NIU Today

NIU Today, the official news and information website of Northern Illinois University, moved today to a new online home. The URL is now www.niutoday.info. Today’s move to a more reliable platform will enhance the performance of the site and facilitate future expansion of content. Launched last August by NIU’s Media Relations and Internal Communications team,...

Members of NIU’s Marketing and Branding Committee need your help to choose a new logo for the university. The 2011-12 academic year will begin this fall with a new tagline – “Learning Today, Leading Tomorrow” – and a new logo that conveys a unified and consistent institutional visual identity. First, though, results from a brief...

After much discussion, it appears that lawmakers will this week take up in earnest the issue of changes to the pension system for state employees. Currently, it appears that the language in HB149 is the strategy that lawmakers are looking to as they consider the issue. A quick summary of the three-tiered system under consideration...

It’s simple math, really. Take a small army of dedicated middle school teachers. Add to that a highly specialized master’s degree program that expands their expertise — not only in mathematics, but also in adolescent identity formation and in teaching methods that stress real-life connections for pre-teens. The results are spectacular, according to Northern Illinois...

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has announced four appointments to the governing board of Northern Illinois University. Newcomers Anthony A. Iosco and Robert T. Marshall Jr. begin new terms, while veteran trustees Marc J. Strauss and Cherilyn G. Murer were reappointed to the board. The appointments to six-year terms are effective immediately and will require Illinois...

The NIU Rockford Club, in partnership with NIU Huskie Coaches Caravan, will host its annual golf outing Thursday, May 19, at the Rockford Country Club. A shotgun start is scheduled for 1 p.m. Dinner begins at 6:15 p.m. Coaches from all NIU sports, along with new Huskies head football coach Dave Doeren, will address the group at 7 p.m. Golfers will...

NIU’s collaboration with community colleges is the topic of a lunchtime conversation from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, in the Capitol Room South of the Holmes Student Center. Speakers from NIU colleges, centers and offices will share information about the many NIU initiatives now under way with community colleges across the region. Representatives...

NIU President John G. Peters today addressed the NIU Board of Trustees regarding the state of budget negotiations in Springfield, and talk of altering pension and insurance programs for current employees and annuitants. His remarks were summarized in an e-mail to the campus community, which is included below. Dear Colleague, NIU recently concluded testimony before...

WNIJ (89.5-FM) reporter Susan Stephens claimed three honors this year when the Illinois Associated Press Broadcasters Association recently announced winners in the 2010 Journalism Excellence Contest. Stephens won her awards in the association’s Downstate Radio division. Her story “Fire Ops 101” was chosen Best Light Feature. Her “Two Sides of a Transplant” report was named Best Hard News...

Talk of budget cuts, borrowing, deficits, tax increases and pensions have dominated conversation throughout the halls of the Illinois Capitol this year.  Legislators and staffers have debated whether the budget cuts actually cut the budget or whether they merely act as a substitute for the absence of federal funding.  The income tax hike is real...

Growing up in East Chicago Heights, Jerry D. Blakemore clearly recognized the importance of education and public service. His father, J.D., who worked in the Youngstown Sheet and Tube steel mill for 31 years, held a seat on the village board and volunteered as a police officer and firefighter. His mother, Mattie, an operator for...

NIU’s Internet connection became faster and able to provide more bandwidth resources when the university tripled its broadband services with provider Cogent Communications in January. For students, faculty and staff who depend on the network for study, work and research, the news is welcome, said Cindy Phillips, director of customer services at Information Technology Services. The increase allows information...