ALUMNI Celebrating the Past Inspiring the Future
NATIONAL LOUIS UNIVERSITY • FALL 2014
Message From the President
Table of Contents The First Word ......................................... 3
Dear Friends, The progress National Louis makes toward developing its students and contributing in its communities is important to you as an alumus. Not only does this increase pride in your alma mater, but a stronger NLU also increases the value of your National Louis degree.
Staying Nimble and Humble................... 4 2014 Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education .......................... 6 Leading the Leaders ................................ 8
I am proud to report that over the last year our university has continued to make many contributions that serve our community and advance our students’ success. We have developed and launched new programs, invested in our people and attracted new talent, improved processes and support systems for our students and demonstrated thought leadership in several important areas.
Saying Goodbye to
With this progress, we have recaptured our historic reputation as an innovator. The development of a new competency-based field-focused, technology leveraged teacher preparation model (ACT), a new reengineered general education program designed to provide a lower cost model of education that promotes student success (AIM), and the development of blended learning models are all examples of the forward thinking that is occurring at NLU.
Carey Smith, Special Events Coordinator
With respect to our focus on student success, we have implemented a POD approach whereby students have their needs addressed through a single point of service. Student life has developed new adult focused activities including leadership programs and networking and career development opportunities. Overall, we are focused on building a student experience that is aligned with the needs of today’s adult student. Our Veterans Program has been recognized nationally for the wrap-around support provided to military families to promote a positive transition to employment and civilian life. Moreover, we are at the forefront on serving students with multiple learning disabilities with our PACE program. To further serve our students and to align our programs with marketplace demand, the university has merged the College of Management and Business and College of Arts and Sciences to form the College of Professional Studies and Advancement (CPSA). This new college better represents the programs and areas of focus from the former colleges and reflects our commitment to providing contemporary academic and professional programs and experiences for our students. CPSA will officially launch this fall.
NLU Faculty ........................................... 11 News & Notes......................................... 11
Institutional Advancement Staff
Danielle LaPointe, Associate Director of Advancement Services Jason Givan, Director of Advancement Operations John Bergholz, Vice President of Institutional Advancement Karen Galea, Director of External Funding & Grant Development Kimberly Michaelson, Director of Alumni Relations Nicholas A. Love, Alumni and Advancement Communications Manager Contributing Writers: Marjie Killeen Mark Donahue
This past year, we also felt the need to better solidify and communicate our position as an institution. As a result, we developed a new tagline for NLU. That tagline is “Professionals who achieve. People who inspire.” It truly represents our collective commitment to our students, professions and communities and we couldn’t think of a better embodiment of the spirit of you, our alumni, as well.
Nicholas A. Love
Thank you for all you do and for your loyalty to National Louis University.
www.nl.edu/alumni Contact Kimberly Michaelson at
Best regards,
312.261.3159 or alumni@nl.edu
Pam DeFiglio
Alumni Relations
Make an Estate Gift www.nl.edu/giving Contact John Bergholz at 312.261.3871 or John.Bergholz@nl.edu
Nivine Megahed, Ph.D., President
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The First Word TEN REASONS By Marjie Killeen ’09
2. The school was close and convenient and I could go at my own pace. I had two small children and a husband who traveled. I relished the fact I could take evening classes once a week in a nearby location and take a semester off if I needed to.
Courtesy of James Richards IV, NLU
Marjie Killeen attended National Louis University in order to pursue her passion for writing.
(Note: This is an excerpt from a post published previously on Marjie’s blog, Fortyfabulous.com)
In my early 40s, after a long career in marketing and a stint as a stay at home mom, I went back to graduate school at National Louis University. In ways, my education in NLU’s Written Communication Program was better than my Big Ten undergraduate experience. Here are ten reasons NLU was right for me. 1. The program offered exactly what I wanted to study. In my 20s I had no idea what I wanted to do. In my 40s, I knew I wanted to become a writer. NLU offered a program that covered all the disciplines of professional writing - fiction, screenplays, feature writing, journalism - as well as fundamentals such as expository writing and editing.
