FALL QUARTER 2013
STUDENT
AFFAIRS
NEWSLETTER
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Student Affairs Newsletter 03
Message from the Vice President
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New Student and Family Programs Kicks off OneNorthwestern!
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Welcome to the Office of Academic Initiatives
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Staff Focus: Fostering Purposeful Partnerships; Health Service and SAIT Provide for Hephzibah Children’s Association
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Residential Services Updates
MASTHEAD
We welcome your feedback, questions, and submissions.
NU Nights
Chael Wright-Isak, Editor chael@northwestern.edu
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ASG Faculty and Administrator Honor Roll
Jessica M. Toro Sarah Turbin, Graphic Designers
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Jill Brazel, Photographer
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Did You Know?
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New Staff
Norris is On a Mission CAPS News
NuCuisine Makes the Grade
Cory Goldman, Cover Photo
Patricia Telles-Irvin, Publisher
Volume 8. Fall 2013
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MESSAGETHE FROM
VICE PRESIDENT
Our academic year is off to a great start. I received terrific feedback about our Purple Pride event. Parents and our students are very happy with all of the special attention and care during Wildcat Welcome, and Move-In Day facilitation was even better than last year.
Student Affairs continues to move forward and honor the values and guiding principles within the Strategic Plan. In keeping with our improvement goals, the Staff Survey was sent to everyone within the division. As soon as the results are reviewed, we will be better informed as to how we have grown and which specific areas are in need of attention. I look forward to sharing this information with you through your departmental directors in December. Each of you contribute to the organizational health and well-being for our division and I appreciate the feedback and insights you offered throughout the year in addition to the survey process. Resources will be needed for our important student services, such as the Housing Master Plan and improvements for a new University Center. I will be devoting quite a bit of time toward cultivating rewarding partnerships with potential donors and also focusing on raising funds to help students in need. Campus climate is of vital importance and our collective energies will result in a hopeful path for our students. Enjoy this season, for it is rich with color and optimism. Best wishes,
Patricia Telles-Irvin
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NEW STUDENT & FAMILY PROGRAMS KICKS OFF ONENORTHWESTERN The Office of New Student and Family Programs (NSFP), in conjunction with numerous campus partners, successfully executed Wildcat Welcome the week of September 16. More than 2,200 freshmen and transfer students participated in the eight-day program with the support of 200 Peer Advisers and 10 members of the Wildcat Welcome Board of Directors. Additionally, this was the first year for Family Ambassadors, which included 23 student leaders who were selected to take care of parents and family members on move-in day and during Parent & Family Orientation. In addition to Purple Pride!, other new initiatives included special sessions geared towards first-generation and low-income students, the president’s programming on Lakeside Field, a successful New Student Tailgate and Wildcat Dash onto Ryan Field prior to the football game, and a late-night event hosted exclusively for NU students at the Evanston Target. NSFP is currently meeting with campus partners to review 2013 programming, while plans for 2014 are well underway. The NSFP staff is conducting individual and group interviews for 42 Wildcat Welcome Board of Directors candidates to fill the 10 positions available for 2014. The new Wildcat Welcome Board of Directors will be announced by Monday, November 18.
PHOTO: STEVE ANZALDI
WILDCAT WELCOME
PURPLE PRIDE!
On Tuesday, September 17, the Class of 2017 and new transfer students traveled down to Millennium Park in Downtown Chicago after participating in the ceremonial “March Through the Arch” on the Evanston campus. Students filled Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion with a sea of purple for the daylong event. For its first year, “Purple Pride!” aimed to build community, teach campus history and traditions, engage with students in the Chicago area, and help students begin to understand the true definition of being a wildcat. Students learned the New Student Dance throughout the day, participated in large-scale team-builders, toured the immediate area of Millennium Park, competed in NU History trivia, and enjoyed a pep rally with athletics and the Northwestern University Marching Band.
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FAMILY WEEKEND
The first year experience pilot program called IGNITE launched for the 2013-2014 academic year. Approximately 480 new students (both freshmen and transfer students) from all six undergraduate schools are participating in IGNITE. Students meet in small groups throughout the fall and winter quarters to discuss transitional issues; sessions are led by faculty/staff members and Peer Advisers. A robust assessment plan is also underway to gain knowledge of first-year students at NU to provide better direction for future programming and expansion.
