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The Staff Team Award for Creativity and Innovation recognizes one group/team per year for excellence in creativity and innovation demonstrated by proposing and/or implementing a new or improved process, methods, systems or services, while encouraging reasonable/calculated risk-taking among their colleagues and/or teams. These efforts should show that they will or have resulted in great efficiency,...
The Staff Mentorship Award recognizes up to two staff members per year who serve as role models by inspiring colleagues and/or promoting professional development. These staff members, informally or formally, provide mentorship by being available to colleagues for support and sharing tips/resources for navigating higher education field/job functions. They’re known as go-to resources on campus....
The Staff Inclusive Excellence Award recognizes up to two staff members per year who exhibit an outstanding commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and demonstrate exemplary contributions to developing a culturally diverse and welcoming university community. Criteria: Be a regular staff member at least 51% time or a full-time temporary staff member Demonstrate cultural competence...
Gladys Crespo When Gladys Crespo graduated from high school in her native Puerto Rico, she planned to become an engineer. That was her initial path in college as well, but it didn’t last. “I ended up teaching other students what they needed to do, and that was something that really became my passion,” Crespo says,...
Bill Pitney Bill Pitney knows exactly why he’s moving back to Graham Hall. “The college’s mission really resonates with me,” says Pitney, professor of Athletic Training in the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education. “Our mission is grounded in high-quality teaching, research and service that prepares our students for personal and professional success, equipping them...
Extraordinary. Passionate. Determined. Caring. Students in Scott Sibley’s Human Development and Family Sciences (HDFS) courses describe him as having all those attributes – and more. “I had never met a professor so passionate about his field and caring about his students,” said Breanna Terry, a senior majoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. “He is...
A perceived barrier in online courses is that for all the evolving technology that brings students and professors together, there can be difficulty in having meaningful, engaging conversations in a virtual setting. Students and colleagues of Kate Cady, professor in the communications department at NIU, believe that barrier does not exist in her courses. Carolyn...
Lynn Dykstra makes connections with her students. For the Excellence in Online Teaching Award winner, it’s all about building relationships and engaging with Huskies beyond a virtual environment. “It’s about the students,” said Dykstra, an instructor at NIU School of Nursing. “I try to connect with each student and there are ways to successfully do...
Bill Cassidy says the educational philosophy he applies to the journalism courses he teaches is one of “voices.” To help his students successfully find their voices he strives to create an inclusive classroom. One that is relaxed and open with an atmosphere of encouragement as they do their work together. “Numerous studies have found that...
Taylor Hartman is passionate about what he does, and it shows. An American Sign Language (ASL) instructor and Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award winner, Hartman is known for being dedicated, enthusiastic and willing to go above and beyond for Huskie students and the campus community. “It is such an honor to receive this award,” Hartman...
To Philosophy Professor Mylan Engel Jr., the community is a classroom. His students learn philosophy by doing. They plant, weed, mulch and tend NIU’s Communiversity Gardens. They harvest and clean produce donated to the Huskie Food Pantry. They pack food for Feed My Starving Children. And they volunteer their time at an animal sanctuary. During...
NIU Biologist Barrie Bode’s passion and drive to engage are reflected in the advice he once gave a former student. Alum Natalie Lubbers had a solid job as a lab supervisor but was considering a move to take on the COVID-19 fight with SHIELD Illinois, the University of Illinois System’s initiative to make a saliva-based...
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