3. The classes were small, personal, and hands on. As an undergraduate, some of my lectures had hundreds of students. No one knew or cared if I attended. At NLU my classes ranged from 6 -18 people. We all knew the professor and one another, and a good portion of the class time was participative. We shared and discussed our work in class. 4. The instructors weren’t just professors - they were professionals. All of my professors were working successfully in their chosen fields. For example, Laurie Lawlor, who has published dozens of young adult fiction books, taught my Young Adult Fiction class. My instructors were doing the work I wanted to do, not just teaching it. 5. My coursework focused on real world application rather than theory or research. We didn’t learn the theory or history of writing; we studied the craft. We learned how to write so we could sell our work and earn money. 6. I formed connections with fellow students. Soon after I earned my degree, I joined a group of NLU alums to
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collaborate on a self-published anthology of pet stories. Check me out on Amazon! Two of the stories in our book “Heavy Petting” are mine. 7. The faculty was personally committed to my success and remains so. I cannot say enough about Dr. Joanne Koch, the head of the Written Communication department and my advisor. She spent countless hours helping me develop and refine my blog, which began as my thesis project. She remains a valued resource to this day, as does Patty Tennison, who runs the simply amazing Paris Cafe Writing program I attended in December. 8. My thesis project got me the work I wanted. I’d never have got my True/Slant writing job or become a columnist at Make it Better if it hadn’t been for my blog, Forty Fabulous! 9. NLU put me in one of their print ads. I was featured in a calendar too. How fun is that? 10. I grew up. I gave more of myself to my graduate classes because I was a mature student and eager to learn. Plus I was paying my own tuition. Making a personal investment made me more committed to my education and I was surrounded by students doing the same. Marjie Killeen M.S. in Written Communication, 2009
NLU Alumni Magazine
STAYING NIMBLE AND HUMBLE Collaboration key to new college success By Nicholas A. Love
National Louis University has announced the launch of the College of Professional Studies and Advancement (CPSA). Born out of the College of Management and Business (CMB) and the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), CPSA will house three schools: the School of Health and Human Services, the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and the School of Business and Management. CPSA is an affirmation of what was already true of CMB and CAS: NLU is an institution focused on professional outcomes. The restructuring creates more opportunity for synergy that provides more cross-training and diversified learning so that students are more attractive to prospective employers. This explicit professional orientation of CPSA requires that the college stays professionally relevant. This means determining what employers want from their employees by way of thoughtful research built on external feedback. This feedback needs to inform not only marketplace demand now, but marketplace demand for the next 20 years. “It would be kind of scary to be training [students] to be the next set of buggy drivers,” jokes Vlad Dolgopolov, Ph.D, Associate Dean of CPSA.
