Students from the NIU Dance program performed at the Central Conference of the American College Dance Association (ACDA) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Saturday-Sunday, March 17-18. Their performance was of such high quality that they earned the top honor at the conference, and with it, an invitation to perform at the National College Dance Festival on June 6-9 at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Kennedy Center) in Washington, D.C.
Professor Paula Frasz
This is the story behind the dance they performed, titled “ENUF,” and why the chance to perform at the Kennedy Center is so important, as told by the person who choreographed “ENUF,” NIU School of Theatre and Dance Professor Paula Frasz.
“In the summer of 2016, I was sitting in my car waiting for the endless train to pass by in downtown DeKalb,” Frasz said. “The news was all about another young black man shot by police, the Colin Kaepernick (NFL player) kneeling during the national anthem scandal, etc. One of the train cars that went by had a graffiti tag on it that said: ENUF in capital letters.
“I sat there and thought to myself, ‘Yes, I agree. ENUF already.’ I decided at that moment, because we have a wonderful group of minority dancers, that my next piece of choreography would be a dance addressing the history of oppression, suppression and violence against minority groups.
“I am an old hippie and protest is in my blood. It was time to speak out and my forum is movement. So, the dance, ‘ENUF,’ was born.
“When it was honored by being selected as the best in the midwest, it was especially meaningful. When I started here at NIU 25 years ago, there was [just] one black girl taking dance.
“I made it my mission to attract and train minority students as professional dancers. I also made a point of including dances in our concerts that were specifically choreographed for black, Hispanic and other minority casts. The seven black, three Hispanic and one white dancer in ENUF helped me realize the meaningful message of the dance, and they dance it with such heart!
“This is their chance to speak out, and they do so with passion and courage.
“We are an equal parts ballet and modern dance program. We produce students that are wonderful technicians and powerful, emotional performers. I believe this is one of the best training programs in the country. But it is a SECRET.
“With no budget for advertising, we operate under the radar. Performing at the Kennedy Center will bring the dance program the publicity and recognition it deserves. Our graduates in dance are performing with renowned dance companies, on Broadway, at Radio City, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago to name a few.
“They are artistic directors, choreographers and instructors of note. Our insistence on excellence has produced successful artists in every aspect of dance, and the Kennedy Center honor will show that to the nation.”
The dancers who performed for NIU at the Central Conference of the American College Dance Association are:
Aiyana Cervantez, senior dance major
Taylor Cole, sophomore dance major
Laqes Davis, junior dance major
Amber Echols, senior dance major
Joshua Francique, sophomore dance major
Lance Gasher, sophomore dance major
Victoria Herrera, freshman dance major
Danielle Keys, senior dance major
Jose Macias, senior double major in dance and psychology
The closest hotel is at least 20 miles away if not 30. Shopping for groceries – beyond those for sale at the tiny convenience store in town, that is – requires a two-hour round trip.
Life outside the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation is so far from, well, almost anything, that most teachers in the Mandaree schools live in the duplex apartments right across the street.
North Dakota-bound: Caleb Purcell, Haleigh Ellet, Andrew Finch and Delaney Nauman
“Our past Educate U.S. experiences have been in urban settings, significantly larger than their traditional field placements,” says Jenny Johnson, director of teacher preparation for the college. “Our leadership team really wanted to give our teacher-licensure candidates exposure to, and experience in, a truly rural setting. The Mandaree experience expands the range of opportunities for our candidates to take engaged learning to the next level.”
Ninety-eight percent of Mandaree’s fewer than 200 students come from Native American tribes. Some of the two dozen teachers grew up in the Fort Berthold reservation or nearby; others grew up in other reservations.
One building serves the entire K-12 population, which is overseen by a superintendent, an elementary school principal and a high school principal. The district itself falls under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Indian Education of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Zalesky made the initial contact with the Mandaree School District when she visited in the summer of 2017 as a certified consultant for WIDA (World-class Instructional Design and Assessment).
The WIDA consortium advances academic language development and academic achievement for children and youth who are culturally and linguistically diverse. Zalesky presented professional development on working with diverse learners and the English Language Development Standards.
While Zalesky could not personally observe student-teacher interaction during the summer, the time she spent living among and working with teachers spoke volumes.
