishments, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and emotional arousal.

Performance accomplishments are the best predictor of future behavior. Nothing breeds success like success.

Vicarious experiences – forming ideas about personal abilities by observing what others can achieve – are nearly as powerful. The feedback and encouragement of verbal persuasion are less strong, while the perceptions of feelings during emotional arousal can alter levels of confidence and are, therefore, the weakest predictor.

Jenn Jacobs
Jenn Jacobs

Students demonstrated their understanding by looking at pictures of various situations and, in consultation with partners, holding up color-coded cards to express which of the four states were in play. No answers were wrong if well-reasoned and defended, Jacobs said, and some students did indeed hold up two, three or even four cards at a time.

The professor also explained the “vicious cycle” of self-fulfilling prophesies, fed by the endless march of beliefs that fuel expectations that influence behaviors that produce results – a process likely familiar to people in correctional facilities.

Jacobs later handed off to Gabrielle Bennett, a Ph.D. student in the NIU Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, who divided the classroom into nine groups – all guests included in the random clusters – for an icebreaking activity.

Briskly answering “hot seat” questions about dream vacations, favorite foods and more uncovered connections and raised eyebrows between strangers of diverse ages and backgrounds, providing yet another glimpse of life, culture and possibilities on a college campus.

GRADUATE STUDENT TIMOTHY MAHONEY, who is pursuing an M.S. in Kinesiology and Physical Education with a specialization in Sport and Exercise Psychology, is a facilitator in Project FLEX’s Swole Patrol.

Developed as Project FLEX grew at the Illinois Youth Facility in St. Charles, Swole Patrol offers one-on-one personal training and leadership development twice weekly to six clients who qualify and remain eligible through good behavior.

Timothy Mahoney
Timothy Mahoney

Mahoney, who came from his native Deerfield to earn his B.S. in Psychology from NIU in May 2020, glimpsed the possibility during his first semester on campus. He was taking KNPE 310 when the FLEX team presented in the classroom.

“I remember trying to sneak into Project FLEX that same day,” Mahoney said.

Why?

“Just the opportunity to work with youth, and to provide them life skills they need to use outside facility once they’re done,” he said. “I’m really fortunate to have some great mentors, and people really need that, so I hope to be that for someone.”

He views the young men from a “strengths” model: “I think it’s the situation, not the person. It’s important to give people the opportunity to succeed rather than just judging them at face value.”

As an official member of FLEX team now, and as coach of the basketball squad at St. Charles, Mahoney is discovering truths about the young men, about himself and about the importance of being “genuine” with others.

“I’m learning how similar we all are,” he said. “When you work with juveniles who are incarcerated, at the end of the day, they’re just kids. They’re still just teenagers. They still love to joke around, and we have a lot of fun.”

Personally, “I’m learning how sport can influence us outside of competition,” he added. “I think I’m a pretty confident, outgoing individual, and getting to interact with the youth has really strengthened my views on myself, and also has changed some of the ways that I view leadership. Leadership and respect are earned, not given.”

The Fall 2021 FLEX crew
The Fall 2021 FLEX crew

Mahoney, who has played lacrosse “pretty much all my life,” including on the club level at NIU, plans a career working with athletes as an applied sport psychologist: “The mental side of sports has really been exploding the past few years,” he said. “It’s only right that the next generation of athletes is given resources to succeed on and off the field, and I think I can contribute.”

Knowledge and skills gained through FLEX will prove beneficial.

“It’s always something different each day we go into the facility, whether it’s working with someone to get over some sort of anxiety related to hitting a new personal record in the weight room, or encouraging a player who missed two free throws in a row,” he said.

“We’re always working on, ‘How can we get better at this? What can we do? What little tips and tricks can I give you mentally that will give you an edge over your opponents?’ ”

Calculating the power of the Nov. 9 campus visit toward that goal is impossible.

“Coming here gives them a great perspective on something that they might have heard about but don’t know firsthand,” Mahoney said. “As much as can talk about life at NIU, there’s nothing like bringing them to campus, giving them a taste of what it’s like to go eat at the dining hall and to experience a classroom setting. It’s a really unique opportunity. It gives them a taste of what could be.”

SEVEN HOURS AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL in DeKalb, the two young men and their chaperones from Warrenville gathered around a table in Anderson Hall to reflect on the day.

It was a time to chill, said Wahl-Alexander, an associate professor of Physical Education, and the next hour did produce smiles, laughter and posing for pictures with disposable cameras.

The Anderson Hall pool
The Anderson Hall pool

Questions were plentiful; answers were revealing.

For example, as both declared the 74-minute class as the best part of their visit, one called it “fun.” It had been so long since he’d been in a classroom. It also wasn’t what either had imagined of a college classroom, of an old professor lecturing students to sleep.

But, clearly, the lesson had broken through. Thinking of the self-fulfilling prophesies that Jacobs had spoken on, one connected it to his negative thoughts at night while locked up and how those emotions can determine how he approaches the coming day.

They talked about the pizza and the Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal they’d gobbled in the dining hall. They talked about whether they could see themselves as college students and, if so, their majors. Criminal Justice, one said.

They talked about the conversations they’d had with NIU students, the stories they might tell their counterparts when they returned to Warrenville and the advice they would give the visitors chosen for the next on-campus field trip in the spring: “Bring some shoes that don’t hurt your feet.” “Ask questions.”

