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Freshmen from Northern Illinois University and students from DeKalb’s Clinton Rosette Middle School celebrated the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. through song, dance and poetry to mark the conclusion of one of NIU’s first-ever Themed Learning Community projects.

Freshmen enrolled in NIU's Ambassadors for Social Change Themed Learning Community worked with DeKalb middle school students on projects pertaining to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Freshmen enrolled in NIU's Ambassadors for Social Change Themed Learning Community worked with DeKalb middle school students on projects pertaining to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Dec. 1 event was the culmination of a semester’s worth of work that allowed the freshmen (most of them education majors) to get a taste of what it is like to be a teacher and to bring about positive change in the world.

Students enrolled in the TLC (the theme of which was “Ambassadors for Social Change”) took a series of three classes together as a group: English Composition, Education as Agent of Change and UNIV 101 (a one-credit course designed to introduce incoming freshmen to college life and, in this case, service learning).

Instructors of all three classes coordinated class content and assignments so that they supported work the students were doing with members of the Black Student Union at Clinton Rosette Middle School.

For instance, as students learned about being agents of change, they might have written papers on that topic as part of their composition course.

During the semester, the NIU students met with the Clinton Rosette students four times. Together they studied the “I Have a Dream” speech, with the NIU students helping the middle school students understand not only its historical significance, but also how to relate it to their lives.

The middle school students did some teaching of their own, said LaMetra Curry, coordinator for recruitment services in the NIU College of Education, who taught the UNIV 101 class.

Students from Clinton Rosette Middle School practice a dance routine based on Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.

“When they began talking about their presentations, the college students were thinking in terms of speeches and presentations, but the Clinton Rosette students convinced them that they could be more creative and urged them to incorporate dance and music. They got them to think outside of the box,” Curry said.

In addition to developing those presentations, as well as teaching the middle school students some research and writing skills, the NIU students performed another important duty: getting the Clinton Rosette students to start thinking about college as a possibility.

“Many of the middle school students didn’t feel like NIU was a place they could aspire to. They were amazed at what they found when they came to campus. Many said that it was a life-changing event,” said Curry.

The college students were also profoundly touched by the experience.

“People told me that for the first two years of college all you do is take general education courses that you won’t remember,” said Mike Theodore. “Well, I’m pretty sure this experience turned that idea on its head. It was an experience that I will never forget and it reinforced for me that I definitely want to become a teacher.”

Another student said that he came to college planning to major in business, but was inspired by his TLC experience (particularly visits to inner city Chicago schools that were part of the class) to switch his major to education.

Such extraordinary experiences were a bonus to what was already a successful first run of the TLC program, NIU Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver said.

“We hope that our students learned that the university experience isn’t just about going to classes,” Seaver said. “It’s about learning how to work in teams and collaborate – and these students got that chance to experience that during their first semester, which is remarkable.”

NIU offered a second TLC this fall, this one built around the study of climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, energy use and sustainable use of the planet’s resources. NIU plans to expand the menu of TLC options in the future.

Date posted: December 10, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Themed Learning Community program immerses students from NIU, middle school in learning

Categories: Communiversity Education Engagement Faculty & Staff Latest News Students

Bill Studwell

Bill Studwell

Anyone who knew Bill Studwell knew how much he loved Christmas music.

Those who knew him well also had an inkling that he also loved a prominent splash in the media featuring his expertise on the topic.

And why not? Studwell, who worked as a cataloger at NIU’s Founders Memorial Library for 20 years, was justifiably proud that his dogged research and prolific writing on the topic had made him the nation’s preeminent expert on the topic.

To share that knowledge, he created the Carol of the Year series in 1986, and over the next 25 years he share his expertise with any reporter that called – sitting for more than 600 media interviews.

Whether it was a small town radio station on the Plains, or the Wall Street Journal, Studwell was happy to chat for as long as any reporter liked. He patiently answered all of their questions about a particular year’s honoree, or about carols in general. He unfailingly provided the pithy quotes that made for good copy and great sound bites, and each year kept a tally of his media hits.

There is no doubt that he would have been delighted by the coverage in the Dec. 7 edition of the Chicago Tribune.

There, on the bottom of the front page, was a picture of Bill peering out from beneath a pile of brightly wrapped Christmas packages. The accompanying story, by reporter Angie Leventis Lourgos, told of his dedication to Christmas carols and how important it was to him that his series reach its planned conclusion this year.

An inside page featured a complete listing of every carol he ever honored, along with some fun facts for each song. An online version of the story also included links to YouTube videos of each of the honored carols.