To cap off our new student fall programming, NSFP coordinated Family Weekend for all Northwestern University students and family members on October 18-20. More than 1,800 families registered for the weekend, resulting in 5,000 attendees. Two new additions to Family Weekend were part of the 2013 schedule. “Back to Class” academic sessions for parents and families featured some of Northwestern’s world-class faculty who shared exciting lectures on a topic in their field of expertise. Subjects ranged from a lecture on Autism Spectrum Disorder to live demonstrations of 3-D printing. Additionally, the first ever Family Weekend Tailgate at Ryan Field drew more than 800 family members for a delicious, Midwest inspired breakfast tailgate. While there, students and families played different games, had their faces painted, and enjoyed an inflatable obstacle course, all while soaking up tons of Wildcat pride. The exciting day ended with the ever-popular and entertaining Conversation with University President Morton Schapiro. Family Weekend was truly a great event!
IGNITE: THE FIRST YEAR EXPERIENCE AT NORTHWESTERN 5
THE NEW RESIDENTIAL ACADEMIC INITIATIVES: FURTHERING STUDENT LEARNING The new Office of Residential Academic Initiatives launched a series called “Coming Soon to a Classroom Near You,” which is running prior to winter course registration. The series offers faculty teaching winter quarter courses an opportunity to engage students, mostly freshmen and sophomores, in residential settings. Professors then get to informally discuss course themes and design, as well as how the course fits into their scholarly interests and teaching philosophies. Rather than scrolling through online course evaluations, or relying on three-line catalog descriptions, students can learn about faculty and their courses through face-to-face interaction. Equally important, these encounters will take place on students’ turf via residence housing, not in professors’ offices.
buffet dinner and conversation about winter academic plans. Twenty professors and 60 students filled the Faculty in Residence apartment at Elder on Sunday, November 3. From November 4-15, Coming Soon events are being held all over campus at different times of day in diverse formats such as “fireside” chats in a lounge and meal-time discussions in the private dining rooms of dining halls. The calendar of events is at bit.ly/ComingSoonNU. Coming Soon offers students events featuring courses within various departments. In addition, student leaders have volunteered to facilitate Coming Soon events and lend their expertise. Upperclassmen members of the Residential College Board will host “Getting the Most Out of CTECs,” a tutorial for freshmen and sophomores who struggle to make sense of the quantitative and qualitative data offered as they try to choose courses.
Professor Jacob Smith, the Faculty in Residence at Elder Residential Community, launched this new initiative by inviting freshman residents to join faculty for a casual
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staff focus
FOSTERING PURPOSEFUL PARTNERSHIPS Health Service and SAIT provide for Hephzibah Children’s Association
equipment donations that started a year ago last summer. “Their meticulous preparation of the computers made the installation and implementation of the machines in the technology room very easy.” Druley noted.
The early roots of this inspirational technology program began when Brian Druley, Director of Administration and Information Technology for NU’s Health Service, started volunteering at Hephzibah’ s Children’s Association in Oak Park in February 2012. He started having discussions with the staff at this facility for foster children about the need for computers for the kids and collaboration quickly evolved under the structure of a children’s technology committee. A space which functioned as the children’s library at the home was designated to become the location for the technology room. This resulted in Brian working with another volunteer, Sue Stark from Robert Morris University, and they received much support from the staff at Hephzibah and the Children’s Technology Committee to get the room operational last fall. Former Student Affairs staff member Todd Nelson and Joseph Sobecki, from Student Affairs IT, took charge of facilitating the computer
Brian Druley and other volunteers devote time on Saturday mornings to help these children expand their knowledge of computer technology with both desktop computers and Apple iPads. Jim Roberts, Director of Student Affairs Information Technology, and the staff of SAIT are among the major donors of computer hardware from NU to get the room established. More recently this summer, Joseph Sobecki from SAIT helped coordinate another donation of Dell desktop computers which will enable an upgrade in technology to newer Dell OptiPlex desktops. This will result in a very welcome upgrade allowing for all the computers to use Microsoft Windows 7.