They talked about what they would change to the day’s agenda: more classes, please. They learned about the process of applying for admission and financial aid.

The end-of-the-day debriefing
Let’s talk: the end-of-the-day debriefing.

They heard what their chaperones and the Project FLEX graduate assistants had enjoyed about the day. Watching them simply walking through campus. The chance to eat a meal with them. To play basketball with them. To witness their interactions with college students. To see them immersed in the moment without the walls of Warrenville literally and figuratively bearing down on them.

“Do you feel different?” Jacobs asked.

“I feel different,” one answered.

“How?”

“I feel like one of y’all.”

Date posted: November 29, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Field trip: Project FLEX visitors spend day at NIU to witness their possibilities

Categories: Community Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

Tao Li is paving the way for next-generation batteries

Date posted: November 29, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on NSF, DOE boost chemistry professor’s battery research

Categories: Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

On November 19, 2021, the NIU College of Business held its Alumni Awards Dinner. Hosted by Dean Balaji Rajagopalan, attendees included NIU President Freeman, 2020 and 2021 award winners, NIU College of Business alumni and friends, and NIU faculty and staff, all of whom gathered together in celebration of the college’s award winners for the years 2020 and 2021, respectively. Due to the covid-19 pandemic, this year’s event represents the first time award winners for the past two years were celebrated during one event. Also, due to the pandemic, some award winners were not able to attend in person.

Please see the writeups that follow to learn more about the journeys taken and accomplishments achieved by each of the amazing individuals who were honored. Our hearty congratulations to each 2021 NIU College of Business Alumni award winner:

    • Distinguished Alumna Jocelyn Moore, 1999 B.S. Management, 2009 MBA, General Manager of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft Customer & Partner Solutions + Geographies.
    • Distinguished Alumnus Alan Handley, 1992 B.S. Accountancy, CEO of Lakeshore Recycling Systems.
    • Outstanding Young Alumna Korrey Anderson, 2012 B.S. Operations Management and Information Systems, 2018 MBA, Cyber Security Service Manager at McDonald’s U.S.A.
    • Innovation and Entrepreneurship award honoree Suzanne El-Moursi, 2000 B.S. Operations Management and Information Systems, COO of Brighthive.
    • Global Alumnus Carlos Andres-Madrigal Restrepo, 2015 MBA, COO of Danec.
    • Student Engagement award honoree Matt Thompson (posthumous), 1980 B.S. Marketing, retired Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations at Adobe.

2021 Distinguished Alumna

Jocelyn Moore, 1999 B.S. Management, 2009 MBA, General Manager of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Microsoft Customer & Partner Solutions + Geographies

Moore is a globally astute human resource executive. Moore is the general manager of Global Diversity & Inclusion at Microsoft. In this capacity she is responsible for leading Global Diversity & Inclusion for the Microsoft Customer & Partner Solutions group and for all geographies.

Moore brings 20 years of progressive human resources experience from global companies like Aon Hewitt, Medline Industries, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and DXC Technology. Moore has held many transformative Human Resources roles. She started her career as a HR Coordinator and worked her way through the ranks to more progressive complex human resources positions.

Prior to joining Microsoft, she was with a North American based company, responsible for transforming the entire HR department. Moore also spent time as the VP of Global Talent Acquisition with DXC Technology, responsible for recruiting 30,000 new employees each year across the company’s global footprint. In this capacity, Moore was directly responsible for leading all Global Talent Acquisition strategies, including relationship management, workforce planning, talent channels, and overall governance.

Moore recognizes she was helped along her career journey and wants to pay it forward. Over the years, she has done résumé and interviewing workshops, served on many nonprofit boards all focused on helping students with diverse backgrounds, and has had several mentees.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in HR Management and MBA from Northern Illinois University and was the 2018 Distinguished Alumna for the Management Department.

2021 Distinguished Alumnus

Alan Handley, 1992 B.S. Accountancy, CEO of Lakeshore Recycling Systems

Handley is a transformational waste and environmental services industry leader and president and chief executive officer of Rosemont, Illinois- based LRS (formerly known as Lakeshore Recycling Systems) since the company’s founding in 2013.

Under Handley’s leadership, LRS has experienced exponential growth, disrupting the waste industry status quo through a sustainability-focused circular operating model designed to generate more revenue by diverting and repurposing more material from the waste stream. Today, LRS ranks as the largest independent waste, recycling and portable services provider in the Midwest United States, and the fifth largest waste and recycling provider in North America.

During his tenure, Handley has scaled LRS revenues from $60 million with 220 employees in 2013, to more than $430 million in revenue with more than 1,800 employees in 2021, successfully executing 15 acquisitions in 2021. Handley sets the vision, pace and passion at LRS, introducing new technologies and innovations in waste and recycling, including in 2018, when LRS was the first in the nation to deploy the Machinex SamurAITM robotic sorting machine. LRS today operates 56 facilities across eight Midwestern states: Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Indiana, Minnesota, Arkansas and Kansas, bringing needed competition to waste, recycling and portable services markets.

Prior to LRS, Handley served as Executive Vice President and CFO at Aldridge Electric, a leading electrical contractor focused on complex critical infrastructure projects. Before Aldridge, Handley served as Managing Director at Mesirow Financial/KPMG, where he led a team of 140 consultants; other leadership positions included Heller Financial, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, and the United States Marine Corps.

