NIU Today

By the fall of 2019, a full-service Starbucks coffee house should be operational on the NIU campus. As part of the renovations at the Holmes Student Center (HSC), crews are building out a space for the popular destination coffee shop.

The new business will be serving up mochas, pastries and more from the ground floor of the HSC, close to the south entrance, just off of the MLK Commons.

“The intent is for Starbucks to be complete at the same time as the overall renovation project, which is planned for fall 2019. Too early to say exact dates at this point,” said Belinda Roller, NIU’s assistant director for Architectural and Engineering Services.

For many, the Starbucks shop can’t come soon enough.

The architectural firm heading up the design of the renovated HSC, conducted a survey of students, faculty and staff in 2015-2016, prior to the actual design of the project. They wanted to know what people would like to see inside of the center once renovations were complete.

“Starbucks was the overwhelming choice of the campus community,” said Daniel Koenen, NIU’s executive director of Campus Dining Services.

When the shop opens, it will be run by campus dining, rather than Starbucks corporate, similar to how other Starbucks shops are run on many college campuses across the country, Koenen said.

Since it will be part of campus dining, students will have Starbucks as one of their dining options on campus, meaning they can then use their NIU dining plan and flex dollars to pay for their drinks and food.

Koenen said he believes the coffee shop will be a great addition to NIU and offers a welcome place for students, staff and faculty to gather, eat and drink.

“Starbucks tends to be a destination, meaning people go to Starbucks not only for something to drink but for Starbucks coffee,” Koenen said.

The addition of Starbucks will just be one of many positives that will come out of the renovations of HSC for the NIU community, he added.

He believes all of the changes will be positive and will keep more people on campus, using the HSC and the new dining options.

“I am excited that the renovated space will bring people together,” he said. “Student organizations, student leadership, food locations and a renovated space for people to hang out and relax.

“Starbucks and all of the retail food outlets will be included in the meal plans for residential students next year with the additional meal plans called block plans. The block plans will have meals that are used in the residential dining locations and flex dollars that can be spent in any campus dining location, keeping people on campus.  The retail options for all NIU stakeholders were limited in the past. Once the renovation is completed, all members of the campus community will have a variety of locations to visit, keeping them on campus, engaging in conversations and hopefully feel more connected with NIU.”

Alumni all over the world have shown their Huskie pride by expressing their interest in volunteering their time and talent to support their alma mater. Initially, however, many did not know where to start until Northern Illinois University Alumni Association (NIUAA) Executive Director Reggie Bustinza sought to find an uncomplicated way for alumni to volunteer.

In 2017, the NIUAA turned its focus on how to make it easier for alumni to get involved with NIU by hiring staff whose sole focus would be volunteer engagement.

Fast forward to a year later, and alumni have the ability to support NIU from anywhere around the world, whether on campus, off campus, or online. All they have to do is indicate their interest in volunteering through NIU Nexus, the NIUAA alumni volunteer community. Alumni can also sign up for individual volunteer opportunities by responding to a recruitment communication from the NIUAA.

NIU Nexus acts much like a match.com for alumni interested in volunteering. Alumni simply visit the NIU Nexus website to learn more about what volunteering looks like with NIU, then they complete a profile which enables them to identify their volunteer interests. Staff review this profile, then connect with the alumnus and make recommendations based on what they learn through conversations.

“I was thrilled when I learned about NIU Nexus and the opportunities to volunteer for the university. Everything about the experience has been extremely professional and easy to manage,” said NIU alumnus Dan Chamberlain, ’92. “Filling out my profile was quick, and I was immediately connected with volunteer opportunities. My focus is on direct assistance with students, and I have already had multiple chances to work on projects in that area. I can’t wait to see where the program goes from here.”

Alumni can participate in a variety of volunteer roles, such as a social media ambassador, a host for a service project or football watch party in their community, and as a one-time “flash” mentor during events on campus, and much more.