“I was having a conversation with Superintendent Ann Longie, just talking about what a great experience I had meeting the teachers there,” Zalesky says, “and I told her about some of the opportunities that NIU College of Education students have, one being Educate U.S.”
Both believed that five days in Mandaree would provide a unique perspective to future teachers, one beyond the already diverse array of clinical experience the college offers. Dean Laurie Elish-Piper, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs David Walker and Johnson agreed.
“What I would like to think is that they will see some different methods, simply because it’s a different population – or maybe not. Maybe it’s not that different,” says Zalesky, who will return to Mandaree to supervise the Educate U.S. students. “I would hope they’ll see the cultural and community aspects that influence instruction. I would hope they would see that there aren’t too many fluent speakers of indigenous languages.”
She knows they observe “a strong sense of commitment” to students from teachers and, most of all, flexibility.
Much of that flexibility comes in response to the hiring and retention of teachers in a region of the country with brutal winters, she adds.
“I met teachers who the previous year taught fourth- or fifth-grade, and this year they’re teaching kindergarten or first. Last year, they were teaching social studies and science, and this year English or math,” Zalesky says. “They just say, ‘This is what I’m teaching. I might have four or five preps at multiple grade levels and multiple content areas from one year to the next.”
Administrators are part of that equation as well.
“If they need a bus driver, the superintendent will drive the bus. A building principal will drive the bus,” she says. “People just pitch in to do what they need to do, without question, without complaint and without a second thought.”
NIU’s select students will taste a bit of that flexibility, Johnson says.
“There is nothing like this in our service region, so participating in this experience is an added value. It’s a rich opportunity to see teaching and learning through a completely different lens,” she says. “The more they know and experience, the more highly qualified they will be upon graduation, and the more tools they will have to plan and design instruction for the students they’ll serve.”
Mandaree classrooms will bring to life what NIU College of Education students learn in their courses about diverse instruction, demonstrating how those theories and methods are implemented in different spaces to support student growth.
Licensure candidates also will learn about professional development in rural schools, Johnson adds, as well as “the culture of teachers and students living in the same small space during the education cycle.”
As with the semiannual trips to the Houston Independent School District, the NIU College of Education pays for all travel expenses. Housing accommodations are provided by the partner districts, allowing Educate U.S. participants the opportunity to experience community, culture and authentic home-school connections.
Educate U.S. travelers are eligible for the university’s EngagePLUS transcript notation.
Date posted: April 23, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on Educate US program to offer unique glimpse of rural teaching inside North Dakota reservation
April is Financial Literacy Month, which culminates in Money Smart Week, April 21 to 28. Throughout the month, free programs in DeKalb, LaSalle and Lee counties will cover many facets of economics and personal finance, from establishing a budget to estate planning, taxes and saving for college.
“Money Smart Week includes financial literacy programs for all ages, from children to college students, adults and seniors,” says Dr. Judith Dymond, coordinator of the NIU Center for Economic Education.
Northern Illinois University helped to usher in Money Smart Week with several public events as part of the ECONference on Wednesday, April 18, which were sponsored by the NIU Department of Economics. Dr. Bhash Mazumder, a senior economist and research advisor at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, talked about intergenerational mobility in America in his public lecture, “Is there upward mobility in America?” Later that evening, the Economic Student Association presented “So what the heck is Bitcoin?” – a lively discussion of fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies and the changing financial system in a global economy. Both events were free and open to the public.
On Earth Day, Saturday, April 21, children and families are invited to a story and craft time at 10 a.m. featuring the Money Smart statewide Big Read book, “Little Critter: Just Saving My Money” by Mercer Mayer. After that, families can stick around for Earth Smart = Money Smart from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., a hands-on activity demonstrating how upcycling and repurposing unleashes creativity, saves money and protects the earth.
Adults will get smart about money and enjoy food and conversation during events at DeKalb area restaurants. On Monday, April 23, participants are invited to learn about the video game economy and the viability of eSports from 7 – 9 p.m. at Fatty’s Pub and Grille in DeKalb. The NIU Economic Student Association will highlight economic concepts in both our world and the virtual world and discuss how the eSports economy affects the general economy.
Other free public events, on topics ranging from understanding your credit score to preparing for retirement or making the most of new tax laws, will take place throughout the week at a variety of locations.