CPSA will incorporate two new marketplace-relevant programs. First is the entrepreneurship concentration, available to both undergraduates and graduate students. This concentration was birthed out of an advisory committee consisting of
Not only does success mean internal growth, but it requires branching out through an integration of programs into successful, meaningful community partnerships as well as employer partnerships that bring the student from relevant experience into stable employment. leaders and experts with both entrepreneurial experiences and teaching experiences. The product is a concentration that translates real-world experience into the classroom and equips students with entrepreneurial skillsets that will serve them in a variety of career opportunities. A student working towards a degree in psychology or
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counseling will have the extra expertise to start their own counseling practice or other mental health related startup. That same student will also be equipped to act as an “intrepreneur,” an innovator embedded in an established private sector, public sector or nonprofit sector workplace. The second new concentration is nonprofit management, offered to graduate students as part of the MBA program. This concentration adds to the dedicated work of Professor Catherine Honig, who redesigned the MBA program around the theme of leadership. Nonprofit management equips graduates with a depth of knowledge in the nonprofit field, while allowing them to retain the attractive, multipurpose skillsets developed in the MBA program. This keeps graduates flexible, which is an advantage over highly specialized degrees. All these new opportunities would not exist without a culture of collaboration among the CPSA faculty. Dolgopolov has over 10 years of experience working in higher education administration at other institutions, and he points out that NLU has “some of the most dedicated and most student-oriented faculty members” that he has seen. These dedicated faculty members
NLU Alumni Magazine see the priorities of CPSA and work collaboratively and diligently to see these priorities through. The commitment of the NLU team to try new ideas that keep the university competitive in a rapidly changing and very saturated market ensures that the CPSA transition is embraced with enthusiasm and excitement. “We really have to make sure that we do our best to stay nimble, humble and to seriously consider every good idea and maybe every not so good idea that comes across,� he explains. All the excitement and team spirit exist because of the shared
vision of success at NLU. So what does success look like? Growth, happiness and careers. Growing programs means continuing to build new, unique concentrations and degree options, as well as offering more advanced professional degrees. Not only does success mean internal growth, but it requires branching out through an integration of programs into successful, meaningful community partnerships as well as employer partnerships that bring the student from relevant experience into stable employment. But growth without
heart can be stifling, so program growth and partnerships need to foster genuine happiness and sense of fulfillment for all of those involved at NLU, whether faculty, staff or student. The final measure of success will be whether prospective students take notice. Students come to NLU to translate their academic experience into tangible value, want space to bring their passions and platforms into the classroom and want access to the resources that will allow them to transform their passions and commitments into stable, well-paying careers.
CPSA HAPPENINGS The School of Business and Management
The School of Health and Human Services
The School of Social and Behavioral Sciences
CPSA representatives Steve Thompson, Ph.D., Barb Scheidt, Ed.D., Rich Schak and Stephanie Pozcos, along with other NLU representatives, have been developing a partnership with District 214 to conduct college level courses at the nearby Wheeling Campus as well as online. High school students will take these courses in tandem with various advanced placement courses to achieve the equivalent of up to one year of college credit while still in high school. Credit will transfer over to NLU where those students will only need three years to complete their undergraduate degree.
Faculty members are preparing to enhance curriculum by bringing some courses either fully online or in a blended format. The Master of Health Services Administration (MHA) program is undergoing an enhancement of its curriculum to contemporize the subject matter and to add an online offering of its program. The Health Care Leadership (HCL) degree program is undergoing a curriculum revision that contemporizes its subject matter, career development and advancement materials to help prepare students for working or advancing in the health care sector.
Professor Ray Legler, Ph.D., secured a seed grant for the Pathways to Success program, focused on connecting Martin Luther King College Prep High School and Dunbar Vocational High School with local universities, employers and community organizations. Wytress Richardson, Ed.D., involves NLU students in civic engagement projects through Girls of Grace Youth Center. Two NLU alumni, Bonnie Scherkenbach and Sue McNamara, who are staff members with the Barrington Area Council on Aging facilitate many NLU student internships and volunteer opportunities.
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NLU Alumni Magazine 2014 GOLDEN APPLE AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION By Mark Donahue
From http://blog.nl.edu/
From http://blog.nl.edu/
Margot Van Dyke (in back with cap) poses with her class at O’Neill Middle School.
Golden Apple officials surprised Rozy Patel with the news at Edgebrook School.
Two graduates of National Louis University’s National College of Education (NCE) received the Golden Apple Award for Excellence in Education this year. The National Louis alumnae and 2014 Golden Apple recipients, Rozy Patel and Margot Van Dyke, were part of the prestigious group of 10 total exemplary teachers selected from a pool of 620 nominees and 272 applicants representing 4th-8th grade teachers throughout the Chicagoland area. With the addition of these two individuals, 62 total National Louis graduates from Chicagoland and Rockford have earned the prestigious Golden Apple Award recognition since the award was established 29 years ago. “National Louis is proud to prepare exceptional teachers who are represented in this elite group of Golden Apple Award recipients,” said Nivine Megahed, Ph.D., National Louis University president.