To date, more than 800 alumni volunteers have supported NIU in many ways, but most often as classroom speakers, event judges and in advisory roles to college departments.

“When we partnered with the DeKalb Chamber of Commerce this year on their First Impressions Count workshop, we were looking for NIU alumni to volunteer for the event,” said Chad Glover, ’02, director of Jobs PLUS at NIU. “Through NIU Nexus we were able to connect with NIU alumni with a range of backgrounds and experience. NIU Nexus truly is a connecting point for programs at NIU looking for alumni to get involved and for NIU alumni interested in volunteering. Whether you have experience volunteering at NIU or not, NIU Nexus is an outstanding way for alumni to learn about opportunities to give back with their time and talents.”

All alumni are welcome to join NIU Nexus and will receive an electronic briefing from friendly staff each month. Alumni who are part of the NIU Nexus community will also receive targeted communications when volunteer opportunities that match their interests arise.

Faculty and staff can also request a thank you gift for alumni volunteers they invite to campus.

If you have any questions, or simply would like to receive the monthly volunteer opportunity newsletter, please contact Liz McKee at lmckee1@niu.edu or 815-753–7400.

While the demand for mental health services on campus is growing, the folks at NIU’s Counseling and Consultation Services (CCS) want students to know they are always available to help more people.

Students should not hesitate to contact CCS should they need help. The office is staffed every weekday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for walk-ins for initial consultation services. CCS also has a 24-hour hotline available for immediate needs and emergencies.

Parents, peers and faculty also can contact CCS if they are concerned about a student.

The number of students seeking individual and group therapy services at CCS has grown from 5.6 percent of undergraduate students in 2012 to 9 percent in 2018, Executive Director Brooke Ruxton said.

Outreach efforts continue to grow to keep up with the high demand for mental health services, an issue Ruxton says, “[is] a huge challenge for counseling centers across the country, not just NIU. Over the last several years, more and more students have been seeking services for mental health concerns, and so [everyone’s] trying to keep up with that growth in demand.”

The increase in the need for services is a positive sign of decreased stigma regarding mental health treatment and the need for support, she said. This also suggests that students, family and faculty should come together to provide additional support and understanding for each other.

CCS provides services to students dealing with a number of issues including significant mental health diagnoses, crises and phase of life concerns, whether that be struggles with relationships, exploring their identity, staying connected with family, coming to school, or facing graduation and thinking about what their next steps are.

These resources are offered for free.

At CCS, students can speak one-on-one with CCS’s therapists or participate in group therapy. To ensure that students receive the necessary support outside of the office, CCS helps faculty, parents, and peers to better understand and assist their students and loved ones through consultation and educational programming. CCS also refers students to other resources in the community if they are a better fit for the student’s needs.

In addition, CCS extends its services across campus with activities to help students learn coping skills and seek comfort, such as monthly therapy dogs at rotating residence halls on the second Monday of every month, weekly mindful meditation drop-in groups, anxiety and stress management groups, and outreach activities such as Chai Chat, Depression Screening and Wellness Fair.

The CCS office is located in the Campus Life Building. Students can walk in, Monday through Friday, between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. for an initial consultation with a counselor. Community members can also call to consult with a staff member about students they are concerned about. CCS offers 24-hour on-call services at 815-753-1206 for those in crisis or needing immediate assistance.

To set NIU students up for success, the University Honors Program has created several guaranteed admission agreements with programs on campus. This means that all NIU Honors students who meet certain qualifications are guaranteed to be accepted into these listed programs at NIU. Additionally, Honors is reimbursing the $60 graduate school application fee as long as students put in an application through MyScholarships for any program that Honors currently partners with.

Honors Director Todd Gilson is continuing to have discussions with several offices on campus to grow the number of departments and programs that are able to offer guaranteed admission agreements to Honors students. “Honors can not only serve students as a way to enhance their experience as an undergraduate at NIU but can be a vehicle for seamlessly advancing into graduate studies,” he said.