Johnathan Freeman, a current NIU sophomore, participated in multiple events during Sophomore Days of Service (SDOS). In February, he spent some of his free time volunteering at Campus Child Care and Communiversity Gardens. As a result of his commitment to serving his community, Johnathan was selected to receive this year’s SDOS Second-Year Service Scholarship.
Johnathan had several great things to say about his experiences this year. “Despite commuting to college, I always feel at home here at NIU. I wish to inspire others through my community involvement, just as the fantastic students and faculty members inspire me. In serving the community, I have improved my personal network with many outstanding peer and faculty members. This outreach has benefited me greatly; there is no other community I would rather be a part of.”
Sophomore Days of Service is organized by First- and Second-Year Experience to help students find a sense of purpose on campus and in the community. Learn more about this program and how you can get involved in the future.
Date posted: April 18, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on Sophomore student rewarded for giving back during Sophomore Days of Service
When returning to school to pursue a new career, Jonathan Gustafson was grateful to find scholarships to help him along his path to success.
When Gustafson first enrolled at NIU, he was pursuing a music degree with a choral emphasis. He was well on his way and had completed his junior year before leaving school for a humanitarian mission in South America. Gustafson lived for two years in Paraguay, where he not only performed missionary work but also served as a leader for other missionaries in the area.
After returning home, Gustafson met and married his wife. They started a family, and he put his education on hold to provide for his wife and three children. Over the years, he was able to find meaningful work and was even able to apply skills and knowledge that he gained from his years in South America as a sales representative in Latin America.
After some unexpected organizational changes, Gustafson decided to take control of his future and go back to school. Being numerically minded, he focused on a degree in finance. When considering where to enroll, he said he chose to return to NIU based on the reputation of the College of Business and the strength of the finance program.
As a non-traditional student with limited access to financial aid (due to the number of credit hours he’s already completed), scholarships play a vital role in Gustafson’s ultimate success.
“The impact is huge. My goals are lofty, and without the help of individuals and the foundation, I don’t know how I would achieve them,” he said.
Even while maintaining a demanding schedule juggling family, school and a part-time position with UPS, Gustafson keeps his eye on the future. He plans to complete his undergraduate degree and then pursue an M.B.A. at a top-tier business school. He hopes to stay with UPS and eventually advance to a top position with the company.
Long-term career success isn’t the only thing Gustafson sees in his future. He also plans to give back to NIU and help other students as he has been helped.
“How amazing it would be someday, when I am successful, to be able to return the generosity I have received – to empower students to pursue their dreams because I was able to make an investment in NIU?” Gustafson said.
Student scholarship support is an important area of need at NIU. If you would like to help current and future Huskies like Gustafson please visit go.niu.edu/give2niu today to make your gift in support of the Student Scholarship Fund.
Date posted: April 18, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on Scholarships have ‘huge impact’ on returning students
With scarcely a day going by without proposals, protests or headlines surrounding the issue of immigration, Northern Illinois University history professor Aaron Fogleman informs present-day issues by peering deep into the past.
From 1492 to 1870, more than 22 million migrants made their way to the Americas, says Fogleman, who quantified the wave of migration through meticulous research. In many respects, current debates echo those of the past.
“When I listen to contemporary critiques of immigrants, there’s always a sense that we’re experiencing something new,” he says. “But if you look at immigration historically, you find tension in every generation, with people saying immigrants are going to destroy America. That goes back to the Colonial Era. Yet not only does America survive, later, many Americans look back with pride for their immigrant ancestors.”
With funding assistance from NIU faculty-grant programs, Fogleman began work three years ago on a book that aims to breathe new life into voices of migrants from the past who made their way to the Americas. Now his effort is receiving a major boost in the form of a prestigious and highly competitive Guggenheim Fellowship for 2018.
The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation ran a full-page ad earlier this month in the New York Times announcing the fellowship recipients. Fogleman is among 173 artists, scholars and scientists selected for the award from nearly 3,000 applicants. He was one of only three U.S. historians named as Fellows.
“Winning a Guggenheim is one of the highest honors a historian can achieve,” says Jim Schmidt, chair of the NIU Department of History. “We are incredibly proud of Aaron.”
Guggenheim Fellows are appointed on the basis of distinguished achievement and exceptional promise for future accomplishment.
