NIU Today

A sweeping new university-wide Sustainability and Climate Action Plan calls for NIU to “chart an ambitious path forward to become an innovator and leader in sustainability.” A task force appointed by President Lisa C. Freeman released the plan this week in draft form for public review and comment. The plan is expected to be finalized...

In the digital age of disruption, graduates need to have more than a job offer to launch their careers successfully; they need the right mindset and market-demanded skills to be effective in the ever-changing expectations of occupations. Thanks to the College of Business’ partnership with growing fintech firm Halo Investing, students in the Master of...

Previous founder and executive director of Partnership for College Completion to lead policy and program center focused on equitably increasing outcomes for Illinois students Education Systems Center at Northern Illinois University (EdSystems), a policy development and program implementation center organization dedicated to shaping and strengthening education and workforce systems, is pleased to announce the appointment...

After a national search, Northern Illinois University has named university alumnus John Acardo as its new senior associate vice president and chief human resources officer. Acardo will begin in the new post on July 1. He has served for nearly five years as the chief human resources officer at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where...

Among the many titles Shyree Sanan has held throughout her life and career, the latest is fellow. Sanan, NIU’s associate vice president of finance and treasury, was chosen as one of only 17 business officers at universities throughout the nation to take part in the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) 2023-24...

Melissa “Mel” Lenczewski, professor of hydrogeology in the Department of Earth, Atmosphere, and Environment and former director of the Institute for the Study of Environment, Sustainability and Energy (ESE) has been named the recipient of the 2023 Exemplary Faculty Mentor Award. For the past eight years Anna Klis has worked at NIU as assistant professor...

Senior leaders from industry deliver cutting-edge lessons on digital transformation. The Executive MBA (EMBA) program at the NIU College of Business offers OMIS 697, a course on digital transformation that is frequently taught by senior leaders in industry. In the rapidly changing digital world, it is important that every leader understands the implications for organizations,...

Carol A. Sumner, Ed.D., will return to her home state of Illinois to become NIU’s new vice president of  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and chief diversity officer (CDO), pending approval June 15 from the NIU Board of Trustees. Born in Texas, Sumner grew up in Illinois before embarking on a successful professional career, including 27...

Alum reflect on program’s life-changing impact through the years “The CHANCE Program changed my life.” This sentiment—often shared by graduates of NIU’s McKinley “Deacon Davis CHANCE Program—sums up what the program means to so many. It’s a sentiment former CHANCE student David Seymour believes in so much that he had it printed on a T-shirt....

The numbers tell an amazing story. Eighteen B.S.Ed. in Elementary Education majors started the third cohort of the College of Education’s PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators) program with Elgin Community College in the fall semester of 2021. All 18 finished, gathering May 4 to celebrate their accomplishments after two years of being...

Steph Horgan knows the impact a good academic advisor can make on one’s future. Not too long ago, she was an undecided freshman at NIU unsure which career to pursue. “I came into NIU…and changed my major a couple times,” Horgan says. “It is totally okay not to know what you want to do right...

Every semester brings ripples of innovation across campus. In the academic year ahead, those ripples will be replaced with a tidal wave of new approaches to existing classes  thanks to the Curricular Innovation Grants awarded to faculty this month. Announced in February, by Provost Beth Ingram, the program was created to promote  experimentation with innovative...