The newest agreement that Honors formed is with the College of Law. Under this agreement, Honors students who have completed three-quarters of the undergraduate curriculum – including all general education and major requirements – and who achieve a minimum LSAT score equal to the median of last year’s matriculating class are eligible to begin their first year of law school and use those credits to complete their senior year of undergraduate studies. By doing so, students can shave an entire year off their studies and graduate with both a bachelor’s and J.D. degree in six years, instead of the traditional seven.

“The law school’s 3+3 program is one of the great benefits of attending a research university like ours. NIU students who participate in it save substantial time and money, and get a headstart on their careers as lawyers,” said Marc Falkoff, associate dean at the College of Law.

This past fall, to help launch and promote this advantage for Honors students, an Open House was held where students could come in and speak with all the participating departments about their programs to really get a feel for what is offered at NIU. The Honors Program plans to resume this event every fall as they continue to add more programs and new students each year. While programs like this may be directly applicable for juniors or seniors, all Honors students are welcome and encouraged to attend. Honors also plans to start more promotional efforts in the spring through their digital weekly updates and social media utilizing videos and infographics about each individual graduate program.

NIU alumna Pettee Guerrero is passionate about helping workers stay safe and healthy on the job. “We rely on workers to provide so much to our communities, to make possible the industries that fuel our economy in northern Illinois,” she says. “The workers are someone’s mother, father, child, husband or wife. They are all important to their loved ones, and it’s so important that they know that their health and safety matter.”

That’s why Guerrero, an alumna who earned her master’s degree in industrial management from the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, is so excited to be able to offer machinery and machine guard training to workers in the region free of charge, thanks to a Susan Harwood Training Grant.

Guerrero applied for the federal grant in her role as director of the NIU Center for Occupational Safety and Health Education and Training in the Division of Outreach, Engagement and Regional Development. The NIU center is one of 74 nonprofits nationwide to be awarded a 2018 Susan Harwood Training Grant.

The grant, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), will provide $99,600 for the center to develop new training materials and offer the training to about 350 workers in the region beginning in January 2019. The training will help workers recognize and avoid hazards when working with augers, conveyors, mixers, roll formers, robots and other basic machinery in general industry. The target audience for the training includes young workers, minorities and workers with limited English proficiency.

“I love NIU and the northern Illinois region,” Guerrero says. “It feels good to be able to give back to the community by helping workers stay safe and healthy on the job.”

Guerrero, who also directs the National Safety Education Center, an OSHA-authorized education center at NIU, says, “I realized that there was a need for this type of safety training through my work with the National Safety Education Center, so I decided to apply for the grant.”

“We’re very pleased to be able to offer this training to workers in the region at no cost to the trainees,” she continues. “The training will bring awareness to hazards and teach workers how to find them, eliminate them and apply proper guards to prevent future accidents. This will help prevent amputations, other injuries and fatalities. It will help workers come home safely to their families each day.”

Guerrero says the training will be available to businesses that would like to offer it onsite for their employees. The training will be offered on a monthly basis at various NIU Regional Centers as well as the main campus in DeKalb. It will be available in 2-hour, 4-hour or 8-hour sessions.

With questions, or to schedule a free machinery and machine guard training at your business or attend a training session at an NIU campus or regional center, contact Pettee Guerrero at 815-753-6903 or pguerrero1@niu.edu.

To prepare students for a competitive job market, the University Honors Program is connecting alumni with students and expanding career-related experiences for its students.

To ensure that honors students get opportunities that prepare them for a career, they are now required to utilize EngagePLUS, Northern Illinois University’s program that allows students to gain experience in areas such as leadership, jobs, volunteering and research.

“For each experience that is added to a résumé, the student must put in 80 hours or more in that experience,” said Todd Gilson, director of the University Honors Program, which is comprised of 1,015 students.