Since its establishment in 1925, the Guggenheim Memorial Foundation has granted more than $360 million in Fellowships to over 18,000 individuals, among whom are scores of Nobel laureates, Fields Medalists, poets laureate and winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Awards and other internationally recognized honors.
As a Fellow, Fogleman will receive funding for a year, as well as time off from his teaching and other duties. He’ll use the time and funding to focus on his research from his home in Batavia.
A Presidential Research Professor at NIU, Fogleman is already well known among scholars for his work addressing the themes of transatlantic migration, gender, religion and revolution from 1492 to 1867.
He has published his research in top journals in the field and penned three highly regarded books, including his 2013 work, “Two Troubled Souls,” which traced the lives of a married couple who, as missionaries and religious seekers, traveled Europe, the Caribbean and North America during the 18th century. The work received the American Historical Association’s 2014 James Rawley Prize, which honors the best book exploring the integration of Atlantic worlds before the 20th century.
Fogleman’s current book project is tentatively titled, “Immigrant Voices: European and African Stories of Freedom, Unfreedom, and Identity in the Americas through Four Centuries.”
The project investigates hundreds of English, Irish, German, Spanish and other European immigrant voices, discovered in letters, diaries and memoirs from the Americas, as well as more than 160 narratives of enslaved Africans.
“These voices describe how people moving between two worlds sought escape, freedom and fortune, adventure and religious experiments,” Fogleman says. “They describe how people struggled to survive, sought justice in contradictory environments of freedom and unfreedom, returned home, or made sense of what happened to them.”
Of the more than 22 million migrants over four centuries, well over 10 million were enslaved Africans. Others also were among the “unfree,” including more than 50,000 convicts that the British sent to North America during the 18th century and nearly 600,000 indentured servants, mostly from Britain, Ireland and Germany.
“Related to the concepts of freedom and unfreedom, I’m also examining the different gender experiences,” Fogleman says. “We associate Europeans coming to the Americas for freedom and opportunity, but that view has a heavy male bias. Many women didn’t want to go, and for these women, migration was a very different experience. It is one that is still part of the migrant experience today, where men often go first and then are followed by the rest of their families.”
Other themes of the past resonate in the present.
“Long-distance migration is fraught with opportunity, fear, achievement and degradation,” Fogleman says. “There’s tragedy, wars, triumph, ethnic rivalries, tensions, identity issues and questions about ‘illegal’ migrants. That’s how it is now and has always been.”
In addition to his Guggenheim Fellowship, Fogleman has been an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow, Fulbright Honorary Senior Scholar and guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for History in Göttingen, Germany. He also held the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in American Studies at the Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main in 2008 and 2009.
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Date posted: April 18, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on History professor Aaron Fogleman wins Guggenheim Fellowship
Those looking to get around campus easily and affordably will soon have a convenient option as the university debuts a new bike share program. Red bicycles will be parked across campus for quick and convenient rentals beginning Tuesday, April 24. A kickoff event for the new service will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Promenade Lounge of the Holmes Student Center, featuring prizes, giveaways, coupons and snacks.
The new bike share program is offered through a campus contract with VeoRide and will allow users to rent a bike by using a smartphone app available via the Apple Store or Google Play.
The VeoRide app shows users where available bikes are parked and then allows users to unlock a bike by scanning a code or typing a number found on the bike into the app. The first month will be free to users, followed by three months of a discounted rate of 30 cents every 15 minutes for students with a “niu.edu” email address, payable via an online account. Subsequent months will cost 50 cents per 15 minutes of use. The trip ends when the user parks the bike in a bicycle rack and manually presses a lever that locks the back tire.
“VeoRide bikes can give riders greater flexibility and freedom,” said NIU Parking Services Coordinator Sue Bidstrup. “Users don’t need to be tied to a single bike for the whole day since they can use a VeoRide bike anytime.”
This new service replaces the Borrow-a-Bike Program administered by Campus Parking Services. The university’s current fleet of bikes are 10-years old and require frequent repairs and servicing. The program was entirely funded through Campus Parking Services (not student fees), and Bidstrup said it had become time and cost prohibitive to maintain the bikes. The existing program has had capacity use over the years. For the fall 2017 semester, all of the available 150 bikes were loaned out, she said.