Handley holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, where he later served as an adjunct professor, and a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from Northern Illinois University. Handley is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Insolvency and Restructuring Advisor, and a Chartered Global Management Accountant. His board commitments include the Lupus Society of Illinois, the Pediatric Lupus Clinic at the University of Chicago’s Comer Children’s Hospital, and the Board of Executive Advisors at the NIU College of Business.

An avid scuba diver, mountaineer and traveler, Handley is passionate about conserving and protecting the environment, and keeping plastic out of the world’s oceans.

2021 Outstanding Young Alumna

Korrey Anderson, 2012 B.S. Operations Management and Information Systems, 2018 MBA, Cyber Security Service Manager at McDonald’s U.S.A.

Anderson has spent the last 10 years working for McDonald’s U.S.A. in various roles including performance testing, risk management, and currently as the cyber security service manager over Endpoint Protection.

In this role she provides support and services to over 100 countries in the McDonald’s system – supplying the solutions necessary to protect corporate and restaurant devices against malware and security threats. Recently she led a large-scale initiative to drive adoption of a globally managed endpoint protection offering across all McDonald’s markets enhancing the security and protection of the organization.

Since her graduation Anderson has remained involved with NIU, participating on the OM&IS Executive Advisory Committee and the ELC Executive Advisory Board. She values the education and experiences she has had at NIU and has embraced opportunities to stay involved and provide guidance and support to other students.

Anderson is a two-time NIU alumna, receiving her undergraduate degree in operations management and information systems in 2012 and her master’s in business administration in 2018.

2021 Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Suzanne El-Moursi, 2000 B.S. Operations Management and Information Systems, COO of Brighthive

El-Moursi is an accomplished business leader with 20 years’ experience specializing in digital transformations, brand strategy, growth marketing, entrepreneurship and startup operations.

Following 13 very successful years leading innovation and growth strategies at several global brands (IBM, HSBC, GE Healthcare, and (Sa pient Nitro) El-Moursi’s passion for entrepreneurship led to her career shift to building startup businesses.

Beginning in 2012, El-Moursi joined Power2Switch as chief marketing officer, a deregulated energy shopping platform, which was acquired in 2013 by Choose Energy, a portfolio company of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. After the acquisition El-Moursi continued with Choose Energy as vice president of marketing leading brand development and growth marketing taking the energy marketplace across all deregulated energy states. In 2015 she joined another startup, Mira Fitness, as creative director leading product design, growth strategy and marketing.

In 2016 El-Moursi became CEO & President of Uplift Data Partners, a drone technology SaaS and service platform for the construction industry, funded by Clayco Construction’s private equity fund Treehouse Ventures, where she led it from inception to acquisition. Uplift Data Partners was acquired by Precision Hawk, the largest privately held drone technology company, adding the construction vertical to their existing offerings in energy, agriculture and telecommunications.

El-Moursi is currently the chief operations officer at venture backed metadata collaboration platform, Brighthive. Brighthive enables private and public organizations to share and collaborate on different datasets while ensuring the business, legal and technological limitations are solved for. Today El-Moursi is an active Venture Capital Investor with the W Fund and sits on the board of directors for technology startups in data governance and health remote monitoring startups.

El-Moursi is a founding member of Chief, sits on the board of directors for the Chicago Children’s Choir and Northern Illinois University’s College of Business board of advisors to the Dean.

2021 Global Alumnus

Carlos Andres-Madrigal Restrepo, 2015 MBA, COO of Danec

Madrigal is responsible for the strategic direction, vision and yield growth of Danec, the largest palm oil group in Latin American (Colombia and Ecuador), with more than 5,000 employees and more than 112,000 acres under his responsibility.

As a seasoned professional with more than 20 years of agro- industrial experience, and with a great professional career in executive positions in large companies in the United States, Colombia and Ecuador, Madrigal is known for driving companies to growth, maximizing operational excellence, and delivering financial and productivity performance.

He has mentored managers and presidents throughout his career and is an active member of several boards of directors.

Madrigal holds an Executive MBA from the Northern Illinois University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Sergio Arboleda University. He graduated summa cum laude.

2021 Student Engagement

Matt Thompson (posthumous), 1980 B.S. Marketing, retired Executive Vice President of Worldwide Field Operations at Adobe

Thompson led Adobe’s efforts to enhance long-term growth opportunities internationally. He persistently focused on understanding Adobe’s customers and maximized sales through their behavior. He was adept at determining what’s hot and new in the industry and pivoting Adobe to keep ahead of the competition. His reputation and impact at Adobe were preeminent.

He was a caring and even boss, but held people accountable for promised deliverables. He was devoted to making sure everyone had a seat at the table, especially women. As a huge supporter of women’s initiatives, he worked tirelessly to support them within the high-tech industry by providing seminars to encourage them to stay current alongside their male counterparts and to inspire them to reach their potential.

Thompson regularly traveled back to NIU’s campus to mentor students and speak in classes. He did so to share his knowledge with future business leaders on sales concepts and the computer software industry. He hosted sales students at Adobe headquarters yearly and regularly invited them to his home for networking.

He also provided NIU’s MBA students access to Adobe offices worldwide. These visits helped connect students to real world insight at international business locations. And Thompson’s impact inspired future business leaders while helping them grasp international commerce.