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More information about Hephzibah can be found on their website at: www.hephzibahhome.org
RESIDENTIAL SERVICES WELCOMES GRADUATE ASSISTANTS
Residential Services is excited to announce that we have five graduate assistants joining our department. Danielle Scarsella, studying Marriage and Family Therapy, and Jennifer Greene, Ph.D. candidate for Chemical Engineering, are working with our Faculty in Residence at Elder Residential Community and Allison Residential Community, respectively. We also have three graduate assistants working with our residence hall government’s student groups. These graduate assistants include Lincoln Hill, in the Counseling program, Nayna Agrawal, in the Master of Fine Arts, and Epiphany Acevedo, in the Medill Master’s Program. Acevedo also works part-time with Campus Inclusion and Community with Dr. Lesley-Ann Brown. We are so excited to welcome our graduate students to Residential Services.
NEW LOCATION FOR RESIDENTIAL SERVICES
The Residential Life, Residential Academic Initiatives, and Residential Facilities offices under Residential Services have all moved to Foster- Walker! Feel free to stop by House 6 Floor 1 to say hello. You can always reach us at 847-467-HOME.
THANK YOU TO VOLUNTEERS
On Monday, September 16, Northwestern’s campus added a new 2,300 students! Residential Services wants to thank our 98 move-in day volunteers for their time, dedication and smiling faces, as they were a huge part of a very successful move in of the Class of 2017 and transfers!
NU NIGHTS
NU Nights’ very successful kick-off event took place September 27th. Over 550 students enjoyed inflatable games and food on the Norris East Lawn.
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Congrats to Charles Kellom, Dominic Greene, Josh McKenzie, Louie Lainez, Maria Genao-Homs, Lesley-Ann Brown, Julie Payne-Kirchmeier, Todd Adams, Natalie Furlett, Judy McHugh, and Hope Wallace!
ASG FACULTY AND ADMINISTRATOR HONOR ROLL
Dr. Wei-Jen Huang received this
DR. PARIS FINER WILLIAMS EXCELLENCE IN THE ADVANCEMENT OF CULTURAL SENSITIVITY AND COMPETENCY AWARD
award at the recent meeting of the American Association of Christian Counselors in Nashville, TN.
With a focus of building organizational health permeating Student Affairs departments across campus, the Norris staff hashed out what that meant in relation to the university center’s doings. Over the course of many meetings and a half-day session, the Norris team incorporated Norris ideals and student feedback to arrive at this mission statement: The Norris University Center provides spaces, services, and guidance to promote student learning, community engagement, and cultural inclusion. With the mission firmly in place, the Norris team is using this document to create learning outcomes, goals, and other foundational Norris documents.
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NORRIS IS ON A MISSION
NUCUISINE MAKES THE GRADE “At the home of the Wildcats, students dine like kings of the jungle,” said The Daily Meal, an online publication which provides dining news and trends nationwide. Northwestern was named #12 in their annual article, “The 60 Best Colleges for Food in America for 2013,” up 16 spots from 2012.
CAPS NEWS
“We treat our program just as any high end fine dining restaurant would; it’s all about providing the Northwestern community with great food and a great experience,” NUCuisine Marketing Manager Jason Sophian said.
ESSENTIAL NU ON MENTAL HEALTH
The high climb in the rankings is due to NUCuisine’s dedication to move the NU dining program forward. With national brands such as Starbucks, Einstein’s Bagels, Frontera Fresco and now Subway, students have a wide array of familiar brands.
For the first time ever, all incoming students to Northwestern participated in an Essential NU program on Mental Health as part of the Wildcat Welcome Week. CAPS, in collaboration with New Student and Family Programs, organized the event that occurred on Sunday, September 22. All 2,400 first year undergraduate students and transfer students took a bus ride to Welsh-Ryan Arena to hear from a nationally recognized speaker, Jordan Burnham. Burnham spoke in depth of his struggles with mental health and surviving a suicide attempt. Students also heard about the various resources on campus where they can seek help. Students were asked to take one clear message away from the event: “It is ok to ask for help.”