Another new advantage for honors students is guaranteed admission in 15 graduate programs on campus, and more degrees are expected to be added in the near future.

Less than a dozen programs in the country are built like the new University Honors Program, which was revamped this fall, Gilson said.

Through a partnership with the NIU Alumni Association, the program continues to offer externships to students during winter break. An externship allows students to shadow an alumnus or alumna at work so they can network and experience the job responsibilities. This opportunity also helps students determine whether they want to pursue a career in the field.

Alumni can fill out a brief profile to indicate their interest in offering an externship or to volunteer in other ways.

“Students want to be connected to alumni, to the people that they want to be in five, 10 or 15 years,” Gilson said.

While alumni help students build social networks, they also benefit as volunteers because they are accessing a pipeline to the best and brightest students in all majors.

Like other institutions, NIU offers scholarships, priority registration, small class sizes and a living-learning community (a residential area for students with similar academic interests) to honors students.

To improve the scholarship process, alumni are needed to review applications from honors students. Faculty and staff will continue to review scholarships, but Gilson wants to involve alumni so each application can be reviewed more than once.

This is an opportunity for alumni to serve as an outside lens so they can connect with great students and help NIU in the process, Gilson said.

Alumni can sign up online to volunteer to become a scholarship reviewer and will be provided with online training so they can review applications from home.

There are many ways to volunteer to support NIU and the student experience. To learn more about volunteer opportunities, visit the NIU Alumni Association website or contact Liz McKee at lmckee1@niu.edu or 815-753-7400.

Are you looking to get paid to participate in undergraduate research? Does gaining experience in networking and developing oral and written communication skills call your attention? Look no further than the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL). OSEEL is your go-to stop for undergraduate research opportunities! Consider applying for one of our programs provided by the Office of Student Engagement and Experiential Learning (OSEEL).

The Undergraduate Student Engagement Travel Grant (USET) provides up to $500 to NIU undergraduate students to lower the cost of travel to attend or present at a professional conference, NIU study abroad programs, participation in a service-based experience that includes travel (such as an alternative break) or other student engagement projects. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis on the 15th of each month, with notification of results by the end of that month.

Undergraduate Special Opportunities in Artistry and Research (USOAR) is a program that funds student-generated research projects, whether the study is conducted on campus, somewhere else in the United States or overseas. Provides up to $2,500 to carry out your project. Applications for USOAR are currently being accepted until Thursday, Nov. 15.

For more information on undergraduate research contact an OSEEL staff member at ugresearch@niu.edu or 815-753-8154.

Katharina Barbe

The Illinois Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ICTFL) recently awarded Katharina Barbe, chair of NIU’s Department of World Languages and Cultures, with its Service Award for research, writing and curriculum development.

For the past three decades, Barbe has collaborated on numerous projects for the American Association of Teachers of German. Those efforts provided insight into issues that were central to foreign language learning in Illinois, according to the ICTFL.

Barbe has presented at local, state and national conferences, and has worked to assure that the methods and practices of second-language acquisition are made accessible to second-language educators at all levels. While leading her department at NIU, she also has focused on German pedagogy and materials development.

Barbe has co-authored two textbooks, published a variety of journal articles and has presented more than 60 papers. She also was recognized recently by the Northern Illinois Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German with the chapter’s Outstanding German Educator Award.

The ICTFL award was presented during the group’s recent fall conference held at NIU-Naperville. Four pre-service world-language teachers from NIU also were recognized as Fund for the Future scholarship recipients: Evelyn Gonzalez, Brooke Thompson, Melissa Aponte and Claudia Zempoalteca. The scholarships provide partial reimbursements for participation in ICTFL-sponsored events.

First- and Second-Year Experience (FSYE), hosted its annual event, “Cupcakes and Conversation,” last Wednesday, Oct. 24, at their office in Altgeld Hall Room 100.