Outside of Adobe, Thompson sat on the Board of Directors of Appirio, an information technology consulting company headquartered in Indiana. He offered his professional services to assist the company in strategic partnerships with cloud applications, like Salesforce. Additionally, he served on the Board of Directors of the Special Olympics of Northern California.

In light of Thompson’s untimely passing earlier this fall, we are honored to celebrate his accomplishments. We are deeply honored and proud to call Matt Thompson an alumnus, a mentor, and a friend.

Please see the writeups that follow to learn more about the journeys taken and accomplishments achieved by each of the amazing individuals who were honored. Our hearty congratulations to 2020 NIU College of Business Alumni award winners:

    • Distinguished Alumnus Wes Saber, 2014 MBA, Executive Vice President and CFO of HARIBO of America.
    • Honorary Alumna Jackie Sander, 2008 B.S. Public Health Administration, Executive Director and Partner of The Birches Assisted Living.
    • Outstanding Young Alumna Mary Vrancic, 2008 B.S. Marketing, 2018 MBA, Digital Marketing Director for McDonald’s U.S.A.
    • Innovation and Entrepreneurship award honoree Jack Molloy, 1994 B.S. Marketing, Executive Vice President of Sales for Motorola Solutions.
    • Social Impact award honoree Sarjoo Patel, M.D., 2003 B.S. Operations Management and Information Systems, CEO of Beam Healthcare and Flow Healthcare.
    • Student Engagement award honoree Robert H. Rothkopf, 1967 B.S. Management, 1973 M.S. Management, retired President and CEO of Semblix Corporation.

2020 Distinguished Alumnus

Wes Saber, 2014 MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of HARIBO of America

Saber has been an international leader in innovative management philosophy and business development for more than 22 years.

His expertise in developing global enterprises has led him to his current role as executive vice president and chief financial officer for HARIBO of America (HoA), the fastest growing confectionery company in the U.S.

As EVP and CFO for HoA, Saber has created a holistic approach for international operations between the company and its affiliates, ensuring the global reach of HARIBO is successful in the U.S. He spearheaded the development of the $242M investment to build HARIBO’s first-ever U.S. factory, projected to create more than 400 jobs in the first phase build-out. The factory will be in Pleasant Prairie, Wis., and upon completion it will be one of the largest confectionery plants in the U.S.

Prior to joining HARIBO, Saber had roles in 25 countries around the world, including Turkey, Egypt, Africa, United Arab Emirates and the U.S. His most recent role was with Mars, Inc. where he worked with the chocolate segment to develop the business in Europe, Russia and the U.S. He has also held leadership roles in Finance and Marketing with Pizza Hut and KPMG.

Saber holds his MBA from Northern Illinois University and has continued his learning with Harvard Business School and the Center for Creative Leadership. In addition to English, Saber is fluent in Arabic and speaks Turkish and French. He is an active Board Member of the Boys and Girls Club of Kenosha, Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the Kenosha Area Business Alliance. Saber is passionate about engaged, diverse environments and has a deep appreciation for collaboration, cultural learning and inclusion.

2020 Honorary Alumna

Jackie Sander, 2008 B.S. Public Health Administration, Executive Director and Partner of The Birches Assisted Living

Sander was pivotal in navigating the community through the extreme times of the pandemic quickly and efficiently for the health and safety of the residents, team members, and their families.

Sander is passionate about keeping up with various industry trends, advocating and applying best practices in senior living as an active LeadingAge Assisted Living cabinet member. She helps provide an atmosphere of growth and opportunity for all individuals regardless of age or ability and helps support and excel small businesses.

As past president of the NIU Executive Club, which partners with the College of Business, Sander, with a group of elite business alumni, relaunched the NIU Executive Club in 2019 to provide scholarship opportunities within the College of Business to exceptional students in business, and develop networking opportunities for our “best in class” alumni and future business leaders.

2020 Outstanding Young Alumna

Mary Vrancic, 2008 B.S. Marketing, 2018 MBA, Digital Marketing Director for McDonald’s U.S.A.

Vrancic began her career with McDonald’s through an Experiential Learning Center (ELC) project, an opportunity created for undergraduate students, during her time at Northern Illinois University. From there, she landed the first international internship for McDonald’s and partnered with the local marketing team on McHappy Day, 2008 Beijing Olympics and supported the launch of free restaurant WiFi.

After completing her internship, Vrancic joined the Global Technology team focusing on infrastructure and support. While in this role, she earned the McDonald’s Circle of Excellence Award for her leadership on an enterprise tech project with Microsoft. This award recognizes individuals across all McDonald’s markets responsible for implementing an idea that exhibits creativity, delivers better business results and makes the company demonstrably more efficient.

In 2012, Vrancic transitioned to the Global Technology Strategy team where she managed annual technology alignment, planning processes and oversaw technology portfolio management. She was instrumental in standing up the Ronald McDonald House Charity tech strategy to integrate RMHC into the McDonald’s customer experience. This led her to win the McDonald’s President’s Award in 2015, which is awarded to the top 1% of McDonald’s corporate employees globally for their purposeful collaboration, while inspiring other to deliver better results.

In 2016, Vrancic shifted to the world of Digital Marketing and was quickly recruited to join the U.S. Marketing team to lead customer data strategy and segmentation for paid and owned media activations. Vrancic developed and launched the first U.S. customer segmentation framework to integrate content strategies and communication channels. She also led the redesign of marketing processes to incorporate a more customer-centric approach to campaign planning. In 2019, she was responsible for establishing the first digital test and learn center of excellence, accelerating the application of first party customer data for cross-channel digital activation.