Bidstrup said in addition to being able to offer new bikes in top condition, another benefit of the new program is that bike maintenance is handled by VeoRide instead of campus operations staff.
Those who would like to rent a bike but do not have access to the app will be able to set up an account with cash at partner locations on campus and unlock their bikes by texting the bike ID number to a dedicated phone number. The bikes are dockless, meaning they can simply be returned near an existing bike rack but do not have to be attached to it. Bidstrup said users are just asked not to leave the bikes on sidewalks, in driveways or locked to ramps.
“The program’s goal is to build a more sustainable community and improve mobility,” Bidstrup said. “This program can save 240 tons of CO² per year and it also saves NIU’s cost on maintaining the current rental program and on collecting abandoned bikes.”
For more information on the VeoRide Bike Share Program, contact Campus Parking Services at 815-753-1045.
Date posted: April 18, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on New bike share program ready to ride onto campus
Located in Gabel 212, the ETRA Innovation Lab features not only 3-D printers, Lego Education WeDo 2.0 sets, Google Home and Amazon Alexa but also eye-tracking systems that enable significant research into the real-time effectiveness of online learning models.
The increasingly affordable technology comes on a headband with tiny, spatial cameras pointed at both eyes and a third camera over the nose that captures an accompanying video of the environment – or, in other words, whatever the wearer is seeing in the moment.
Kyung Kim
“We’re tracking the eye movements of the user,” says Kyung Kim, assistant professor in ETRA. “In this way, we can understand how these people are interacting with the learning environment.”
Video of each interaction provides strong analysis of what aspects of the program design are working, and what needs improvement, through unparalleled data on user behavior while learning online.
Data will include valuable information on how long users stare at the screen without acting, where their eyes go when distracted and more. “We need to understand these things to design something better,” Kim says.
Potential applications of eye-tracking systems go far beyond online learning.
For example, motorists who wear the devices can discover what distracts them while behind the wheel, whether it’s billboards, traffic signs, dashboard readings or other things.
Major League Baseball players can wear them in the batter’s box to create videos of how to best hit the pitches. Surgeons who wear them while in the operating room can create videos of how they conduct their life-saving procedures.
Kim, whose research focuses on the intersection of visualization, knowledge structure and design, is eager to see how students use the powerful tool.
“I hope this lab serves as a venue where we can investigate learning processes, human-computer interactions and some hidden sides of the learning process better than before,” he says.
Fatih Demir
ETRA Assistant Professor Fatih Demir agrees: Students preparing for careers in online learning must recognize and harness the critical perspective of the user.
“In today’s world, we are seeing that to just design a product is not enough,” Demir says. “My students can use this lab to collect data, create better products and test existing products to see if those products work well.”
He believes the lab will put NIU students ahead in the field.
“The options are endless if you can find a good research topic,” he says. “This technology allows you to achieve your goal.”
Areas of inquiry tailor-made for the lab’s technology include aging and disability.
Voice-activated devices such as Google Home and Amazon Alexa enable users to accomplish tasks without physical touch, whether it’s accessing the internet or turning off the bedroom lights.
Meanwhile, the ETRA lab is awaiting delivery of brainwave monitors that can also measure the mental engagement of those who wear them. It also allows wearers to move something, such as a computer mouse, with their mind.
“It needs analysis,” Demir says, “but you could design that type of product using this lab.”
Chris Kraner
Chris Kraner, a graduate research assistant in ETRA who is pursuing his master’s degree in Educational Research and Evaluation, works in the lab as a trainer and researcher. He primarily works with the 3-D printers.
Kraner, also a collaborator with NIU STEM Outreach to promote science to K-12 students in the region, loves what is blooming in the Gabel 212 space that is open to all.
“We want our students to do some interesting problem-solving here. We want our students to be comfortable if they come across this technology in their professional careers,” he says. “I’m really hoping to have teachers in here to show us what they’re doing and to tell us what we should be doing.”
The lab also provides study carrels, a poster printer and a soundproof lab for online teaching recording.
Date posted: April 16, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on User Experience Lab debuts
When Vinay Mullick, ’00, thinks of Northern Illinois University, he remembers it as the place where he learned how to study, work with others, become a leader, and handle adversity and failure.
Because Northern changed his life personally and professionally, Mullick gives back by volunteering, from mentoring students to serving as a member of the NIU Alumni Association Board of Directors.