“I really wish that Bill was around to see this,” said Joe King of NIU Media Relations and Internal Communications, who helped Studwell promote the Carol of the Year series for the last 13 years. “It would have made for a very merry Christmas for him.”

Date posted: December 8, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Tribune story makes fitting final stocking stuffer for Studwell, late chronicler of Christmas carols

Categories: Latest News Music

A select group of NIU freshman is being granted unprecedented access to the world of academic research with the launch of Northern Illinois University’s Huskie Research Rookies program. 

The undertaking matches the students with faculty who will guide them through a semester-long research project. It will immerse participants in an intellectual undertaking that many students never experience. 

“This is the type of opportunity that people associate only with small liberal arts colleges – the chance to walk in and begin doing significant research as a freshman,” Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver said. 

Participants in the program come from across the academic spectrum, with students from accountancy, physical therapy, psychology, biochemistry, physics, biology, political science, speech and language pathology, nursing, history, information systems and finance.

2010 Huskie Research Rookies

Front row: Lauren Boddy, Iwetta Maciejczyk, Chris Potocki, Rodrigo Sebastian, Danielle Cerve. Middle row: Kate Abell, Julie Steichen, Judith Montero, Katie Janssen, Sarah Stuebing, Katie Finlon. Back row: Evan Wittke, Antwan Hampton, Mike Theodore, Daihee Cho, Chason Zacher, Mary Kate Banks.

The program allows participants to delve more deeply into areas of interest and to apply classroom learning in a lab, said Juia Spears, coordinator for Engaged Learning at NIU. 

Sometimes it will confirm for a student that their choice of major was a good one; for others, it might set them on a new path. Either way, she said, the experience is priceless. 

Many of the Research Rookies said that they viewed the program as great preparation for graduate school and future careers. The faculty mentors, however, said that they expect students will get far more from the experience than just an impressive line on their resumes. 

“This is an opportunity for students to see first-hand the process through which new knowledge is created. They will help unlock questions to which we don’t yet have answers, and that is a very exciting prospect,” said Chuck Downing, a 2010 recipient of an NIU Presidential Teaching Professorship who teaches Operations Management and Information Systems. 

Downing will mentor business student Kate Abell, who plans to investigate ways to increase the efficiency of class registration systems for NIU students. 

Physicist David Hedin, who currently serves as a Board of Trustees Professor, the highest distinction awarded for teaching and scholarship at NIU, envisions the program as a way to not only introduce top students to research but to also groom future collaborators. 

“It’s nice to start working with a freshman whom you could potentially have around for four years. This program will teach them skills that will help them become effective researchers,” said Hedin, whose mentee, Chason Zacher, will participate in the study of sub-atomic particles known as muons. 

As part of that work, Zacher will collaborate not only with Hedin but also with scientists at Fermi National Laboratory. 

The Research Rookies will present their projects April 10, 2011, as part of the Undergraduate Research and Artistry Day.  Research Rookies is one of several initiatives to enhance engaged learning at NIU. 

Participants in the program are: 

Research Rookie: Kate Abell, OMIS
Mentor: Chuck Downing, OMIS
Project: Studying methods for improving student class scheduling systems 

Research Rookie: Mary Kate Banks, Pre-Physical Therapy
Mentor: Hamid Bateni, Physical Therapy
Project: Investigating the effects of noise on balance 

Research Rookie: Lauren Boddy, Psychology
Mentor: David Bridgett, Psychology
Project: Investigating the effect of depression on interactions between college students and agitated infants 

Research Rookie: Danielle Cerve, Psychology
Mentor: Kathryn Bell, Psychology
Project: Studying dating violence amongst college students  

Research Rookie: Daihee Cho, Accounting
Mentor: David Sinison, Accountancy
Project: Investigating the impact on post-Enron accounting laws on the economy 

Research Rookie: Katie Finlon, English
Mentor: Amy Newman, English
Project: Analysis of the elements of literary non-ficiton 

Research Rookie: Antwan Hampton, Psychology
Mentor: Alecia Santuzzi, Pyschology
Project: Study of  behavioral response to facial cues 

Research Rookie: Katie Janssen, Speech-Language Pathology
Mentor: Sherrill Morris, Speech-Language Pathology
Project: Assessing language development skills in toddlers 

Research Rookie: Iwetta Maciejczyk, Nursing
Mentor: Mary Koren, Nursing
Project: Investigating spirituality amongst nursing students 

Research Rookie: Judith Montero, Psychology
Mentor: Nina Mounts, Psychology
Project: Studying the link between ethnic identity and loneliness 