2020 Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Jack Molloy, 1994 B.S. Marketing, Executive Vice President of Sales for Motorola Solutions.

Molloy began his career at Motorola Inc. in 2003 as an area sales manager for government and public safety. A few years later, in 2006, he moved up to MSSI VP and director of sales. Since 2011, he has held multiple leadership positions of increasing responsibility in his career with Motorola Solutions. Most recently, he is the executive vice president of products and sales, Motorola Solutions.

Molloy is driving a modernization agenda for the company and in public safety. He leads Motorola’s global sales, system integration, and product development organizations. His teams are innovating to ensure its land mobile radio and video security platforms are an essential part of public safety and enterprise communications.

He has served on the boards of The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation and The Field Museum.

2020 Social Impact

Sarjoo Patel, M.D., 2003 B.S. Operations Management and Information Systems, CEO of Beam Healthcare and Flow Healthcare.

Patel is the person he is because of the mistakes he made and the support of those closest to him. Patel is passionate about simplifying life, the practice of healthy living, and improving outcomes in the field of medicine.

His experience as a clinician and bootstrapping entrepreneur has given him unique skills as a leader, collaborator, and strategist in running lean and socially responsible organizations. He hopes to continue utilizing his skills by working alongside organizations that advocate for the environment, help the homeless, and assist in alleviating extreme poverty.

After medical school, Sarjoo began his career as chief resident at Excela Health in 2010. He continued his career in health care at Stoughton Hospital where he was medical director and started the Hospitalist Program there. He quickly began advancing his career even more when he became founder and CEO of Beam Healthcare in 2014. At Beam Healthcare, he used technology to solve Iron Triangle of Healthcare and now leads a team of medical professionals in Madison, Wisconsin. In 2014, he also became CEO of Flow Healthcare, health- tech SaaS that streamlines the process of onboarding, managing and educating medical staff members.

Sarjoo currently serves as a board member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Wisconsin. Today, he is developing his non-profit branch of Beam Healthcare, called Beam-Up. Beam-Up is working to tackle social determinants of healthcare.

2020 Student Engagement

Robert H. Rothkopf, 1967 B.S. Management, 1973 M.S. Management, retired President and CEO of Semblix Corporation

Rothkopf has enjoyed a 52-year partnership with Northern Illinois University, which began in 1965 when he enrolled as a junior at NIU’s College of Business. He has returned each fall until 2019 to teach the Dean Scholars in Leadership Preparation.

This partnership is unique in the length of time and commitment from each party that has spanned five deans and several classroom appearances at the College of Business both as an instructor and speaker. He began his career in 1965 working full-time at the Chrysler Corporation at the Belvidere Assembly Plant while also attending Northern Illinois University.

In 1970 Rothkopf joined Camcar Textron, a cold heading company in Rockford. In the marketing department for the next 19 years, he worked his way up the ranks and became president of the company in 1986 and continued in that role until 1989. That same year, Rothkopf joined Elco Industries in Rockford as vice president of planning. Over the next 11 years he was also vice president of marketing and sales and became president of the Industrial Group of Elco in 1994 and served in that role until 2001.

In 2001 Rothkopf started his own consulting company, Rothkopf and Associates, where he consulted for many fastener and metalworking companies before joining Semblex Corporation as a full-time consultant in 2002. He then became president of Semblex in 2004.

Rothkopf has received many awards with the Northern Illinois University and the College of Business. His involvement with the College of Business includes 24 years of serving on the Board of Executive Advisors, delivering the commencement address, and providing scholarship support. In 2010, Rothkopf began his teaching career at NIU teaching Leadership and Leadership Preparation courses to the Dean’s Scholars at the College of Business at the DeKalb and Rockford campuses. He taught these classes for eight years until 2019. In 2017, the Alumni Association awarded Rothkopf the Outstanding College Alumni Award.

In his retirement, Rothkopf has resumed his career as a consultant specializing in business planning, sales strategies and sales training.

Date posted: November 29, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU College of Business honors alumni with award ceremony

Categories: Alumni Faculty & Staff Homepage Uncategorized

Seventh-graders from Clinton Rosette work together to lower the marker into the bottle.

Seventh-graders from Clinton Rosette Middle School work together to lower the blue marker into the plastic bottle.

Seventh-graders from Clinton Rosette Middle School stood in a circle, each clutching a several-feet-long string tied to the same marker.

Their task: cooperate to insert that marker into the mouth of a 20-ounce plastic bottle.

First, they remained still as they pulled tightly or loosened their individual grips to position the marker over the target and then carefully feed it in. Later, they tried again as they walked slowly in their circle.

Neither looked easy, but plenty of success was had – and all thanks to their teamwork.

And that was indeed one of the missions of the events in the Anderson Hall gym, where nearly 225 middle school students came in two groups on the final Wednesday of October and the first Wednesday of November.

Meanwhile, their presence offered an unparalleled opportunity for Middle Level Teaching and Learning majors in the MLTL 302 clinical experience course to practice their skills.

For Donna Werderich, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction and coordinator of the Middle Level Teaching and Learning program, the Fall 2021 edition of Project TEAMS: Team-building Experiences and Activities in Middle School also provided a full-circle moment.

