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niu-plus-centerpieceHey, it doesn’t cost anything. And it could help you explore your interests, focus your studies, highlight your accomplishments and maybe even “earn and learn.” Best of all, it could help you get hired after graduation.

This semester, the university launched a unique program open to all students. It’s known as NIU PLUS, short for Progressive Learning in Undergraduate Studies. Through NIU PLUS, students can customize their learning experiences and make them stand out to future employers.

“We’re hoping students will take advantage of these unique NIU PLUS opportunities,” Executive Vice President and Provost Lisa Freeman said. “The program allows our students to make the most out of their individual college journeys by tying together learning experiences that happen inside and outside of the classroom.

“Students can turn every experience—from Gen Eds, to research projects, to college jobs—into an opportunity to hit the ground running on the path to career success,” she added.

NIU PLUS offers three components related to general education requirements, hands-on learning experiences and on- or off-campus jobs.

Academics PLUS allows each student to customize general-education courses according to personal interests, career aspirations or a major or minor area of study. Students can choose from one of seven “pathways” to explore topics or strengthen a major or minor.

For example, a student pursuing an environmental-related degree could take a complementary pathway in “Sustainability.” Or students who simply want broader perspectives might choose “Global Connections.”

What’s more, students have the opportunity to receive a “pathways focus” notation on their academic record. That way, prospective employers and graduate schools will see even more of the student’s accomplishments.

Engage PLUS helps ensure students are recognized for high-quality experiential learning activities outside of the classroom such as conducting research, directing a theatrical performance or learning from internships, service-learning or leadership experiences. There are countless possibilities.

“We encourage NIU students to step beyond the textbook and learn by doing,” Freeman said. “These meaningful hands-on activities drive home what is learned in class and equip students with new skills. Prospective employers will want to know about these activities.”

Working with faculty or staff mentors, or career supervisors, students can create structured experiences unique to their goals and interests. And they can earn academic transcript notations for these experiences, so prospective employers or grad schools are aware of these achievements.

Many NIU students work to make ends meet. “We believe there’s something to learn in every job,” Freeman said.

That’s where Jobs PLUS comes in. It is designed to help students build bridges between their college jobs and post-graduation careers. Jobs PLUS regularly hosts professional development events open to all NIU students. Through partnerships with employers, students could even be eligible to attend these events on paid work time. Frequently led by alumni, the events teach teamwork, communication, time management and other skills important in any work setting.

One program. Three components. Find out more about NIU PLUS

Date posted: October 10, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on Why students should take advantage of NIU PLUS

Categories: Centerpiece Students

economic-development-hompage-copy
Robert Mudida, associate professor of political economy and director of the Institute for Public Policy and Governance at Strathmore University in Nairobi, Kenya, will give a presentation on “The Role of Higher Education Collaboration in the Economic Diplomacy of African States,” from 10:30-11:30 a.m., Tuesday, Oct. 18, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Mudida has considerable lecturing and practical experience in the areas of economics, applied econometrics, public policy, negotiation, international trade and finance. He is a member of the Royal Economics Society of the U.K. and the Society for Financial Econometrics of the U.S.

This event is co-sponsored by the School of Public & Global Affairs and the Division of Outreach & Engagement. Students, faculty and staff with interests in African development will find this an engaging and informative presentation.

Date posted: October 10, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on Mudida to talk about collaboration between economic development, higher education

Categories: Events Faculty & Staff Homepage Students

suicide-preventionA $300,000 grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will work to decrease stigma around mental health and promote resilience in the NIU community.

NIU’s three-year grant, awarded to collaborators from the NIU College of Education’s Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education (CAHE) and NIU Counseling & Consultation Services, will fund various training programs and an awareness campaign.

“Like every other campus across the country, we’re seeing more and more students presenting with mental health issues than we have in the past,” said Brooke Ruxton, executive director of Counseling & Consultation Services and a licensed clinical psychologist, “and we’re doing something about that.”

Called “B-Safer” – an acronym for “Building Suicide Awareness and Fostering Enhanced Resilience” – the initiative officially begins Sept. 30. The B-Safer team also includes Suzanne Degges-White and Carrie Kortegast, chair and assistant professor in CAHE respectively.

Workshops will include “gatekeeper” training for faculty and staff, who will learn how to identify at-risk students and how to respond when they do.

The B-Safer program also will offer awareness training for peer leaders from student organizations on how to recognize signs of trouble in their friends and classmates.