“I am thrilled to hear of this year’s Golden Apple Award recognition and the exceptional work and real difference that NLU alumnae Rozy Patel and Margot Van Dyke are making in their classrooms,” said Alison Hilsabeck, Ph.D., interim provost. “The National College of Education continues to prepare teachers and educators to meet the demands of today’s diverse classrooms – and teachers like Rozy and Margot exemplify this preparation in action.” The Golden Apple is a prestigious award that recognizes teaching excellence, and builds on it, creating a dedicated community of mentors who will share their transformative teaching practices with prospective and veteran teachers. Each Golden Apple Award recipient receives a tuition-free, spring quarter sabbatical to study at Northwestern University as well as a $3,000 cash award. Perhaps most importantly, Golden Apple teachers become Fellows of the Golden Apple
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Academy of Educators, providing a stronger voice and a larger stage from which to make an impact, through ongoing professional development and engagement in education reform, such as the mentoring of future teachers through Golden Apple’s Scholars program. The recipients of the 2014 Golden Apple Awards for Excellence in Teaching will be honored at a black-tie gala on October 24 at WTTW/Channel 11 Studios in Chicago. “At Golden Apple, we have a true partner with National Louis and its National College of Education,” said Dominic Belmonte, executive director of Golden Apple. “NCE consistently produces Golden Apple Award winners who are transformative, innovative and passionate teachers who work relentlessly to make a difference in the lives of their students. For that, we are so grateful.”
NLU Alumni Magazine
“At Golden Apple, we have a true partner with National Louis and its National College of Education. NCE consistently produces Golden Apple Award winners who are transformative, innovative and passionate teachers who work relentlessly to make a difference in the lives of their students. For that, we are so grateful.” — Dominic Belmonte, executive director of Golden Apple
NLU GOLDEN APPLE AWARD WINNERS FROM 1986–2014 Sixty-two National Louis University alumni have received the Golden Apple Excellence in Teaching Award since its inception. Nearly 25 percent of all Golden Apple awardees—and their students—benefit from an NLU education. This group of winners is made up of teachers from both the Golden Apple Chicago and the Golden Apple Rockford communities.
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NLU Alumni Magazine
LEADING THE LEADERS By Pam DeFiglio
When Paula Jorde Bloom, Ph.D., fell in love with early childhood education around 1970, people who wanted to work in the field needed very little education and training. Center directors, who manage the responsibilities of budgets, staff, parent relationships and small children, didn’t even need a B.A. As Bloom retires this fall and also celebrates 30 years of teaching at National Louis University, many early childhood center directors and teachers around the nation are credentialed, many receive abundant professional development, and many states have quality standards for early childhood education. Much of the credit for these developments over the decades goes to Bloom, whose books, teaching, mentoring and leadership in national associations have been a driving force in efforts to professionalize the field. “Paula took charge of change and created the highest quality early childhood education leadership and management practices in the country,” said Sue Bredekamp, early childhood education consultant and former Director of Professional Development and Accreditation at National Association for the Education of Young Children in Washington, D.C. Similarly, Kathy Hardy, director of the Winnetka Community Nursery School, who took Bloom’s Taking Charge of Change yearlong program in the 1990s,
Michael W. Louis Endowed Chair of the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership at NLU. She’s not going too far, however. She plans to set up a home office and be available to the McCormick Center for advisement, as well as continue to serve on national boards. “I’m officially giving up my office but will be available to (the McCormick) center for advisement,” she said. She will also continue to serve on national association boards. From Paula Jorde Bloom, The McCormick Center
Paula Jorde Bloom has spent decades professionalizing the role of early childhood administrators—and in turn improving learning for countless children said, “Paula was my hero, my mentor. I wanted to be Paula.” “I can’t think of a person who encounters Paula who doesn’t walk away thinking, ‘that’s a really impressive, passionate person.’ She has been such a source of strength and inspiration for me.” Retiring, but not going far Bloom is retiring from her two official roles as professor in National Louis’ Department of Early Childhood Education and