Emily Paniagua
Emily Paniagua

Emily Paniagua, in her second year as ESL math interventionist for students in sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grades at Clinton Rosette, is an NIU College of Education alumna who first participated in Project TEAMS in 2018 while still a Huskie.

“It was a really cool experience because that was one the first times we got to be hands-on with the middle school students,” Paniagua says. “We didn’t really know what to expect, so it was a lot of trial and error.”

Her activity three years ago involved asking the visiting children to write statements on paper and then discuss those with their groups.

Observing the creativity this year – other stations this fall required collaborative stacking of red, plastic cups, or collaborative drawing straight lines or star shapes, all again with the use of strings, or some fierce rock-paper-scissors battles – made Paniagua just a bit envious: “I was like, ‘Wow, I wish I had done that!’ ”

But she long has been aware of what helps young adolescents to engage in their learning and the need for an open mind.

“We know what middle-schoolers like to do and what gets them actually involved and wanting to participate. You can’t always do a fun activity, but maybe you can do a walk-around activity around the room so they’re not just always taking notes and doing a paper activity,” she says.

“Trial and error is a huge thing with teaching,” she adds. “Even my teaching first period compared to my last period is totally different. That first period, you get to see, ‘OK, this went well; this didn’t go well,’ and, ‘OK, so now I want to do this next time. I want to maybe try not doing this next time.’ It’s just always being flexible.”

PROFESSOR WERDERICH WAS excited to see Paniagua, who graduated in 2020.

Donna Werderich
Donna Werderich

Middle Level Teaching and Learning’s mission is to prepare teacher candidates who understand the intellectual, physical, social, emotional, ethical and cultural needs and interests of young adolescents; who demonstrate content knowledge expertise; and who commit themselves to a developmentally responsive approach to curriculum and instruction at the middle school level.

Faculty, however, rarely see the fruits of their labors.

“As faculty, we provide content. We provide methods. Our supervisor and our cooperating teachers out in the field get to see our candidates in action in the classroom,” Werderich says. “With this opportunity, we get to see them in a different light. We get to see them developing as a teacher.”

She knows that the Project TEAMS approach – “My motivation still stems from my own experience of being a middle school language arts teacher, and always wanting to make a difference,” Werderich says – benefits its alumni.

Principals of the schools where those students are hired tell her so during annual Professional Advisory Committee meetings.

“I believe that caring has always been, and most currently still needs to be, the foundation in our classrooms in this context we’re in. We still hear from principals that if a middle school teacher does not have that connection that they can make with the young adolescents, they’re not going to be hired,” she says.

Could you stack the cups using strings?
Could you stack the cups using strings?

“We are now in the fifth iteration of this, and it’s been so strong. We can see the effects of it on our candidates when they start building those relationships and understanding the dynamics of middle school students – they are quirky, and they have so many unique needs and interests. You really have to tap into that in order to be a successful teacher in the classroom and then help your students become successful as well.”

AMANDA BAUM TEACHES seventh-grade at Clinton Rosette and worked with Werderich and Jennifer Johnson, senior director for Student Success in the College of Education, to create Project TEAMS.

Baum remains deeply involved.

She delivers professional development seminars focused on how student-teacher relationships affect student learning. She also leads the Huskies in team-building, and helps them to imagine and develop the activities they will lead with her students during the on-campus events.

“It’s important on two different ends,” Baum says.

“I really love it from the perspective of getting to show the kids I teach how close we are to a great university, and to get them out of their comfort zones, because we can mix them up and do a lot of things that we just don’t have the facilities to do back where we are. It also gives them a window into being a college student looks like,” she says.

“I also really love getting to engage with the preservice teachers, talking to them about team-building and then getting to see them do these activities with the students for the first time.”

Moreover, she adds, “I love that the Middle Level Teaching and Learning program is a very diverse group because I think, for a lot my students, their parents maybe didn’t go to college, and they haven’t had a chance to see themselves as college students. This is a great way to make it accessible and real to them instead of just something that’s intangible.”

The NIU students will enter the profession with an advantage, Baum confirms.

“When they go into their first teaching experience, they’re doing a lot of watching and not getting a chance to get their hands dirty. This is a great chance for them to be in the person in charge of something that’s kind of high-risk,” she says.

“When you’re a teacher, you’re up at the front of the room; you’re teaching kids; you have your materials out – it’s pretty safe,” she adds.

“This is pretty high-risk because they/re moving around, and there are pens and strings and things like that. It’s a good way to throw them into the deep end with what they’re doing with kids, but in a safe space where they have people who have experience – who are here to help them process it and to help them make sure it runs smoothly – but with them having the onus of facilitation on themselves.”

Baum also makes sure that her Clinton Rosette students take the lessons of Anderson Hall with them.

Alejandra Garcia, Middle Level Teaching and Learning major, gets close to the action.

Alejandra Garcia, Middle Level Teaching and Learning major, gets close to the action.

“We go back and talk about it in debriefing. We watch a movie that has to do with team-building. In the coming weeks, we’ll be referring back to this and hopefully getting to practice some of these skills,” she says.

“I’ve already had conversations with a couple of my kids about communication and how we need to work on it. I think that this gives them a shared experience that we can learn from and grow from and build on.”

WERDERICH AND BAUM have fingers crossed for invitations to present on Project TEAMS to other educators at national conferences and panel discussions to boost its visibility and recognition.

They also hope to expand the number of licensure candidates in their program, and are soliciting more feedback from the NIU students on how to modify and improve the experience for future Middle Level Teaching and Learning majors.

