Applause sounded frequently May 2 during the College of Education’s annual Celebration of Excellence.
Updates from Acting Dean Bill Pitney included the outlook for enrollment: The numbers are positive on several fronts, he said.
“We are trending in the right direction, so hats off to everybody for the good solid work across the board,” Pitney said. “I’m very pleased with that, and we should be proud that people are attracted to coming to our college. I think that speaks to the relevance and the meaningfulness of our academic programs.”
Pitney also spoke about the upcoming transfer of leadership that will welcome new dean Mary Earick, who begins July 1 as Pitney retires from his NIU career that began in 1994.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve with all of you here in the college, and I thank you all for your support. I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with each one of you,” he said. “We’re going to make sure that Mary is able to hit the ground running. Everything is going to be in great hands moving forward, and we’re going to transition very effectively.”
Celebrations followed, delivered by Pitney and Todd Gilson, associate dean of Research, Resources and Innovation.
Lindsay Harris, associate professor of Educational Psychology, was named 2025-27 Senior Faculty Fellow.
Welcomes
- Chynar Amanova, GYP Program Assistant, CI.
- Sara Lenz, Office Manager, CI.
- Jessica Smothers, Office Manager, LEPF.
University Recognitions
- Stacy Kelly and Jenn Jacobs, Distinguished Graduate Faculty Awards.
- James Cohen, Presidential Engagement and Partnership Professor.
- Gail Koehling, Excellence in Undergraduate Instruction Award.
- Gudrun Nyunt, Kianna Graves and Tawanda Paul, Deacon Davis Diversity Award.
- Oliver Camacho, Outstanding Dissertation Award.
- Loryn Kimbrough, Deidra Milan, Angela Thomas, Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Fellowship.
- Outstanding Graduate Student Awards
Babatola Arogundade, Keith Barnes, Henry Dawson-Amoah, Taylor Dunaway, Caio Gomes, Matthew Herring, Youjung Stella Jung, Bethany Rohl, Alexandra Sandager, Jocelyn Schueler, Gretchen Sprinkle, Duangkamon Winitkun and Yixin Xu.
Conference on Undergraduate Research and Engagement participation
- Tylo Blackburn, Tracy Bowen, Matteo de Leon, Alexis Koehl and Evelyn Orellana
Dean’s Grant Recipients: Research
- Q Hutchings, CAHE, “The Road to Recovery: Minoritized Students Navigating Recovery in College Recovery Programs.”
- Hyoju Ahn, CI, “Online Multimodal Reading Strategy Use and Instruction: A Qualitative Study with Elementary Students and Teachers.”
Dean’s Grant Recipients: Instructional Innovation
- Nick Grahovec and Tyler Wood, KNPE, “Lifesaving 101: Using Emergency Care Skills to Protect the Community.”
- Peitao Zhu, CAHE, “The Counselor Writers’ Academy: Building a Community of Skillful Writers.”
Dean’s Grant Recipient: Dissertation Completion
- Priyanka Jha, CAHE, “Path Analysis of Person, Socio-Cognitive, Environmental Factors of International Counseling Students’ Research Development.”
College Awards
- Michelle Sands, SEED, Excellence in Teaching Award by Faculty/Clinical Faculty
- Tyler Wood, KNPE, Excellence in Research and Artistry Award by Faculty
- Stephen Tonks, LEPF, Excellence in Service Award by Faculty or Staff
- Chelsea Haley, LEPF, Exceptional Contributions by Instructor Award
- Paula Cowlishaw, Office Manager, SEED, Exceptional Contributions by Staff Award
Five retirements were saluted: Mary Gardner, Jesse “Woody” Johnson, Kim Suedbeck, David Walker and, of course, Pitney.
“David serves to me as perhaps the older brother in the office – the individual who’s disciplined, calm and steadfast,” Gilson said. “I’m going to personally miss him as I know the college will miss him as well.”
Regarding Pitney – Gilson’s six-year officemate in Anderson Hall – the associate dean spoke of the example set for a young faculty member.
“I got to watch and learn, and I got to see exactly what you should do. I watched Bill lead a program through accreditation. I got to watch Bill be an assistant chair. I got to watch Bill be Faculty Senate president,” Gilson said.
“As we acknowledge Bill for taking up the mantle the past two years – for standing up when he was called and leading the college – I’m reminded of the phrase that when something concludes, and it’s very difficult, you can say, ‘I’m said that it’s over,’ or, ‘I’m happy that it happened,’ and I’m going to try my best to be happy that it happened.”
Everyone in the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center ballroom promptly agreed, rising from their seats to give Pitney a loud and long standing ovation before he took back the microphone from Gilson.
“I’m just glad he didn’t say I’m like the older father in the office,” Pitney joked.