The evening event was centered on students networking with professors and being able to have informal conversations with them that they would not be able to have in the classroom. Some faculty and staff who were in attendance were Ellen Cabrera (Public Administration), Jimmie Manning (Organizational/Corporate Communication), Jeffrey Chan (Special and Early Education) and Anne-Marie Kuchinski (Nursing).

The event drew a crowd of 53 participants, and the conversations were buzzing.

One student remarked, “Faculty and staff are not scary to approach and are great to talk with and get to know more about.”

Another student gave advice to future participants: “Put yourself out there! Meeting new people is a great experience.”

If you are interested in upcoming events, information is available on our website, by contacting FSYE at fsye@niu.edu or 815-753-0028.

Discover Financial Services and Northern Illinois University recently marked the opening of the new code_orange program, an exciting initiative that is providing tech-savvy students with opportunities on the university’s campus to help research and develop new technologies for the company.

“Not only am I learning these hard computer skills, but we’re having to work in teams, we’re having to keep track of our own schedules and hold each other accountable for getting all these tasks done,” says Jane Swift, one of 37 students selected to participate in this semester’s code_orange projects.

“It’s been nothing but a really great experience so far,” she added.

Launched at the start of the semester, the code_orange program is located in “71 North,” NIU’s collaborative space for innovation in the bottom level of Founders Memorial Library. Discover, which leases its area, completely renovated its space over the summer of 2018.

Tech-savvy juniors and seniors were hired by Discover and are being paid to work on and help develop new Discover technologies in the areas of mobile-software development, web-application coding, blue-tooth development and person-to-person payment systems.

Discover will hire or rehire students for a new group of participants and a new round of projects each semester and during the summer. The company hopes to increase the number of student participants, known as Campus Innovators, to as many as 50 select students for the spring and summer of 2019.

“This initiative has had a successful launch, in part because a large number of qualified Huskies responded to the call for applications—and because Discover recognized their potential as innovators,” NIU President Lisa Freeman said. “I am confident that our partnership will be synergistic and will produce research and innovation that solves challenges, creates a more skilled workforce and enhances the future success of all participants.”

Students in the program work alongside leading professionals and apply skills learned in the classroom to address real-world business challenges. They also present their work and ideas to peers and company representatives, providing them with an opportunity to experience Discover’s company culture.

NIU alumni Glenn Schneider, chief information officer at Discover, and Joel Suchomel, vice president of application development at Discover, helped spearhead the initiative.

“We are looking at this as a feeder group into our employee base,” Schneider says. “We’re invested in making sure, as talent coming into our company, we’re allowing them to grow and continue to learn in their professional careers just like they’ve done here at Northern Illinois University.”

Learn more in the accompanying video or apply here.

Nearly 150 Rockford-area high school students visited NIU-Rockford for a school field trip to learn about careers in engineering, and the educational pathway to obtain one. The Gearing Up for Engineering school field trip provided prospective students with information on NIU’s six engineering bachelor’s degree programs offered in DeKalb as well as the NIU Engineering @ RVC program.

The NIU Engineering @ RVC program is an innovative partnership with Rock Valley College and the Rockford-area manufacturing industry that enables students to earn NIU’s B.S. in Mechanical Engineering by taking classes taught by NIU faculty at RVC’s newly renovated Woodward Technology Center. Designed to meet the growing demand for highly-trained engineering professionals, the program also offers students opportunities for internships, mentors and jobs.

NIU Alumni Divya Behl (M.S. in Industrial Systems Engineering, ’08), Kristina Johnson (B.S. in Electrical Engineering, ’01), Decker Ouanesy (B.S. in Technology with an emphasis in Applied Manufacturing Technology, ’18) and Kevin Woerner (B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, ’07) answer questions posed by Society of Women Engineers representative and guest moderator and Dayna Johnson and Rockford-area students during the Gearing Up for Engineering school field trip on Oct. 23, 2018.