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She’ll be able to share her expertise in the professional running of early childhood centers that started in 1974, when she got a grant to design and construct a center in Alamo, Calif., and then operate it. “I designed a beautiful early childhood center, but had no clue about administration and had had no courses in program management,” Bloom said. “There basically weren’t any courses. I didn’t know the difference between a debit and a credit.” That predicament is true for many early childhood administrators, she maintained. The typical way people become administrators is that someone identifies a superstar teacher and coaxes him or her into an administrative position. Seventyfive percent of administrators say they were unprepared for becoming a director, according to research, and Bloom said
NLU Alumni Magazine that was the case for her, too. Like the others, she learned on the job at her center, the Creative Learning Center, in a sink-or-swim fashion. But she knew it made sense to develop training and best practices for brand-new administrators, so that others who followed wouldn’t have to figure it out from scratch. “It fueled my passion for my life’s work,” she said. “When I went for my doctorate, I wanted
to create resources for early childhood administrators to help them in their roles.” From a $600 grant to major gifts Bloom ran a lab school while an instructor at Mills College in Oakland, Calif. from 1981 to 1984. She also finished her Ph.D at Stanford University that year and started as an assistant professor at National Louis University (then called National College of Education). “Here was another dream opportunity to develop and implement a field-based program in early childhood leadership and advocacy,” she said. Besides the teaching, she founded an early childhood professional development center in 1985 with a $600 grant.
From Paula Jorde Bloom, The McCormick Center
“Paula took charge of change and created the highest quality Early Childhood Education leadership and management practices in the country” — Sue Bredekamp, former Director of Professional Development and Accreditation at National Association for the Education of Young Children in Washington, D.C.
She kept on getting grants, and in 1993, her passion for providing strong management skills to early childhood directors struck a chord with Denise Carter-Blank of the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. That led to a collaboration on what today is known as the McCormick Center for Early Childhood Leadership. In 2004, grants from the McCormick Foundation and the Michael W. Louis Family Foundation established an endowment for the center. The center focuses on four things: training and coaching programs, which include books and tools to assess the business practices
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of early childhood centers; evaluation work, which grew out of an Illinois grant to assess child care programs; research on, for example, the outcomes of different training models and lastly, policy and public awareness. “We want to increase the public’s understanding of the importance of leadership in early childhood programs,” Bloom said. “And we want to provide early childhood practitioners with standards and support for quality programming.” The McCormick Center’s audience started with center-based early childhood administrators, but it expanded to family- and schoolbased administrators, as well as people who support those administrators, college instructors and organizational consultants. “On the national scene, we support policies that professionalize the field,” Bloom said. Today, the McCormick Center provides a national director credential for early childhood directors; online training to help directors assess their business administration and/or program administration; workshops, presentations and webinars and a national conference for early childhood excellence. Science, economics have validated importance of early childhood Now that she’s retiring, Bloom has had an opportunity to go through files and see how little improvements from year to year have added up
NLU Alumni Magazine
30 YEARS From Giovanni Arroyo, The McCormick Center
to significant improvements in the professionalization of the early childhood field.
education, through research which shows its positive impact on the developing brain.
Some of the biggest changes have come from other fields. James Heckman, a Nobel laureate from the University of Chicago, and Art Rolnick, former research director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, have made the case for early childhood education from a financial perspective, she said. Both tout research in arguing that early childhood education produces a good return on investment for the U.S. economy. They are proponents that the nation should invest in early childhood the same way it invests in first grade and up.
Bloom’s 16-page CV also provides a glimpse of what she has accomplished. She has authored or co-authored more than 20 books, including “Leadership in Action: How Effective Leaders Get Things Done” (New Horizons) and “A Great Place To Work: Improving Conditions For Staff in Young Children’s Programs” (NAEYC). She has made dozens of keynote presentations to early childhood and educator audiences, written many articles and book chapters and raised many millions in grant money.