Research Rookie: Chris Potocki, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Mentor: Narayan Hosmone, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Project: Investigating the use of boron-neutron therapy to treat cancer 

 Research Rookie: Rodrigo Sebastian, Biology
Mentor: Chris Hubbard, Biological Sciences
Project: Analyzing differences in fetal anatomy versus adult and embryonic anatomy 

Research Rookie: Julia Steichen, Political Science
Mentor: Scot Schraufnagel, Political Science
Project: Analyzing voter turnout in Southeast Asia 

Research Rookie: Sarah Stuebing, Biology
Mentor: Moira Jenkins and Pamela Macfarlane
Project: Assessing the benefits of equine massage therapy 

 Research Rookie: Mike Theodore, History
Mentor: J.D. Bowers, History
Project: Analyzing the impact of Cyprus embargo on U.S. Corporations 

Research Rookie: Evan Wittke, Biology
Mentor: Barrie Bode, Biological Sciences
Project: Studying the effect of various treatments on liver cancer cells 

 Research Rookie: Chason Zacher, Physics
Mentor: David Hedin, Physics
Project: Studying sub-atomic particles known as muons

Date posted: December 6, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU Research Rookies team with top professors

Categories: Campus Highlights Faculty & Staff On Campus Research Students

Students from NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology presented projects to college faculty and Caterpillar executives at an Oct. 25 event.

The event is part of an ongoing partnership between CEET and Caterpillar, which this past year has employed nearly 40 NIU engineering students at various the manufacturing divisions to help improve the efficiency of their production and manufacturing operations.

“We were delighted with the caliber of students and faculty support. They helped us gain valuable insight on our processes,” said Rick Hill, LWL manufacturing engineering manager at Caterpillar. “These are the building blocks needed to properly balance our lines, budget for manpower, and ensure that we can meet customer demand. The success is a testament to the vision and dedication of the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology staff and individual students at NIU.”

Students involved in the partnership worked side-by-side with manufacturing engineers on the floor of the Caterpillar facility in Aurora, Ill.  After gathering data, speaking with CAT employees and diagnosing several glitches in the production lines, students conducted analysis and made recommendations for improvement. Several of those recommendations were implemented and resulted in significant savings.

Promod Vohra, dean of the college, said that the partnership with CAT not only illustrates the quality of students educated at CEET, but also demonstrates that the State of Illinois is receiving a good return on its investment in NIU.

“The education received by students here at NIU is opening doors and proving to be a real economic development for the state of Illinois in the form of highly skilled workers,” Vohra said. “A majority of NIU’s engineering students are finding their internships leading to job opportunities in Illinois and, as a result, they are choosing to stay in the state as opposed to moving elsewhere.”

Vohra said that he is grateful that Caterpillar continues to place a value on grooming the next generation of engineers, even in difficult economic times.

“While other companies are laying off workers, Caterpillar is partnering with us to hire students because they recognize the value in providing hands-on education for future engineers and they appreciate the high quality of the students that NIU-CEET is producing,” Vohra said.

Caterpillar is not the only corporation benefiting from this type of partnership. The NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology has more than 200 industrial partners throughout the region.

“We are proud that prospective students are taking notice of the major opportunities at NIU, and are happy to report our enrollments have increased 12 percent this year,” said Omar Ghrayeb, associate dean of the college.

Date posted: November 29, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Engineering students partner with Caterpillar, address productivity, competitiveness issues

Categories: Engineering and Engineering Technology

World Collegiate Sales Open logoFootball isn’t the only big game on campus this week.

This Friday and Saturday, the NIU College of Business will play host to the World Collegiate Sales Open. The event will attract students from as far away as Scotland to participate in a series of tests to challenge their sales skills. The competition will draw 20 students from eight business schools, each of which offers a program, or at least classes, to prepare students for careers in business-to-business sales.

Throughout the event, students will be asked to demonstrate skills essential to success in the world of professional sales. Grading their performance will be professional salespeople who rely on those talents every day.

The event is more comprehensive than other similar competitions, says Dan Weilbaker, who leads the NIU Professional Sales Program.

Dan Weilbaker

Dan Weilbaker

“Most other competitions are based solely on a sales call role play. We think our version better reflects all that a salesman has to do,” Weilbaker says. “Certainly it’s important to do well during the sales call, but if you can’t get an appointment, it doesn’t matter.”

To test those other skills, the first day of the competition includes a telephone and e-mail challenge, both of which are essential to securing a meeting with a client.

Later, contestants will be asked to make an elevator pitch, presenting themselves and their product in the best possible light during the 16-story ride from the main floor of the Holmes Student Center to the Sky Room at the top.