“I’ve heard from so many alumni who want to reconnect, but they’re not sure how to start,” said Reggie Bustinza, executive director of the NIU Alumni Association. “This will provide a perfect avenue for finding a way to volunteer.”
Opportunities for involvement include referring a student, participating in a letter-writing campaign for prospective students, welcoming new graduates to the alumni community and hosting interns at a workplace. Alumni are encouraged to sign up for NIU Nexus and explore volunteer opportunities at the web page.
The next opportunity for alumni to volunteer is NIU Cares Day, which runs from 9 a.m. until noon Saturday, April 21. Alumni can sign up as project site leaders to supervise students, who help DeKalb area groups and residents by weeding, planting, cleaning, painting and making other improvements.
Sue Trump and fellow NIU Cares Day volunteers
“It’s amazing to see the number of kids who get up early and go out to help people in the community,” said Sue Trump, ’74, who enjoys helping at NIU Cares Day with her husband.
As a retiree, Trump has also mentored students by sharing her NIU experiences and providing guidance.
“I think it’s worthwhile to connect with the students and stay in touch with what’s going on at the university,” she said.
During the last year, the NIU Alumni Association has forged partnerships with the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Undergraduate Admissions to connect alumni and students. One result of those efforts is an externship program that began last semester through a partnership between the NIU Alumni Association and the University Honors Program.
The externship program was one of the most rewarding volunteer experiences for Mullick. He hosted an education major at his company, UpMetrics, which provides data and analytics to schools, nonprofit community organizations and foundations.
Mullick, who was in the University Honors Program when he attended NIU, enjoyed showing the student how his company could support her efforts when she becomes a teacher.
Another way Mullick has contributed as a volunteer is through NIU’s letter-writing campaign to prospective students. The last campaign reached more than 5,000 students.
Writing a letter “was not a huge time commitment, but it was a way to make a huge impact quickly,” he said.
Bob Gallagher, ’91, ’92 M.B.A., president of the NIU Alumni Association Board of Directors, and his wife, Christy Gallagher, ’91, give back as project site leaders at NIU Cares Day to connect with students. He has also helped students as a mentor, an instructor of NIU accountancy classes and a speaker for the Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity.
“NIU was a stepping stone to my career and has led to a successful outcome for me,” Bob Gallagher said. “And I’d like to see others be able to have the same opportunities.”
One of his favorite events is the annual Alumni Awards Luncheon, where he has had the opportunity to introduce alumni award winners and student scholarship recipients.
“Hearing the great stories of some of our most successful alumni is incredibly inspirational,” he said.
Sandra Gonzalez
As a young alumna, Sandra Gonzalez, ’15, has volunteered for Northern since she was a junior. When she was an undergraduate research assistant, she began promoting the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies.
Today, she still finds time outside of her career as a high school Spanish teacher in Aurora to speak to incoming students about her experience as a first-generation college student. For example, she shares how she was almost on probation her first semester at Northern but learned how to study and worked her way up to a 3.80-grade point average. She makes students feel welcome by telling them how to get involved on campus, how to find scholarships and what to expect as a new student.
To further her efforts to help students and grow her network, Gonzalez is a member of the NIU Latino Alumni Council, which sponsors workshops, raises funds to support Latino students and connects the Latino alumni community. The council recently held a workshop for students who will be graduating in May to talk about what to expect after graduation. On Sunday, April 15, the council participated in a 5k run/walk in Pilsen, IL, to raise funds for students.
Gonzalez also brought high school girls to campus on Saturday, April 7, for NIU’s Women Empowerment Conference, which provides women of color with personal and professional development and teaches them leadership skills.
“Ultimately, I just love helping people,” Gonzalez said. “At the same time, I’ve made connections [as a volunteer] so that when I need them, they are there because I’ve established relationships with these people.”
Date posted: April 16, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on NIU Nexus connects alumni to the university
Reserved seats are available in the department’s M.S.Ed. in Kinesiology and Physical Education and M.S. in Sport Management degrees. The upcoming master’s program in Athletic Training, which involves a strict vetting process and a specific set of prerequisite courses for admission, is not part of the deal.
Although it’s assumed that students interested in careers related to fitness, human performance or sports are most likely to take advantage of the new benefit, Honors students graduating from any bachelor’s program are welcome.