Comments from this and previous cohorts already prove the initiative’s worth.

“Our students enjoy starting to step more into their shoes of being teachers, but they were hesitant about what their role is. How much can they engage with students, or make instructional or classroom management-type decisions? It’s that teacher identity that they are starting to develop,” Werderich says.

“I explained to them, ‘Remember that you are a teacher-candidate. That’s who you are. So, while you are students in our classroom, you are always being reflective and you also have this other hat you wear of being a teacher,’ ” she adds.

“Being with kids and interacting with them and having fun is a trait perhaps of all teachers, but especially middle school. You really have to want to, and enjoy being around, those dynamics, and they do love that part. They love being active with them and hands-on, and they are just starting to become aware of their own teacher identity, so it’s very transformative.”

Paniagua has found that truth at Clinton Rosette.

“I love the atmosphere, I love how everyone is involved with each other and how the students make it worth coming to school every day,” Paniagua says. “Because I teach math, a lot of times kids just give up. They don’t want to do it if they don’t understand it. But when I see that, ‘Oh, I get it!’ or a strategy I gave them made more sense to them, it’s just why I’m doing this. It’s like a little reward. It’s a very rewarding job.”

Date posted: November 22, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Middle Level majors practice teaching, team-building with seventh-graders

Categories: Community Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

lukas-bonnen-updated-photo

Luke Bonnen, ’17, M.S. ’18, is an electrical design engineer for M-Wave Controls in Aurora, Illinois.

It has been said that “those who cannot do, teach.”

In the case of Lukas Bonnen, who earned his B.S. in electrical and biomedical engineering in 2017 and his M.S. in electrical and electronics engineering in 2018, working as a teaching assistant only helped him to do more.

Today, just four years after joining the workforce, he is a project engineer for M-Wave Controls, which specializes in electrical and electronic manufacturing, and is based in Aurora, Illinois. In his everyday work, Bonnen sticks to the fundamentals of what he learned in the classroom, with practical applications that would help people.

Growing up in Byron, Illinois, Bonnen was an amputee, losing his leg at birth.

“I missed out on a lot of school and some of the opportunities associated with it, due to frequent surgeries,” he said. “However the Byron school system went above and beyond to ensure I got what I needed. Growing up with a prosthetic allowed me to see and experience some of the short-comings in limb replacement technology.”

During high school, he was driven to improve limb replacement. He would come up with sketches while trying to consider the mechanical nature of the body-socket system. “Necessity may be the mother of invention, but she married curiosity,” he said.

However, believe it or not, at one time, Bonnen was a “terrible math student.”

“It wasn’t until I moved on to Rock Valley College that my interest in math was discovered,” he said. “Rock Valley College has an incredible mathematics department, and it was there I first realized engineering might be something I could do. I spent time volunteering at a prosthetics clinic, so I could see what other amputees experience, not just myself. It was the accumulation of events in my life, which influenced my decision to eventually pursue biomedical engineering at NIU.”

As an undergraduate Huskie, Bonnen’s senior design group worked on building a low-cost alternative to conventional myoelectric prosthetic hands.

“We succeeded in our design goals, and we received Institutional Review Board and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to conduct ethical patient testing,” he said. “This project resulted in our team winning senior design for the Department of Electrical Engineering at NIU.”

While earning his master’s degree, Bonnen worked under Dr. Benedito Fonseca, who holds 22 patents of his own.

“The faculty are experts in their respective areas, with many engaging in inter-disciplinary research,” he said. “NIU’s unique academic environment champions student opportunity. While at NIU, I researched interesting topics and utilized the volumes of experience and knowledge provided by my thesis committee. This provided the opportunity to implement proven techniques from a range of disciplines towards my novel research topic.”

Bonnen’s chosen thesis topic focused on electromyography, which is a technique for evaluating and recording the electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles, as a control interface to prosthetic devices.

“During my graduate studies, I learned about the research process, the importance of clear research goals, and many advanced techniques in signal processing. In addition to new information, I was able to further mature my understanding of undergraduate engineering topics,” he said. “Through my thesis, my belief was that a customizable feature-generation technique would benefit those who used prosthetics.”

Bonnen also had plenty of opportunities to beef up other important skills while on campus.

“I took advantage of being a teaching assistant while earning my master’s at NIU, and it was one of the most rewarding experiences,” he said. “One of my professors reminded me that everything is an application of the fundamentals. In my responsibility to accurately present topics to students, I refined my understanding of those foundations. These lessons not only helped me understand more advanced topics in my graduate studies, but they have proven invaluable in my professional role as an engineer.”

As with so many Huskies, an experiential learning opportunity became an important career move for Bonnen. During his final year of graduate studies, he began working as an electrical design engineer for M-Wave Controls, when leaders at the company took interest in his embedded programming and circuit design course background.

“I was assigned a project to develop a custom control system for a customer application on my first day,” he said. “The responsibilities for this project included power conversion, buffering of analog and digital inputs, design of output amplifiers, and real-time embedded programming. Although I was nervous as any new professional engineer would be, I was able to rely on my academic background to see me through to project completion. I repeated the words of my thesis advisor often during those initial days, ‘You have to be comfortable with uncertainty.'”

Since his first day at M-Wave, Bonnen has been put at the helm of many custom projects for customers. His first project, and one that he is very proud of, was to design a control for Direct Energy Transfer (DET) cooking.