The hardcore selling will take place during one-on-one role plays of a sales call with a potential customer.

The first day also will feature a “reverse job fair,” where students will create table displays to attract would-be employers, whom they will try to persuade to hire them. The performance of students during the event will factor into their scores.

Day Two of the event will include a follow up meeting role-play, after which judges will cull the field to four finalists who will get an opportunity to close the sale in a third round meeting during the afternoon. Those sessions will be broadcast live for other contestants to observe.

A winner will be announced during a Saturday evening awards banquet. Seminars and other sales-related activities round out the competition.

Schools with students competing include NIU, Ball State, Baylor University, Elon University, Indiana University, University of Louisville, University of Strathclyde (Scotland) and the University of Toledo.

Date posted: November 8, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU to host World Collegiate Sales Open

Categories: Business Campus Highlights Events Global On Campus Students

Northern Illinois University officials today announced that the DeKalb County Major Case Squad has assumed lead of the investigation into the disappearance of NIU student Antinette “Toni” Keller.

The decision to activate the DeKalb County Major Case Squad at this stage of the investigation was made jointly by law enforcement officials from NIU, DeKalb and Sycamore police, the county sheriff and the Illinois State Police.   It is based on the fact that all of these agencies are already involved in this investigation in some capacity and that the scope of the search has expanded and has now been focused beyond the university campus.

“The safety and security of the students, faculty and staff of NIU and the surrounding DeKalb community are always the paramount concern of the NIU Department of Public Safety.  The best and most efficient way to accomplish this objective in this case is by combining the resources of all of the agencies with jurisdictional interests through the utilization of the DeKalb County Major Case Squad,” said Donald Grady, Chief of NIU’s Department of Public Safety.

Dr. Eddie Williams, Chief of Operations at NIU stated “We all commend and appreciate the efforts that have been taken by NIU police and all law enforcement professionals, and want to reiterate that NIU has confidence in the ability, talents and resources of all of our law enforcement professionals in DeKalb County, along with the Illinois State Police, as we all continue to work closely together as the investigation proceeds.  The No. 1 priority for all law enforcement officials involved remains finding Toni,” Williams stressed.

The DeKalb County Major Case Squad will consist of sworn officers from NIU, City of DeKalb, City of Sycamore, DeKalb County Sheriff and the Illinois State Police and is organized to provide a coordinated response to cases such as this.

“The DeKalb County Major Case Squad is committed to a coordinated effort and is combining our individual resources to locate Toni,” said DeKalb Chief Bill Feithen, designated as the incident law enforcement public information officer for the DeKalb County Major Case Squad.

Keller, a freshman from Plainfield who lived in the Neptune North residence hall on campus, was last seen early afternoon Thursday, Oct. 14. She reportedly told friends that she was going for a walk in an area adjacent to West Lincoln Highway behind the Junction Center retail complex.

NIU campus police were alerted to the disappearance at 6:09 p.m. Friday, according to NIU Police Chief Donald Grady, and immediately began searching for Keller. A national all-points bulletin – also known as a “BOLO,” or “Be On the Look-Out” – also was issued that night.

Over the past week, officers from NIU, the DeKalb Police Department, DeKalb Fire Department, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, Sycamore Police Department and Illinois State Police have participated in the investigation and search efforts.

Should anyone have pertinent information about Toni Keller, please contact the DeKalb County Major Case Squad at 815-753-TIPS or 815-748-8407.

###

Date posted: October 21, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on DeKalb County Major Case Squad to continue investigation into student’s disappearance

Categories: Communiversity Latest News

A new program to coordinate social services for individuals and families that began in Rockford has been recognized as a “Bright Idea” in American government.

That distinction was awarded by the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The recognition places the program on a list of some 173 programs (five from Illinois) that Harvard’s Ash Center believes might be useful to leaders across the country trying to improve their communities. Some 600 projects were considered for the award. The selected programs will be featured on Harvard’s Government Innovators Network website.

The Rockford program was the brainchild of Allan Barsema, a former construction general contractor who now serves as senior research associate for Community and Faith-Based Initiatives at NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies.

About a decade ago, Barsema began dedicating his life to serving individuals who were homeless through the Carpenter’s Place, in Rockford. Trying to apply lessons from his work in construction, Barsema realized something was missing from the social service sector.

“The homeless have issues in all areas of their lives,” Barsema says. “It was evident that rebuilding those lives required assessment and planning, as well as linkage and coordination of multiple specialty service providers. However, there was no equivalent of an architect or general contractor involved.”