“Both scenarios will take into consideration NIU’s diversity; some populations on campus are culturally resistant to seeking out help for mental health issues,” Ruxton said.

Participants also will learn from Kognito, an online program that, according to its website, “simulates the interactions and behaviors of practicing health professionals, patients, caregivers, students and educators in real-life situations” through “conversation simulations featuring virtual humans to drive measurable change in physical, emotional and social health.”

Kortegast hopes her colleagues across campus will participate – and find empowerment.

“Faculty are some of the people who are seeing students on an ongoing, regular basis. Sometimes there is a reluctance on the part of faculty to inquire with students on how they’re doing,” Kortegast said. “We can do this in a way of a community of care rather than, ‘It’s not my business. It’s not my concern. There are others who will intervene.’”

Such awareness “builds a community of care in which faculty and staff feel it’s OK to reach out to students and resources on campus, that it’s OK to talk about issues of mental health,” Ruxton added. “We’re creating a culture that this is something we’re doing with student organizations, this is something we’re talking about, that we’re watching out for our friends.”

Degges-White, Kortegast and Ruxton already have assembled a Mental Health Task Force made up of NIU faculty and staff as well as a representative from the DeKalb County Mental Health Board.

“A big piece is connecting with the community,” Degges-White said. “We need to have community buy-in.”

Date posted: October 10, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU receives $300,000 grant to prevent suicides through awareness

Categories: Centerpiece Community Faculty & Staff Students

research-rookies-centerpieceThe 2016-17 cohort of Research Rookies has been named! The NIU Research Rookies Program links undergraduate freshmen, sophomore and first-semester transfer students with faculty mentors in their major or area of interest to conduct a small-scale research or artistry project.

A total of 48 NIU undergraduate students have been named as Research Rookies for the program’s seventh year on campus. This year’s cohort represents all six undergraduate colleges and over 25 departments. Research Rookies have come from as close as DeKalb, and as far away as Yangon, Myanmar.

As a Research Rookie, students will:
· Learn what research looks like in their field of study
· Learn how to write a formal project proposal
· Gain experience working alongside talented faculty
· Attend professional and academic enrichment activities
· Present their work at the annual Undergraduate Research and Artistry Day
· Receive a $500 stipend at the completion of the program

This year’s cohort will be working on many fascinating projects with a wide array of topics covered. Aspen Wheeler, a freshman geology and chemistry double-major, is assessing the relative abundance of biogeochemical features, such as precipitation or etching, on different compositions of subglacial Antarctic sediments and determining the chemical composition of those features at three different samples sites. Nicole Hoffmann, biomedical engineering major, second-year Rookie and peer mentor in the program, is working with nanoparticles to optimize the quantity of chemicals involved and their stability.

Participating in Research Rookies is the perfect way for highly motivated students to connect with one another as well as with supportive faculty and staff. Past Research Rookies have gone on to become:

· SROP, SEF, and USOAR Participants
· Lincoln Laureates
· Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Participants
· FermiLab Summer Internships in Science and Technology (SIST) Participants
· Forward Together Forward Scholarship Recipients
· Honors Scholars
· McKearn Fellows

For more information on the program and to view the profiles for each Rookie, visit the Research Rookies website. Feel free to contact the Office of Student Engagement & Experiential Learning by calling 815-753-8154 or sending an email to ResearchRookies@niu.edu with any inquiries you may have.

Date posted: October 7, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU Research Rookies named for 2016-17 academic year

Categories: Centerpiece Engagement Faculty & Staff Students

corCor Cantiamo, a professional chamber choir in residence at the NIU School of Music, is excited to announce that the Farny R. Wurlitzer Foundation Fund has awarded a $7,500 grant to our organization. This fund is set up to provide assistance to further music education, music appreciation, and performance and has been awarded to us through the DeKalb County Community Foundation.

NIU is grateful to the Wurlitzer Foundation Fund for this grant to support our performance and educational outreach programs. We are proud of the work we do in DeKalb county to enrich the cultural lives of our community. From local concerts to educational outreach programs with area high schools, Cor Cantiamo is bringing world-class musical experiences to our community.  

“The support we receive in DeKalb county is an essential building block in supporting our mission. The Wurlitzer Foundation Grant will benefit the goals at the heart of our organization,” said Dr. Eric Johnson, founding artistic director of Cor Cantiamo.