Todd Gilson
Todd Gilson, director of the Honors Program, believes that this agreement and the two others like it will position his students for productive futures.
“Chad McEvoy and Steve Howell reached out to me and said, ‘Hey, we heard what you started with Political Science, and we’d really like to get in on that as well,” says Gilson, who also is on the faculty of KNPE.
“It’s a win-win for everybody,” Gilson adds. “Honors students can come to NIU, work on their University Honors requirements and know that when they want to advance their career – to take that next step – that it’s already locked in for
them. The department then can get that better quality of students.”
Chad McEvoy and Steve Howell
Howell, associate professor of Sport Management and director of Graduate Studies, says that he and McEvoy, chair of the department, are eager to harness such potential.
“We thought it would be a good idea to incentivize Honors students to attract high-quality, top-notch students into our master’s programs,” Howell says.
“And this is not only to attract those highly qualified students but freshmen and sophomores who are looking ahead a couple years and seeing that automatic feed,” he adds. “More students need to look into these avenues as they want to make themselves marketable.”
NIU’s M.S.Ed. in Kinesiology and Physical Education prepares students to work in the exercise science or Physical Education-Teacher Education communities. Specialties are offered in Adapted Physical Education; Exercise Physiology and Fitness Leadership; Pedagogy and Curriculum Development; and Sport and Exercise Psychology.
The M.S. in Sport Management equips graduates for a variety of careers, including professional sports, college athletics, campus recreation and parks departments.
Honors students who pursue these degrees through the direct admissions program will become pioneers of sorts, Gilson says.
“It’s very uncommon,” he says. “We (Honors) have benchmarked 131 institutions – peer institutions to NIU, a lot of the flagship schools, directional state schools – and only two offer programs like this. I think it says that we’re thinking forward.”
Gilson also hopes that Honors students realize what an advantage the program offers.
“College degrees become harder to acquire as adult life begins, but when you’re still a student and you know how to do it, go and do it,” he adds. “This is not for your first job, but for your third job.”
Interested students are encouraged to contact their Honors advisors or the KNPE department at knpe@niu.edu.
Date posted: April 16, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on KNPE reserves grad program spots for NIU Honors students
“This is an important tool NIU uses for understanding and addressing our university with regard to sexual harassment and sexual misconduct,” said Acting President Lisa Freeman and Acting Provost Chris McCord in a joint statement. “Student participation in the survey will help us to be more aware of the issues we need to address and will help us craft the tools needed to address them.”
The survey is voluntary, takes approximately 20 minutes to complete and provides students an opportunity to win fifty Huskie Bucks prizes valued at $50. The results are confidential, and participants cannot be identified by their responses.
“The SHARE survey has been planned and implemented by several offices working in partnership to make sure NIU is a more inclusive community,” explains Chief Diversity Officer Vernese Edghill-Walden. “Now we need to hear from students. Their voices are important and now more than ever we need to hear from them.”
“The SHARE survey is the result of years of hard work, which began as part of the implementation of the Violence Against Women Act in 2015,” said Kristen Myers, director of the Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality and member of the Presidential Commission on the Status of Women. “The research team is comprised of dedicated, highly-qualified survey researchers who also have the expertise and sensitivity required to successfully gather data on experiences that are difficult for people to talk about.”
Since the survey launched on Monday, March 26, over 800 students have shared their voices. Nearly 500 students have completed the survey with an additional 350 starting but not completing it in its entirety. Demographic information shows that more female students have taken the survey than males students and third-year students have had the highest response rate.
“This survey allows anyone, no matter how they identify, to voice their experience–and that helps everyone. What we learn will enable us to create a more inclusive and productive learning and living environment,” said Paul Kassel, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and member of the Presidential Commission on Interfaith Initiatives. “As a young theatre artist in graduate school, I didn’t have access to information or support that could have been of great help. That’s why I am urging people to participate.”
Faculty and staff across campus are encouraged to continue informing students about this opportunity to share their voices.
Here’s what students need to know about the SHARE Survey:
· Completing the survey gives them fifty chances to win fifty Huskie Bucks prizes valued at $50
· The survey is completely confidential
· It’s not mandatory, but their opinions and feedback are valued
· It will take approximately 20 minutes to complete and they can do it on their phones
· NIU will use the information to make decisions about how to better support our students
Faculty and staff who have questions about the SHARE survey can contact Monique Bernoudy at mbernoudy@niu.edu. Students who have questions or concerns about the SHARE survey can reach out to Principal Investigator Holly Orcutt, Ph.D., at horcutt@niu.edu.