The new program seeks to provide that central planning capacity for all clients who are served by a community’s network of social service providers.

It uses a specially designed software tool that allows human service providers including local governmental agencies, social service agencies and faith-based organizations to share information about individuals across a single, web-based secure platform. Clients can work with case managers anywhere in the system to develop a holistic service plan that helps them achieve their goals. Each client can then authorize the software to share that plan with whichever providers they trust, which allows the different providers to collaborate easily to understand the client’s progress and ensure better outcomes.

The program’s innovative software tools have been in development since 2000, when Barsema first approached the NIU College of Business for assistance.

Later, staff from NIU’s Information Technology Services helped further develop the software, ultimately enlisting a team of volunteer IT professionals from 14 Rockford-area businesses who continue to help refine and improve the product today.

In 2006, NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies facilitated a series of meetings among Rockford-area leaders to assess options for expanding the innovative program.

Those meetings created an entrepreneurial partnership among NIU, Carpenter’s Place, the City of Rockford, Winnebago County, the United Way of Rock River Valley and the Dennis and Stacey Barsema Foundation. The partnership created the non-profit Community Collaboration, Inc. to focus managerial talent on further developing the tools and on working with communities beyond Rockford to spread the idea.

”This kind of collaboration has been the dream of human service reformers around the U.S. for more than 30 years,” says Bob Gleeson, director of NIU’s Center for Governmental Studies and a member of the CCI Board of Directors. “Until recently, however, the IT technology was not up to the task and service providers were very skeptical. They care about their clients a lot, and they’ve seen many reform fads come and go. That makes the success of this project remarkable.”

Barsema’s software gives agencies a more complete picture of an individual in need and allows for the creation of collaborative goals and a way to follow progress toward attainment of those goals. Providers of everything from housing, to job training, to childcare and health care have a way to efficiently coordinate services to ensure that individuals are receiving the support they need to get back on their feet.

Today, the CCI product is used in six states by 200-plus organizations, helping more than 95,000 persons to rebuild their lives. It also eliminates duplication of services and streamlines delivery of help, cutting costs in the process.

Nowhere is the effectiveness of the program better demonstrated than in Rockford, where more than 25 agencies are engaged in the program.

Using the CCI software, the Carpenter’s Place is seeing more than 300 long-term homeless persons attain stabilized housing annually. It has reduced jail recidivism among homeless incarcerates from the county’s previous 88 percent down to 18 percent or lower, saving the county more than $349,000 in jail stay days alone.

Such tangible results are increasingly important, says Paul Logli, CEO of the United Way of Rock River Valley, who also serves on the CCI Board of Directors.

“The environment is changing for human service providers,” he says. “Funding – whether from the state, the federal government or private sources – is growing increasingly tight. So a tool like this, that maximizes the value of every dollar spent, is incredibly valuable.”

Barsema is excited at the Bright Ideas recognition, but is quick to share the credit.

“Collaboration has been the key to the success of this project. From the involvement of NIU, social service funders and local businesses in the creation of the software, to the sharing of information between social service agencies, this has truly been a collaborative effort,” Barsema says. “But perhaps the most important collaborators are the clients who reach out for help from their community, and who are willing to allow providers to work together better on their behalf.”

Date posted: October 6, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Harvard center recognizes innovative partnership between NIU, Rockford-area social agencies

Categories: Awards Business Communiversity Engagement

When most people think of college rankings lists, they think only of the 600-pound gorilla of that category — the list published by U.S. News and World Report.

However, when it comes to ranking institutions as numerous and as varied as colleges and universities, one size hardly fits all.

“The mission at Princeton is different from the mission at NIU, so to measure us against the same standards does not always tell the whole story,” says Anne Kaplan, NIU vice president for Administration and University Outreach.

“Rankings like those done by U.S. News and World Report focus almost solely on things that favor schools that place academics above all else, and that does not provide an accurate picture of an institution like NIU, which also places a premium on public service.”

So, for those looking for a more complete picture of NIU, it might prove instructive to look beyond the overall U.S. News and World Report rankings, and peer into some others, such as:

  • Washington Monthly Magazine’s rankings of universities based upon their contribution to the public good.
  • Payscale’s College Salary Report, which provides the median and mid-career median salary for graduates of an institution.
  • U.S. News and World Report’s rankings based upon input from high school guidance counselors.
  • preLaw Magazine’s rankings of Best Value law schools.

Washington Monthly

When it comes to ranking colleges, academic excellence is important, but is hardly the only measure that matters.

So say the editors of Washington Monthly Magazine. They choose to rank colleges not solely upon how well they educate students, but rather upon how well they serve society.

