Yvonne Harris is looking in one direction as the new vice president in charge of NIU’s Division of Research and Innovation Partnerships (RIPS).
Ahead.
Harris, guest speaker at the Jan. 11 All-College Meeting, encouraged her audience to help RIPS fulfill its mission – and credited her predecessor, Gerald Blazey, for building a solid foundation to anchor and advance that work.
“I feel there’s not a whole lot to do except to pick up the baton and carry it forward,” Harris told College of Education faculty, administration and staff gathered in the Regency Room.
RIPS “is preparing society for a century of change, and as you know, we’ve got a lot change coming, and that change is going to be impactful. It is going to really change the way we actually do things,” she said.
“Part of our vision is promoting a culture of collaboration, partnership, service and innovation, and collaboration is the strongest piece there – because what I’ve learned as a research administrator is that we cannot do this alone,” she added. “We will be the ones who initiate the momentum of that change.”
The College of Education is on board.
Faculty submitted a record number of applications for dean’s grants last year, said Todd Gilson, associate dean of Research, Resources and Innovation, while the college revised and expanded internal funding opportunities.
- Dean’s Instructional Grant: Yenitza Guzman and Dana Isawi, “Grief Training for Counselors-in-Training.”
- Dean’s Research Grant: Kimberly Hart, “Practicum Counselors’ Strategies of Connection and Disconnection while Providing Counseling with Clients who are Black Men.”
- Dean’s Research Grant: Dana Isawi, “Cultural Humility among Counselor Educators with Marginalized Identities.”
- Dean’s Research Grant: Tyler Wood, Nicholas Grahovec and Matt Wilson, “Student-Athletes’ Perceptions of Dual Task Concussion Testing Paradigms.”
Gilson also heralded the college’s partnership with the Hanover Grant Academy, which advises and assists faculty in all stages of the proposal process. Lindsay Harris, Pi-Sui Hsu and Injung Lee spoke to the room about their positive engagement with the Arlington, Va.-based research and analytics firm.
Meanwhile, Gilson said, the college established and then supported efforts to promote transdisciplinary research in spaces of diversity, equity and inclusion.
“Credit to Eric Junco,” he said. “Specifically, he’s taken a lot of the faculty hired last August – a year-and-a-half ago – and got them together and helped them really hone where their interests overlap so that they can then find research they want to pursue collectively.”
NIU and RIPS also are promoting a similar endeavor with the help of Ximena Burgin, assistant professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment.
T-RISE (Transdisciplinary Research Incubator for STEM Education) will coordinate work across campus, nurture projects, lift capacity for external dollars and, ultimately, establish a sustainable model.
“At every university I’ve been, there are STEM people and there are non-STEM people, and every university I’ve been at has failed to break down those silos. They’ve tried, but it’s been very hard,” Yvonne Harris said.
“T-RISE is all about breaking down those silos between the physical and the social science disciplines to develop an integrated approach to research,” she added. “Because we are educator of students that we have to bring together, we will send out different kinds of citizens in the world that will not see a barrier between humanities, arts, the sciences – any of that – and all of you are a part of that.”
David Walker, associate dean for Academic Affairs, eyed the future through the lens of the Strategic Action Planning Framework and two of its priorities in particular: Innovative Action and Intentional Growth.
Programs such as PLEDGE (Partnering to Lead and Empower District-Grown Educators) and “non-traditional 2+2s, where we go out to the site,” put the College of Education on the forefront of a public university’s obligation to serve its region, he said.
“We’re one of the leaders on campus in this,” Walker said. “We’ve taken this to heart, and we’ve really serviced this sub-area of undergraduates.”
NIU’s PLEDGE impact is clear, already minting 203 graduates (159 teachers and 44 principals) with another 49 students enrolling last semester.
The college also counts 15 active and upcoming cohorts with 12 contracting agencies as well as four agreements with two community colleges to deliver coursework at their locations.
Meanwhile, 27 2+2 agreements have been signed since 2016 with nine community colleges, fueling a 37.6% rise in the number of transfer students through 2023. That accounts for an average of 175 new transfer students per fall semester; the headcount was 194 last semester and reached a high of 204 two years earlier.
“A 2+2 is more than curriculum,” Walker said. “It is relationships. It’s going out to the site. It’s advising. It’s teaching, learning and hearing concerns. It’s doing tours and visiting people. It’s going to Woodstock at McHenry. It’s going to ECC. It’s having student pinning ceremonies. It’s a lot of work, but it certainly has paid off for our programs and students.”
Once students are here, he added, the work turns toward keeping them here.
Strategies and current initiatives to improve retention include:
- An exploration of options for course completion.
- A credit-recovery program.
- Alternate scheduling, such as a second-half, eight-week period, a J-Term or a Maymester.
- Introduction to the Major courses.
- Events to cultivate belonging and engagement.
- Project Graduate.
- Targeted communications, outreach and support.
- Greater outreach to students on academic probation and students who are at risk of failing courses.
Spring semester priorities include interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary course development; reviewing curricular complexity; resuming Admitted Student Days; and launching update meetings with the deans.
All will uphold the College of Education’s sterling reputation throughout campus, Walker said.
“We’re leaders,” he said, “and that doesn’t happen without your energy and good intentions and a lot of hard work, so thank you, thank you, thank you. You’re making a difference in our students’ lives. We’ve got a lot of really good people here, and the No. 1 thing is that you care about your students.”
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