Cor Cantiamo’s next concert will be presented on Thursday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m., in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall. This concert will feature the world premiere performance of The Seven Heavens, composed by British composer James Whitbourn.  This multi-movement work is a musical biography of the author C.S. Lewis scored for chamber choir and seven instrumentalists. There will be a pre-concert lecture about the creation of this stunning new work by the composer at 7 p.m. 

For more information about Cor Cantiamo’s season activities or how to support them, please visit their website www.corcantiamo.org.

Date posted: October 7, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on Cor Cantiamo NIU ensemble in residence awarded Wurlitzer Foundation Grant

Categories: Arts Awards Community Faculty & Staff Homepage Music Parents Students Visual and Performing Arts

swapan-portraitA presentation by Swapan Chattopadhyay, professor and director of accelerator research at NIU, will kick off the 2016 American Physical Society Prairie Section Meeting on Thursday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m., in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.

His presentation, “Beaming Into the Heart of Matter and Life,” is open to the general public. Thursday evening’s event is sponsored by STEMfest and Sigma Xi Honor Fraternity.

Chattopadhyay is internationally known for helping break new ground in the fields of accelerator and beam physics, having made significant contributions to the development of accelerators worldwide for particle physics, nuclear physics and materials science. He has directly contributed to the development of many accelerators around the world — the Super Proton-Antiproton Synchrotron at CERN, the Advanced Light Source at Berkeley, the asymmetric-energy electron-positron collider PEP-II at Stanford, the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) at Jefferson Lab and the Free-Electron Lasers at Jefferson and Daresbury Laboratories.

He currently holds a joint appointment between NIU and Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) where he is a distinguished scientist, member of the director’s senior leadership team and director of the Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between Fermilab and NIU. He is an APS Fellow and past chair of the APS Division of Physics Beams.

The 2016 American Physical Society Prairie Section Meeting runs Oct. 6-8 on the campus of NIU. More information about the conference and registration information can be found at go.niu.edu/2016-aps-meeting

Date posted: October 6, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on Professor’s presentation kicks off American Physical Society meeting Thursday

Categories: Community Events Faculty & Staff Homepage Parents Students

career-fairs-centerpieceNIU’s fall 2016 career events offer students and job-seekers the chance to impress and network with potential employers. This fall features NIU’s Internship Fair and Full-time Job Fair, both are for all majors. A “Career Fair and Internship Prep Workshop,” offered through NIU Career Services, is planned to help students in preparing for the career events.

To enhance your opportunities for success at the Career Fair, students are encouraged to research the companies, rehearse elevator speeches, dress professionally, bring plenty of résumés and practice your interview skills. Job seekers are also encouraged to make use of NIU’s job search system – Huskies Get Hired! – where employers find new talent for jobs and internships, and where NIU students can create, upload and publish their résumés. 

To jump-start the career fair process, Career Services will be offering a Career Fair & Internship Prep Workshop, which will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 5-7 p.m., at the Campus Life Building, Room 100. This preparation workshop is designed to help students make the most of the internship and job fairs by providing strategies for connecting with employers and making the best possible first impression with employers seeking to hire Huskies! Career Services’ professionals and employers will assist students with putting the final touches on their elevator pitches and share strategies on how to find, research, prepare and interview for internship opportunities.   

The Internship Fair will be held on Tuesday, Oct.18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the NIU Convocation Center. At this fair, more than 100 employers will be present to connect with NIU students seeking internships. A list of participating employers can be viewed at careerfairs.niu.edu.

Admission and parking are free for this event. Students can pre-register online at careerfairs.niu.edu; pre-registration is not required to attend. Remember to dress professionally and bring several copies of your résumé.

The Full-time Job Fair will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 19, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the NIU Convocation Center. At this event, more than 175 employers will be present to connect with NIU students/alumni seeking full-time jobs. A list of participating employers can be viewed at careerfairs.niu.edu.

Admission and parking are free for all current NIU students and alumni. Students can pre-register online, but pre-registration is not required. Again, dress professionally and bring several copies of your résumé.

For more information, call 815-753-1641 or email careerservices@niu.edu.

Date posted: October 6, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on Career Services announces career fairs and a preparation workshop for fall 2016

Categories: Alumni Centerpiece Community Events Faculty & Staff Students

handkerchief-portraitOn Oct. 6, the NIU School of Theatre and Dance will open its 2016-2017 Studio Series season with Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief, playwright Paula Vogel’s version of the Shakespearian tragedy, Othello.

The play follows three women, Desdemona, Emilia and Bianca, which Vogel has reimagined from minor character status in the Shakespeare play into the central characters of her story. More importantly, the playwright takes Desdemona and the famous speculation, “Is Desdemona innocent?” and answers it in the negative–Desdemona is not innocent at all.