NUCuisine has also put a strong emphasis on sustainability. Local purchasing, waste reduction, composting, recycling, and water and energy conservation are all pillars of the program. NUCuisine has also been a strong advocate of social media, using these platforms to showcase their programs and deliver important dining information to the campus. Along with social media, frequent dining hall open forum meetings allow students to express their likes and dislikes about our program. Like NUCuisine on Facebook and follow NUCuisine on Twitter for all updates and information regarding your campus dining program.
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DID YOU KNOW? •
On the 2013 Enrolled Student Survey, over half of Northwestern students (57%) reported working during the school year, with almost 45% working in jobs related to their future careers. • Almost 30% of undergraduates who completed the 2013 Enrolled Student Survey reported that they “very often” felt overwhelmed by all they had to do. And this level of stress is felt by a higher percentage of women (36%) than men (22%). • As of the seventh week of Fall Quarter 2013, the Dean of Students Office responded to the following: • 556 conduct and student-of-concern cases: o 293 cases managed and closed • 140 Residence Life • 115 Conduct & Conflict Resolution • 17 Student Assistance & Support Services (SASS) • 21 Off-campus Life o 263 current open cases
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One of the major findings from the 2012 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership—a study in which Northwestern participated— “socio-cultural conversations with peers was the single strongest predictor of socially responsible leadership capacity for students across demographic groups.” (For a copy of the 2012 MSL Insight Report, contact Student Affairs Assessment at sa-assessment@northwestern.edu.) • Nearly 15% of the Northwestern undergraduates in 2012 – 2013 were receiving a Pell Grant and/ or another scholarship set aside for students who come from low income family backgrounds. A student who qualifies for a federal Pell Grant is a student who comes from “a family of four with one in college making $40,000 per year or less…but it’s a sliding scale based on the number in a family and other wealth-related factors beyond income” (Mike Mills, Associate Provost for Enrollment Management).
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NEW STAFF Dr. Lori Jeffries, PsyD, joins CAPS as Staff Psychologist and Liaison to Athletics, providing the student athlete population on campus with clinical and sport psychology services. A former student athlete herself, Jeffries graduated from Northwestern in 2005 and completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from La Salle University in Philadelphia. She joins NU from completing her doctoral internship and postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oklahoma and University of Florida, where she provided both mental health services to students and individual and team sport psychology interventions to student athletes.
CAPS STAFF
SAIT STAFF
Dr. Monika Gutkowska, PsyD, is a new staff psychologist at CAPS and QPR (Question, Persuade, Refer) Coordinator. Native of Poland, Gutkowska completed her graduate studies in Chicago and worked for 5 years at the University of Wisconsin Madison before joining the Northwestern team. Her areas of expertise include working with international students and immigrants, low income students, first generation students, as well as interpersonal trauma and grief/loss. Saad Haqqi, an IT Consultant, is a 2010 graduate of Cleveland State University with a BA in Political Science. Although he initially thought about law school, he decided to pursue a passion for technology and has never looked back. He has worked as a Lead Support Analyst with DDR Corporation in Chicago and as a Desktop Engineer. He is a big sports fan, especially of the Cleveland Cavaliers, San Francisco 49ers, and Ohio State Buckeyes (he is developing a love for the Wildcats).
Harry Seong, a User Support Specialist, earned his degree from Northwestern in June of 2013. He plays guitar and piano, and gets his exercise by playing tennis. He is the third member of the SAIT staff to join the ranks after first serving in the student worker program. This is his first full-time position in IT, and he is interested in pursuing an advanced degree in the field.
ORAI STAFF
Nancy Anderson (Associate Director) and Mary Dworak (Program Assistant) were integrated into Office of Residential Academic Initiatives (ORAI) from the former Office of Residential Colleges. Dr. Bradley Zakarin joins the Residential Services team as the Director of Residential Academic Initiatives. Brad has been part of Northwestern since 2007, serving as an Adjunct Lecturer with the History Department, working with the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs in Weinberg, and as the Associate Director in the Office of Fellowships. Brad will focus on developing a comprehensive academic residential experience for all students living on campus at Northwestern. 12