“A college president vying for rankings glory on our list, by contrast, would have to enroll more low-income students, help them earn degrees, orient academic programs toward service, and invest in new scientific research,” the editors say in an explanation of their methodology .

Based upon such criteria, NIU ranked 126th – placing it in the top half of the 258 public and private national universities ranked. Among public universities in Illinois, NIU trailed only the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign on this list.

Kaplan welcomed the new approach to ranking because it rewards schools that, like NIU, make public service a priority.

Specifically, the Washington Monthly rankings looked at three categories: social mobility (recruiting and graduating low-income students); service (encouraging students to give something back to their country); and research (producing cutting-edge scholarship and PhDs). The survey weighted all three categories equally, and NIU scored particularly well in the first two.

Service

One of the three critical areas measured in the survey is service to the greater community.

In that regard, NIU excelled in the subcategories of the percentage of federal work-study grant money spent on community service projects (21st) the number of students participating in community service and the total service hours performed (86th), relative to school size.

Ingraining such efforts into the curriculum of the university has benefits that extend beyond addressing the needs of the moment, says Julia Spears, NIU coordinator for Engaged Learning.

“Providing coordinated service programs, which the university supports or administers, teaches students the process of how to engage in activities that contribute to the greater good of the community,” Spears says. “It trains the next generation of scientists, researchers and business leaders to be responsive to community-identified needs.”

The service category also took into account the size of a school’s ROTC programs and the percentage of alumni serving in the Peace Corps, relative to school size.

Social Mobility

The editors also chose to include a category that measures a school’s commitment to recruiting, admitting and graduating low-income students – something that many of the schools that top traditional ranking lists do not do particularly well.

“Everyone pays for these institutions through tax subsidies and federal grants. But for the most part, only the well-off need apply,” the editors say in explaining their emphasis on the category.

NIU ranked 93rd in the nation in the social mobility category. The metric is based upon the percentage of students who receive Pell grants (federal grants reserved for low-income students) and graduation rates.

Because low-income students typically have more trouble graduating, schools with a high percentage of Pell recipients are expected to have lower graduation rates. Based upon the formula used, the authors projected a graduation rate at NIU of 47 percent. In actuality, NIU graduates 51 percent of the students who enroll here as freshman.

NIU Provost Ray Alden was pleased with the ranking, saying that dedication to serving low-income populations is a commitment to serving the greater good of the nation.

“When it comes to getting ahead in life, it has been proven that a key to success is higher education,” Alden says. “And very often those who can afford it the least are the ones who can benefit the most. Not just for their own sake, but also for their families and for their communities.”

In fact, he adds, helping more people attain a degree is vital to ensuring the nation’s success in the increasingly competitive global marketplace.

“If we are going to be globally competitive, a significant portion of our population must have post-secondary degrees, so reaching out to those who traditionally have been left behind influences the public good of the entire nation. If we ignore the increasing number who just can’t afford college without financial aid, we will suffer as a country.”

Research

In the research category, NIU ranked 159th on the list of research institutions, buoyed by a number 95 ranking for percentage of faculty receiving significant awards. (The magazine based the rankings upon information gleaned from a list of awards published by the Center for Measuring University Performance. Editors counted the number won by a university then divided the total by the fall 2008 total instruction/research/service faculty count.)

Other factors considered were total research spending, the number of students that earn a bachelor’s degree who ultimately earn a Ph.D., and the number of science and engineering Ph.D.s awarded annually.

The ranking places NIU ahead of other Illinois institutions such as Southern Illinois and Illinois State and MAC counterparts Toledo, Miami and Bowling Green.

“Based on sheer dollars, we aren’t near the top of the list, but our balance – having faculty who have received significant humanities awards and significant science awards — raises our ranking,” says David Stone, director of the Office of Sponsored Projects. “It puts us in a league (on this list) with many schools that are much larger.”

preLaw Magazine

The Northern Illinois University College of Law was ranked among the Top 20 law schools in the nation based on value by preLaw magazine, sister publication of the National, as part of its 2010 Best Value Law Schools study.

The study ranked the top 60 schools out of the nearly 200 American Bar Association-approved law schools in the United States, both public and private institutions. NIU, which ranked 13th, was the only public school in the Chicago metropolitan area to make the Top 20.

The study generated its rankings  criteria based on bar passage rate, average indebtedness, employment rate nine months after graduation and tuition for in-state residents.

