NIU Today

The co-chairs of NIU’s Program Prioritization task forces say their groups are making good progress with reading and scoring the nearly 500 program narratives submitted in December. Academic Task Force Co-Chairs George Slotsve and Alan Clemens and Administrative Task Force Co-Chairs Michelle Pickett and Matt Streb say the groups have fine-tuned their processes as they’ve...

How is the state budget impasse, now in its eighth month, hurting DeKalb County? Bianka Rios has an answer. Rios, who’s pursuing a degree in human resources from Kishwaukee College with a minor in accounting, plans to transfer to NIU. A wife, and the mother of a 3-year-old son, Rios already juggles two jobs, one...

Michael Syphers, a senior research professor of physics at NIU, received quite a surprise when he traveled recently to the University of Texas, Austin, to teach a course for the U.S. Particle Accelerator School (USPAS). Syphers has taught similar USPAS courses for nearly three decades with little fanfare. During the school’s opening night ceremonies Jan....

Leaders from education, social services, business and others will join together Thursday to call upon state legislators to resolve the ongoing budget stalemate. The event, a Unity Rally for a State Budget, will take place at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 11, at the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, 231 N. Annie Glidden Road in DeKalb....

DeKalb County Government and four other organizations with a stake in the county’s economic development future are beginning an important phase in a recently launched visioning project. The purpose of this effort is to help shape an economic development vision document that will guide planning, marketing and investments for DeKalb County over the next five...

If actions speak louder than words, Kurt Thurmaier is sending a message loud and clear. The NIU Presidential Engagement Professor and chair of the Department of Public Administration, School of Public and Global Affairs, successfully completed his second trek to the top of Africa’s highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro, on Jan. 30. Thurmaier’s efforts were on...

Almost immediately upon my arrival at NIU, I set forth Ethically Inspired Leadership as one of the pillars that would support all of my administration’s efforts on behalf of the university. Key to delivering on this commitment is to be clear and transparent in our response to issues raised about our stewardship of university resources....

NIU President Doug Baker will host a town hall meeting Tuesday, February 16 in the Regency Room at the Holmes Student Center. The meeting is scheduled for 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. and is an opportunity for university faculty, staff and students to engage in a conversation with university leadership about important initiatives and issues. President Baker...

Members of the NIU Black Counselors Association are presenting 28 days worth of interesting pieces of African-American history in recognition of Black Heritage Month. The term African-American is offensive to many black Americans. The term was created in an attempt to create an equivalent of “German-American or Italian-American.” However, blacks in America don’t have such...

Much work has been done and is being done to increase the number and diversity of students choosing engineering career pathways. The evaluation of various curricular and programmatic interventions aimed at improving students’ attitudes and beliefs about engineering have documented success in the form of increased positive gains. However, the numbers of students choosing engineering...

When Illinois Gov. John Peter Altgeld approved funding in the spring of 1895 to open two new “normal schools” to prepare teachers in northern and eastern Illinois, many cities in our region engaged in a spirited competition to win those prizes. Loyal residents of DeKalb, like their counterparts in Dixon, Freeport, Fulton, Oregon, Polo and...

Anna Quider is not only representing NIU’s best interests in Washington, D.C. She also is playing a lead role in advocating for scientific research funding to our nation’s universities. Quider, NIU’s director of federal relations, recently was elected secretary of the board of directors for The Science Coalition, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization of more...