According to the play’s director, NIU faculty member Rachel Cooper, the story portrays Desdemona, Othello’s wife, as the opposite of Shakespeare’s version. She says, “If (Desdemona) was perfect, chaste and virginal, I don’t think it would be that interesting… she’s a more fully developed, flawed, interesting character.”

Vogel wanted to capture what was really going on in the background of Shakespeare’s world, Cooper says. The original story revolves around the male characters and the women aren’t important as anything other than wives and props, or merely, “…accessories to the greater story of men.”

Cooper says Vogel’s play is the story of women, from the women’s point of view. Her female characters have been given depth and intriguing characteristics, in contrast to the simple, innocent bystanders they were in Othello.

“Even Shakespeare’s main character, Othello, isn’t present at all,” she says, “other than being mentioned by the other characters here and there.”

The female characters struggle through a time when they are oppressed by men and in search of their sexuality, according to Cooper. Desdemona especially is the most promiscuous woman in the story, most likely as a reaction to how she is treated by the men in her life.

Cooper describes some of the content of the play as shocking and not fully accepted by today’s society. There are many concepts in the story that are still considered by many people to be inappropriate to talk about, especially among women.

The most important idea Cooper believes that audiences should take away from this story is that modern society has come a long way from where it was on gender roles and sexuality, but, “…we still have a long way to go.”

“It’s easy to sort of sit back and judge people, like, ‘Oh, back in the past, they were so misinformed and ridiculous,’” she says, “but these double-standards are still real, and sexual violence is still real, and overdetermined gender identity is still real.”

Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief runs Oct. 6-9. Performances are at Diversions Lounge Theatre in the Holmes Student Center, on the NIU DeKalb campus.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday through Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. All general admission tickets are $ 7. Ticket reservations or additional information is available by contacting the NIU School of Theatre and Dance box office at 815-753-1600, or online at the School of Theatre and Dance website at niu.edu/theatre.

Date posted: October 6, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU School of Theatre and Dance presents ‘Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief’

Categories: Arts Community Events Faculty & Staff Homepage On Campus Students Visual and Performing Arts

thumbnail-7Country music sensation Thomas Rhett, with special guests Kelsea Ballerini, Russell Dickerson and Ryan Hurd, will be live at the NIU Convocation Center in DeKalb, on Friday, March 3, 2017. Tickets go on sale Friday, Oct. 7, at 10 a.m., at the box office, LiveNation.com and all Ticketmaster outlets. Ticket prices range from $25 to $54.75. VIP packages are also available. 

According to Rolling Stone magazine, the singer/songwriter sparks “an ushering in of Country’s future” as he dominates the Nielsen 2016 Mid-Year List with Tangled Up, landing in the top five country albums while Die A Happy Man was the most streamed song overall with more than 80 million streams. Garnering two Country Music Awards (CMA) nominations for Die A Happy Man after earning a Billboard Music Award for “Top Country Song” along with ACM and ACCA for “Single Record of the Year,” Rhett was also recently chosen as one of five of CMT’s Artists Of The Year. This will be Rhett’s first headliner tour.

For more information visit www.thomasrhett.com or niuconvo.com.

Date posted: October 5, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on Thomas Rhett coming to NIU – tickets on sale Oct. 7

Categories: Announcements Community Events Faculty & Staff Homepage Parents Students What's Going On

wnij-fundraising-homepage-portraitWNIJ 89.5 FM is pleased to announce the launch of a new fundraising project called Mission Possible. The objective is to raise $150,000 without interrupting programs. This financial goal is both ambitious and necessary as it is the amount needed to continue to bring the quality programming thousands depend on in northern Illinois.

WNIJ is one of two non-commercial public broadcasting radio stations managed by Northern Public Radio, the broadcast arm of NIU, and provides independent, local, national and international news. For years, WNIJ has preempted programming throughout the year to ask listeners for their financial support, as public radio is supported by the public.

Staci Hoste, director and general manager of the station, explains the change, “This fall, in the midst of the 2016 presidential election as this community prepares to make a profound decision, we want to meet the need for in-depth, quality and, most importantly, uninterrupted coverage.”

The station instead will use regularly scheduled breaks to ask for this support. If the $150,000 campaign goal is not met by Oct. 21, staff will resume the traditional pledge drive until that goal is met.