Dean Don Peterson from the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology and program chairs spoke to prospective students about the future of engineering, and the NIU bachelor’s degrees that students can pursue to help them reach their career goals. In addition, four alumni currently employed in the Rockford-area manufacturing industry shared first-hand their career experiences and how NIU’s programs have helped pave their paths to success.

Connor Jones, a senior at Hononegah High School, valued the information that was shared. “I learned about the variety of career options available in the field of engineering and the trends affecting the industry,” he said. “I’m interested in the mechanical engineering program offered by NIU at Rock Valley because I’m already taking classes at RVC while completing my senior year of high school.”

Rockford-area teachers are also showing interest in the program.

“Since we are offering engineering coursework at our high school and college is expensive, we want to help our students find an affordable option,” said Sarah Olson, an advisor at Hononegah High School. “This event really helped our students gather information about an option that boosts our local community and allows our students to stay local.”

Building a local pool of talent is one of the goals of the partnership between NIU and its Rockford-area collaborators.

“Rockford businesses feel the local talent is continually growing,” said NIU alum and presenter Kevin Woerner, who works as the director of Engineering and Supply Chain at Ipsen, an industrial furnace manufacturer located in Cherry Valley, Illinois.

“We want to do everything we can to ensure that this community offers a quality education and the best opportunities for great starting positions after college. Staying local is key and promoting Rockford educational options is important to us,” Woerner added.

To learn more about the NIU Engineering @ RVC program, visit go.niu.edu/niuengineeringatrvc or contact Andrew Kopecky at akopecky@niu.edu. To learn more about all of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology’s bachelor’s degree programs, visit the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology website or contact ceet@niu.edu.

DeKalb’s famous “flying ear of corn” long ago branded this region as a center of new ideas in American farming. Nearly a century later, the area’s premier agricultural heritage group is bringing national experts and local entrepreneurs together in a can’t-miss event about DeKalb County’s future.

“An Evening With Innovators,” sponsored by the DeKalb Area Agricultural Heritage Association (DAAHA), will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 13, at 6:30 p.m. at the Egyptian Theatre in downtown DeKalb. Several speakers will explore successful innovations in food production, technology and marketing. They are:

• Natalie Shmulik, CEO of Chicago’s famed food business incubator The Hatchery.
• Kim Kidwell, dean of the College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Scott Shearer, chair of the Department of Food, Agriculture and Biological Engineering at The Ohio State University.
• Nick Nagele, owner of DeKalb’s Whiskey Acres Distilling Co.

NIU President Lisa Freeman is a member of the DAAHA board and helped plan the event. She strongly encourages NIU students, faculty and staff to attend.

“Together with our local community, other state universities and organizations like the Illinois Innovation Network, we can build on historic strengths to create a national reputation in food systems management,” Freeman said.

Food, water and environment are the guiding themes of the university’s new Northern Illinois Center for Community Sustainability (NICCS), announced earlier this month at a news conference with Gov. Bruce Rauner, University of Illinois President Tim Killeen and President Freeman.

“Becoming a national and international leader in agricultural innovation will bring countless benefits in terms of employment, investment, research and sustainability,” Freeman said. “We want business leaders, scientists, farmers and consumers to look to DeKalb County for the latest information and leadership in the area of food systems.”

“An Evening With Innovators” is DAAHA’s signature annual event and fundraiser. Freeman and fellow DAAHA board members want to use this year’s gathering to ramp up the conversation around agricultural innovation in DeKalb County: What it is, who’s doing it, and what it will take to move the area’s unique legacy to the next level.

Speakers will deliver TED Talk-style presentations, followed by a fireside chat presentation in which all four panelists will discuss the challenges faced by local agriculture entrepreneurs. The event also features a networking social hour, cash bar and silent auction. Tickets are $30 from now until Monday, Nov. 5, then increase to $35. Students with a current student ID may attend for just $10. Tickets are available through the Egyptian box office at 135 N. Second Street, DeKalb, or online.