Congratulations!

Jesse (Woody) Johnson
Jesse (Woody) Johnson

Jesse (Woody) Johnson, an associate professor in the Department of Special and Early Education, will receive one of two Distinguished Graduate Faculty Awards for 2018-19 from the NIU Graduate School.

The awards, first presented in the fall semester of 2016, recognize excellence in graduate mentoring.

Recipients are recognized at the December commencement ceremony; each receives a plaque and $2,000.

Watch the Ed News later this semester for more information.

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Stacy Kelly
Stacy Kelly

Stacy Kelly, an associate professor in the Vision Program of the Department of Special and Early Education, learned Sept. 28 that her highly competitive grant proposal to the U.S. Department of Education has been selected for funding.

The result of that decision is a five-year grant worth $1.25 million in support of students in the department’s Visual Impairments and Orientation and Mobility programs, which will continue the training of professionals to work in these severe personnel shortage areas.

Generous financial support offered to master’s students includes all tuition (in-state or out-of-state), all fees, full health insurance and yearly stipends of $5,244 ($437 per month). This is not a loan, but rather a graduate assistantship: Students are obligated to work with visually disabled children and/or adults for an amount of time twice as long as they receive funding.

“It is an incredibly fierce competition every year,” Kelly says, “and every time we win, we thank our lucky stars over and over again.”

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Kyung Kim
Kyung Kim

Kyung Kim, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, will receive three prestigious awards from the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT).

AECT will hold its annual international conference from Oct. 23 to Oct. 27 in Kansas City, Mo.

Kim’s trio of honors include the Outstanding Development Award (from the Design and Development Division), the Outstanding Journal Article Award (from the Distance Learning Division) and the Outstanding Journal Article Award (from the Culture, Learning, and Technology Division).

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The Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision program in the Department of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education is being recognized the NCACES Innovative Counselor Education Program Award.

Given by the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, this award honors an outstanding, innovative and/or unique counseling or counselor education program at an institution in the NCACES region.

Awards are presented during the NCACES Business Luncheon, scheduled for noon Friday, Oct. 19, as part of the NCACES 2018 Conference in Cleveland.

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Kathy Smith
Kathy Smith

Kathy Smith, a doctoral student in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction’s Ed.D. program, is the co-author of an article that received an honorable mention for the Conference on English (CEL) English Leadership Quarterly Best Article Award for 2018.

Smith and co-author Elaine Simos both teach at Downers Grove North High School. Their article, “Reflections on Transformative Professional Development: Improving Practice and Achievement,” was published in February 2017.

Smith has worked as an English teacher and literacy leader for 24 years, 18 of those in Community High School District 99. She has presented at IRC, ILA and CEL on professional development and literacy coaching.

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