Hoste offers another important reason for the change to the fundraising approach, “In the face of continuing uncertainty in the state of Illinois, WNIJ will not receive the level of funding provided in previous years; therefore, we need listener support, not only to protect programs from interruption but also to protect the future of public radio. We’re committed to doing all we can to adapt to ever-changing financial circumstances, but we can’t do it without a strong community of supporters. Now is the time to give, and we thank everyone who already has contributed to this campaign.”

Support public radio in your community and donate today! Those who support the station already can participate by increasing their monthly contribution or providing an additional one-time donation.

All donors to the campaign will be sent a postcard and encouraged to take a photo with the enclosed card and share it on Facebook and Twitter using the hashtag #WNIJMissionPossible. Tell your friends and followers why you support WNIJ. The station will share the best photos. All posts will go one step further to making this mission possible, and the station will be able to celebrate its community of supporters in a brand new way!

Date posted: October 5, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on WNIJ announces Mission Possible aims to raise $150k without interrupting programs

Categories: Community Faculty & Staff Homepage Parents Students

scam-alert-homepage-portraitThe Department of Police and Public Safety is warning the campus community about an increasingly common employment/business opportunity scam.

Employment and business opportunity schemes have surfaced wherein illegitimate, occasionally foreign-based companies, are recruiting citizens in the United States on several employment search websites for work-at-home employment opportunities. This is typically done through the student’s NIU email account, then followed-up with numerous text messages. These positions often involve reselling or reshipping merchandise to destinations outside the state of Illinois.

Prospective employees are required to provide personal information, as well as copies of their identification, such as a driver’s license, birth certificate or social security card. Those employees that are “hired” by these companies are then told that their salary will be paid by check from a United States company, reportedly a creditor of the employer. It is occasionally done under the pretense that the employer does not have any banking set up in the United States. There is often high pressure via email or text messaging to very quickly deposit a fraudulent check sent by the scammer into the student’s personal bank account, and then immediately write a personal check from the student’s account to a fraudulent third party.

The amount of the check is significantly more than the employee is owed for salary and expenses, and the employee is instructed to deposit the check into their own account, and then wire or mail the overpayment to a secondary location, typically out of state. The checks are later found to be fraudulent, often after the transfer has taken place, resulting in the student being responsible for the personal check they wrote.

The NIU Police Department urges all individuals contacted about this scam to report those involved immediately and be prepared to provide names and descriptions of the offenders when available. A federal complaint can be filed with the Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov or with the NIU Police Department.

NIU Police investigators can be reached at 815-753-1212. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the Tips line at 815-753-TIPS (815-753-8477).

Date posted: October 5, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU Police warn of employment and business opportunity scam

Categories: Community Faculty & Staff Homepage Safety Students

how-the-health-centerpieceAs we approach the midpoint of the semester, there are lots of exciting events and experiences to look forward to and enjoy like Homecoming, the crisp fall weather, football games and creating memories with new and old friends. This is also the time of the semester when many students begin to feel “stressed out.” You may feel moody, irritable, sad or tired. You may have a hard time sleeping, staying focused or being motivated for all that you have to juggle. You may just feel like you need a break.

Counseling & Consultation Services (CCS), along with other local and campus organizations, invite the NIU community to enjoy an afternoon of fun, relaxation and entertainment at How the HEALTH are you, NIU? Please join us on Oct. 11, from 1-7 p.m., at the Holmes Student Center, Duke Ellington Ballroom. The second annual How the HEALTH are you, NIU? event will bring great opportunities for fun and play with a focus on mental and physical health, wellness and stress relief.

How the HEALTH are you, NIU? offers something for everyone including great music, art activities, Zumba, a food demonstration, chair massages and a motivational speaker. Students can also speak with a mental health professional about the impact that stress is having on their academic and/or personal life and get connected with resources. How the HEALTH are you, NIU? will provide a chance to build resilience, make connections with others, socialize, feel inspired, learn about support and take a well-deserved break.

If it seems like you may need some additional support, please visit CCS for a walk-in appointment. Counselors at CCS provide free individual and group counseling services to NIU students, many of whom are struggling with issues like anxiety, depression, relationship concerns and academic difficulties. Walk-in appointments are available Monday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., in 200 Campus Life Building.

We look forward to seeing you on Oct. 11 at How the HEALTH are you, NIU? Don’t forget to bring a frien

Date posted: October 5, 2016 | Author: | Comments Off on How the health are you, NIU?

Categories: Centerpiece Community Events Faculty & Staff Students