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Date posted: April 16, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on NIU is asking students to SHARE their voices regarding sexual assault
Excessive sitting, some say, is the new smoking – in other words, something that insidiously contributes to shortening a lifespan.
Emerson Sebastião
Indeed, says Emerson Sebastião, a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, at least one decade of research into physical activity behavior shows that “sitting too much is going to be detrimental to your health.”
But what does that mean for elderly people who live in nursing homes or retirement communities, where very little time is spent standing or moving?
Little scholarship on this matter exists on that population, Sebastião says, who are different from their counterparts still living at home in their communities.
“Physical activity is reduced drastically, and the amount of time spent sitting is higher,” Sebastião says. “Someone is going to cook for you. Someone is going to clean for you. Someone is going to do your laundry.”
Residents of DeKalb’s Oak Crest Retirement Center are participating in Sebastião’s current research project to help him understand how sitting impacts their lives and what “interventions” he can develop or suggest to get residents to sit less and move more.
Called “SCOPE” (Sedentary Behavior, COgnition and Physical Function in OldEr Adults Living in a Retirement Community), his work examines how sitting affects not only the physical fitness of the Oak Crest residents but their mental fitness as well.
Tests for physical fitness gauge upper- and lower-body strength, record how many steps they can take in two minutes, count how many times they can stand up from a chair in 30 seconds, assess their gait while walking a straight line for a certain distance and pivoting for a return, and measure how far they can lean ahead without losing their balance.
Speed is a critical factor, Sebastião says. “People who walk quicker live longer.”
Cognition, on the other hand, is evaluated through verbal and visual memory skills. Sebastião recites 16 words to the test subjects and asks to hear them repeated back to him in any order.
Declining memory is something Sebastião understands personally through interactions with his late grandmother. “I would say to her, ‘Grandma, you need to buy your groceries. Grandma, you need to pay your bills. Grandma, you need to clean room.’ ”
When he completes his study – he’s hoping to examine 100 people, and is about three-quarters of the way there – he will have valuable data for the next step.
“I’m trying to establish a connection between scores on these tests and the amount of time residents spend sitting,” he says. “We don’t have any recommendations on how long people should spending sitting to protect them from adverse health outcomes. We don’t have such a thing for older adults.”
Possible “interventions” to help those in need include wearing Fitbits or similar devices that track footsteps, standing or walking around the living room during TV commercials, engaging in exercise that improves cardiorespiratory or muscle fitness or seeking counseling to help them understand the importance of moving more and sitting less.
Unfortunately, he says, much of physical activity behavior or the lack of it is most likely predetermined by personal habits earlier in life.
Human beings who are physically active and fit in their younger years “are building up a savings account. Their rate of slowing down as they grow older is slower,” Sebastião says. “Those who are active at a young age are more likely to be active in older age.”
Sebastião, who studies elderly and clinical populations by exploring factors that influence physical activity as well as creative ways to promote physical activity among older adults, received a six-month Dean’s Research Grant to conduct his work at Oak Crest.
Two graduate students and one undergraduate student are assisting him.
All will write their own papers; additionally, they will combine to pen a group paper, with Sebastião as lead author, for submission to journals on gerontology and geriatrics. The undergraduate student, meanwhile, will present at the NIU College of Education’s Third Annual Student Research Symposium, scheduled for Friday, April 20.
“My students are learning important elements within the research process – how to design a study, how to select instruments for data collection, how to collect data,” he says. “They’re also learning how to talk with our participants throughout the testing to provide motivation.”
He believes that his collaboration with Sebastião will equip him well in his eventual career, in which he plans to work with elderly adults on cardiac rehabilitation.
“Some have no idea of how to go about fitness. A lot of them just go around their apartments,” says Pak, who is from Arlington Heights, “but a lot of them surprise me with how much they can do. A lot of them love to be active.”
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Date posted: April 11, 2018 | Author: Sarah Quinn | Comments Off on Sit or stand? SCOPE research examines sedentary behaviors of older adults at Oak Crest