“At NIU Law, we consider value a total package. Not only is our tuition less than half that of private schools, but the quality of our education is just as excellent,” Dean Jennifer Rosato said. “In addition, the value of our education allows students to have greater flexibility in selecting their career of choice, whether it is private practice or public service.”

A complete story on this ranking is available in NIU Today.

Salaries

PayScale, one the world’s largest aggregators of salary data, recently provided some good news about how well NIU students fare after graduation.

In their 2010-11 College Salary Report, PayScale included NIU on its list of top U.S. state universities in terms of salary potential of its graduates, with a starting median salary in 2009 listed at $43,700 and a mid-career median salary listed at $80,300.

NIU graduates trailed only those from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Illinois Chicago in terms of early earning power, and were virtually tied with Southern Illinois University. In terms of mid-career salary, NIU stood alone in second place behind UIUC and UIC.

“More than ever, families today want to know how a college degree will parlay into outcomes after college,” says Brandon Lagana, director of Admissions. “So rankings like this one matter to families who are asking, ‘What can your college do for my daughter or son?’ ”

High School Guidance Counselor Rankings

Sometimes when you look into the fine print of established rankings you also find interesting nuances.

For instance, within U.S. News and World Report’s rankings (which classify NIU as a Tier 2 school) one sub-category within the institutional reputation ranking examines how high school guidance counselors rank schools. In that instance, among Illinois public universities, NIU ranks third in the state, trailing the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the University of Illinois Chicago.

NIU’s rank at 171 (out of 258 national universities) places NIU well ahead of Illinois State University (219) and Southern Illinois (194).

“While parents are a greater influence on students, high school guidance counselors are still an important influence group for students,” Lagana says. “Their perceptions matter, and any time that you can make a positive impression on them, it’s critical.”

Date posted: October 5, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Rankings season picks up steam, smiles on NIU

Categories: Alumni Awards Did You Know? Faculty & Staff Latest News

Congressman Bill Foster will visit NIU’s DeKalb campus this morning to tout the benefits of a new broadband network to be built in northwest Illinois thanks to a $68.5 million federal grant to the university.

The news conference will be streamed live here starting at 9:45 a.m.

Announced in September, the grant will allow a group led by NIU to construct a fiber-optic network that will provide high-speed connectivity to the counties of Jo Daviess, Stephenson, Winnebago, Boone, Carroll, Lee, Whiteside, Ogle and LaSalle. That includes 637 miles of new fiber and 233 miles of existing fiber

The network will connect up to 500 community anchor institutions, including more than 190 K-12 schools, 80 public safety entities, 40 libraries, 100 government facilities, eight community colleges and 60 health care providers, with the capability to serve an additional 130 anchor institutions.

It also creates the opportunity for 280,000 households and 16,000 business to have more affordable and accessible broadband services by enabling local Internet service providers to use the network.

Today’s news conference will demonstrate some of the power of such a network with presentations from experts in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Paris, France.

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Date posted: October 4, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Foster news conference today will stream live

Categories: Campus Highlights Community Communiversity Engagement Events On Campus

Students who take Business Golf 101 at NIU don’t learn how to sink a 15-foot putt, but they do learn the value of “turf conferences” as a way to make connections and close deals.

Since 1997, Professor Dan Weilbaker and his NIU College of Business colleagues have worked a day of golf into the curriculum of the NIU Professional Sales Program. The program, which offers a certificate in sales, was the second university-level sales curriculum in the country, and the very first to incorporate business golf into the curriculum.

This year’s event was held Sept. 10 in Bolingbrook.

The event takes up but one day out of the semester, but it is a powerful real-world lesson in the importance of networking, which is at the heart of sales, Weilbaker says.

Like many other aspects of the four-course curriculum, the golf outing is intended to provide an experience that will give students a head start when they enter the business world.

Dan Weilbaker

Dan Weilbaker

“Everything in our program is designed to help students not only understand the sales process, but also to experience it so that they can master those skills much more quickly when they land their first job,” Weilbaker says.

For the golf event, students are each assigned to a foursome with two or three working sales professionals. They spend the day applying lessons learned in a lecture from earlier in the week, in which Weilbaker teaches them how to breakdown a round of golf into a nine, or 18-hole sales call with a focus on getting to know a client and their needs.

Over the years, some students have learned that lesson quickly and exceedingly well. Several have met their future bosses at the event, which is sponsored by several major corporations that send some of their best sales people to meet and evaluate the highly sought-after future graduates of the program.

“The recruiters get to meet students in an informal setting that allows them to learn a little more about their character, and to see if they are the right fit for their corporate culture,” Weilbaker says.

It provides a more complete picture of potential future employees than many other, more formal events, says Cathy Catino, a recruitment specialst for Sherwin Williams.

