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Jim Surber

All-college: Dean Mary Earick outlines vision, map to thriving communities

August 21, 2025 Mark McGowan enewsletter

Mary Earick is visibly excited and honored to become the new dean of the NIU College of Education. During the Aug. 19 all-college meeting, Earick told stories of many “critical incidents” in her life that led to DeKalb while also presenting her

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Torch lit, stoked, passed: Surbers retire from leadership of principal preparation

July 30, 2025 Mark McGowan enewsletter, LEPF

Wedding invitations. Birth announcements. Helpful conversations on choosing the perfect mother-of-the-groom dress. For Jim and Becky Surber, the longtime and now-retired coordinators of the NIU College of Education’s M.S.Ed. in Educational Administration – known colloquially as “principal preparation” – these little slices

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Double-alum Maurice McDavid readies Mitchell Elementary School for launch

May 30, 2025 Mark McGowan Alumni, enewsletter, LEPF

DeKalb grew Maurice McDavid from the ground up. Born and raised in the Barb City, he called the Eden’s Garden neighborhood home. He spent kindergarten at Lincoln Elementary School, transferred to Tyler for first- and second-grades and completed third- and fourth-grades at

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LEPF celebrates 62 summer graduates

September 23, 2024 Mark McGowan enewsletter, LEPF

Sixty-two professionals are now ready to advance their careers with degrees earned this summer from the NIU Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations (LEPF). Among the new alumni are 25 educators prepared as school principals, 15 from the Rockford cohort and

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U-46’s first principal prep cohort nears August completion of master’s degrees

April 10, 2023 Mark McGowan enewsletter, LEPF

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,

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Principal Prep program gains approval to provide fully online, hybrid options

November 28, 2022 Mark McGowan enewsletter, LEPF

NIU’s M.S.Ed. in Educational Administration is going 100% online next fall for those future school principals who prefer that mode of course delivery. And, for those who would rather earn their master’s degrees in a hybrid structure with classroom and virtual settings,

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