“It allows for a grill to cook meat without a traditional heating element,” Bonnen said. “In a conventional grill, the grill top is heated either through ohmic losses, or combustion. Both of these techniques require the cooking surface and the surroundings to increase their temperature. This can be a risk to the restaurant, as someone can get burned, or an accident could result in a fire. The DET technology allows for uncooked meat to be placed on a cool grill surface, cook the meat in under a minute, and have a safe-to-touch grill surface when the operator goes to retrieve the cooked product. This technique differs from a microwave in that it uses direct electrical contact with the product, and performs better when starting with frozen products.”

In his role at M-Wave, Bonnen is exposed to a variety of different industries and their unique problems, which requires him to rely on all he learned in the classroom.

“In my current role as a project engineer, I have been expected to bring in new technology and skills to our team. This is critical to filtering through tools and techniques to best serve our customers needs,” he said.

Looking back, Bonnen credits NIU’s well-rounded education with allowing him to get an interesting and impactful job with a cutting-edge company right out of college.

“There was more to my education than a career in engineering,” he said. “I went from being titled a student to actually becoming a student. Whether in medical devices, industrial sensing, or wireless communication, the College of Engineering prepared me to approach problems carefully and critically.”

Date posted: November 22, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Lukas Bonnen, ’17, M.S. ’18, takes ‘control’ of his career at M-Wave Controls

Categories: Alumni Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

Planning continues for NIU’s Health Technology Center (HTC), a state-of-the-art teaching and learning facility that will increase opportunities for transdisciplinary collaboration and position NIU as a leader in health education and research.

A team of NIU faculty, staff and administrators met in early 2021 to develop a vision for the Health Technology Center. Representatives from five colleges, Facilities Management and Campus Services, Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships, Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development and the NIU Foundation recommended that design of the physical space be guided by the theme, “Information Technology: Building for a Healthier Tomorrow.”

NIU has received $7.7 million for planning and design efforts of the $77 million that was designated by the state of Illinois as part of its capital budget.

Belinda Roller, director of Architectural and Engineering Services and co-chair of the planning group, said determining where to locate the Health and Informatics Technology Center was a crucial first step in the planning process. In early 2020, a campus-wide survey went out, and the feedback aided in selecting the location on Annie Glidden Road at the site of Lincoln Hall, a resident hall that’s been unoccupied since 2013. A portion of the state’s funds will be used to raze Lincoln Hall.

Roller said the location is a great anchor point for students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community.

“The building is being designed with the goal of bringing together dispersed units of health education from various locations – on and off campus – to one site,” Roller said. “This modern and flexible space will be extremely beneficial for interdisciplinary education and research in this field.”

Leslie Matuszewich, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and planning group co-chair, said the Health Informatics and Technology Center is an excellent example of harnessing the power and expertise of multiple academic units across campus to address a regional and statewide need.

“The center will become a hub of collaboration, providing a range of transdisciplinary experiences and research opportunities for faculty and students,” Matuszewich said. “It will foster excellence in the healthcare field and engage students from other academic programs to show them the role technology plays in modern healthcare.”

President Lisa C. Freeman lauded the group for their planning efforts, adding that the center will address a long-standing need by bringing the university’s health profession programs together.

“We know that we need to broaden the way we typically think and teach, and build upon the transdisciplinary initiatives we’ve started,” President Freeman said. “I am pleased that our students, faculty, and staff will benefit from a space like the HITC that supports their teaching, learning, research and engagement.”

 

 

 

Date posted: November 22, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on New facility proposed to build a healthier tomorrow

Categories: Centerpiece CHHSnews Faculty & Staff Students Uncategorized

The campus community has the opportunity to participate in a series of open forums where they can meet and ask questions of the finalists for the position of Chief of Police and Public Safety at Northern Illinois University.

The schedule for the forums is as follows:

  • Candidate 1: 1 pm, Monday, Nov. 29, Altgeld Hall, Room 315 or via Zoom
  • Candidate 2: 1 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 30, Altgeld Hall, Room 315 or via Zoom
  • Candidate 3: 1 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 2, Altgeld Hall, Room 315 or via Zoom

Those attending virtually will NOT have the opportunity to ask questions. All participants, virtual or in person, are encouraged to fill out an evaluation of the candidate. Each session will last 50 minutes.

The names of each finalist will be released 48 hours before their visit to campus.

The NIU Chief of Police and Public Safety is in charge of the safety and security of people, equipment and facilities on property controlled by NIU. This position reports to the president’s chief of staff and supervises the Department of Police and Public Safety. Duties include:

  • Enforcing federal, state and local rules and regulations, as well as university policies.
  • Planning and directing law enforcement, public safety and security, and emergency preparedness services.
  • Collaborating with university, local, state and federal partners.
  • Advises senior administrators on campus safety in emergency situations.

By enhancing emergency preparedness and security technology, this position will strive to lead a top-tier police and public safety organization.

View the job posting on the HRS website.

 

Date posted: November 22, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Meet the candidates for NIU Chief of Police

Categories: Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

Ninette went above and beyond this morning in assisting an organization with a last minute request. She was very helpful and because of a timely manner acted with extreme urgency. She handled it both professionally and with positivity. I was so thankful for her today!

Date posted: November 22, 2021 | Author: | Comments Off on Ninette Weaver – Student Affairs

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