“It’s one of my favorite events,” says Catino,who has occasionally found prospects at the event. “It’s a great real-world opportunity for students to learn how to network in an informal business situation. “

The day on the golf course also turns into a bit of a homecoming. Nearly a dozen graduates of the sales program attended this year’s event.

“I remember how much I enjoyed the golf outing as a student, and how much it meant to me that these professionals took the time to participate,” says Sarah Riebe, a senior sales representative for Lilly USA and a 2001 graduate of the program. “It’s also a great opportunity for me to network with other sales professionals and keep in touch with the program.”

The golf outing has proven so successful that Weilbaker has added a bowling outing in the spring semester that creates similar networking opportunities for students.

Date posted: September 28, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on A lesson in networking on the links

Categories: Alumni Business Latest News Students

Humming to His Own Tune

A story in Business Assets Magazine has high praise for the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology.

Brad Harris of Rockford is rocking the harmonica industry to its bluesy foundations – with some help from NIU.

Harris, the owner, founder and chief technician at Harrison Harmonicas, has “harp” players from Mick Jagger to Bruce Willis clamoring for his B-Radical harmonica.

Manufacturing improvements facilitated by the NIU College of Engineering and Engineering Technology are helping him fill those orders.

The story is featured in the latest edition of Business Assets Magazine.

The team at NIU helped him design and engineer the only machine in the world that will mill a harmonica reed lengthwise – a key element to Harrison’s design.

Date posted: September 20, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on NIU helps revolutionize harmonicas

Categories: Did You Know? Engagement Engineering and Engineering Technology

Bill McCoy

Bill McCoy

by Bill McCoy, NIU College of Business

The Aug. 7 electronic publication of Bloomberg Businessweek reported:

Hewlett-Packard Co.’s Mark Hurd resigned as chief executive officer after an investigation found he had a personal relationship with a contractor who received numerous inappropriate payments from the company.

Interestingly enough, this sort of story used to conjure up salacious images in the minds of everyday citizens. We presumed the level of lies, deceit and manipulation was surely beyond that of ordinary people – while such stories figuratively left the taste of “soap” (as in soap opera) in our mouths. That was in times past. Now, such dastardly deeds are so commonplace, we seldom wince at it anymore as we think, “Doesn’t everyone in those sorts of positions do that kind of stuff?”

After reading such an article, some brazenly reject the notion that Hurd did anything wrong. After all, who he sees and what he does shouldn’t matter as long as it doesn’t affect his performance at work, right? Others solely focus on the inappropriate payments the contractor received from the company and make assumptions about the supposed connections between Hurd and the contractor; either way, there is a core issue that must be addressed. It is an issue that every student at NIU needs to consider: given the same opportunity, what would I do?

The report in Bloomberg Businessweek goes on to say:

… While an investigation didn’t find a violation of the company’s sexual-harassment policy, Hurd “demonstrated a profound lack of judgment that seriously undermined his credibility and damaged his effectiveness in leading HP,” General Counsel Michael Holston said.

So, even though Hurd was not found guilty of violating the corporation’s harassment policy, he was deemed guilty of poor judgment that negatively affected both people’s trust in him and his ability to effectively lead the company. All of that fall-out resulted from occasional “side meetings” and a “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” mentality? Wow!

When it is all said and done, the real issue here is about ethics. Webster defines ethics as “a set of moral principles or values; the principles of conduct governing an individual or a group.” Tough decisions that primarily deal with ethics are made everyday from the board room to the classroom. It is easy to see the wrong of a corporate executive making six figures or more. Many jokes were birthed out of the Madoff scandal, but each of us will have a day of reckoning to deal with – a day to do what is right or to do what is easy and/or convenient.

Northern Illinois University is fortunate to have an initiative within the College of Business (COB) designed to infuse ethics throughout the entire college. The BELIEF Initiative (Building Ethical Leaders using an Integrated Ethics Framework) was started in 2004 with the intent of producing leaders with a conscience. Such a mission will never be easy to fulfill as long as the media glamorizes conscience-less individuals, but NIU-COB is meeting the challenge head-on and becoming the ethical light in an increasingly dark corporate world.

The question now lies with you. What will be your choice when faced with an ethical dilemma that is as sure to happen as the change of seasons? Will you be a salacious headline or an ethical sidebar? For your sake – please choose the sidebar.

Bill McCoy is director of the BELIEF Initiative in the NIU College of Business.

Date posted: September 16, 2010 | Author: | Comments Off on Sex and the executive

Categories: Business Voices