Similarly, Bloom maintains neuroscience has played an important role in establishing the importance of early childhood
While that dossier is impressive, Bloom’s legacy can perhaps be better characterized by the directors she has mentored
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and influenced, who have gone on to mentor others and positively shape the formative years for countless children. “She’s shown such leadership in the last 30 years, and even prior,” said Valerie Dawkins Krajec, who studied with Bloom at NLU. Krajec now works as a Lead Senior TA Specialist for Zero To Three, an early childhood advocacy nonprofit. “Her focus on having early childhood directors get program management and leadership skills needed to manage their staffs really make a difference in the quality of outcomes for young children,” Krajec added. “She’s unmatched by all but a handful of people in the field.”
NLU Alumni Magazine
SAYING GOODBYE TO NLU FACULTY
The past few months have seen the passing of some beloved National Louis University faculty. We are grateful for their contributions to the lives of their students and the legacies they leave. Our deepest condolences to their families. Linda Su Tafel, Ed.D.
Betty Jane “BJ” Wagner, Ph.D.
Linda was born in DeKalb, Il, where she completed her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. Linda had a long career teaching at two high schools and a university before joining the National Louis faculty. She spent over 30 years From NLU Photography Archive with NLU, including time as Dean and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. Her commitment translated into a passion for the founder of NLU, Elizabeth Harrison, as she devoted years cultivating and sharing her expertise on Elizabeth. In 2012, Linda remained involved with NLU after retirement as Professor Emeritus.
Betty Jane Wagner, known to many as BJ, grew up in Fort Morgan, CO. BJ spent over 30 years working for National Louis and founded the Chicago Area Writing Project, incubating teacher-trainers empowered to facilitate classes and workshops for other Chicago area teachers. She was also known for her expertise in educational drama. In 1999, BJ retired from NLU and accepted the honor of From bjwagner.wordpress.com Professor Emeritus.
Don Grady
Don was born in Troy, New York, and he joined the National Louis University faculty in 2007. Not only was Don an Assistant Professor of Accounting, but he held other positions during his time at NLU including Associate Dean of the College of Management and Business (CMB) and Director of Online From NLU Photography Archive Learning. With over 20 years of organizational learning experience, Don was an incredible asset to CMB.
Robert E. Conrad, Ed.D. Born in Fremont, Nebraska, Robert made a career in the Navy before receiving both a master’s and doctoral degree from National Louis University. He settled in Carpentersville, IL, and returned to NLU as an adjunct faculty member. Loved by students, he was described as the sort of professor who went out of his way to help.
From LinkedIn
News and Notes Jackie Samuel ‘11, M.A. Public Policy, currently a candidate for a Ph.D. in Community Psychology, is a panelist at “Make big plans; aim high in hope and work,” presented by LISC Chicago. Russ Riendeau, Ph.D., B.A. Applied Behavioral Science ‘96, M.A. Psychology ‘99, has created a 15 foot high metal sculpture called the Everest Easel. The sculpture will be appearing in front of the Grand Rapid’s Children’s
Museum for the international art competition “Artprize.” He was also invited to speak at TEDxNaperville 2014. Judith Nickels ‘90, M.S. Human Resource Management and Development, has published a work of historical fiction entitled “A Competent Witness.” It is the story of Georgiana Yoke, a young woman who married the infamous
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1893 Chicago World’s Fair murderer H. H. Holmes. The book is available on Amazon. NLU students wrote and contributed to four different articles featured in the latest issue of “The Community Psychologist.” The student authors and contributors include Venoncia M. Baté-Ambrus, Norma Seledon, Rafael Rivera, Bernada N. Baker and Myra Dutko
PATRICIA CASSIN-GRAFT STUDENT TEACHER ASSISTANCE FUND — CELEBRATING 10 YEARS
Assistance is awarded to candidates of exceptional talent who: a) are committed to teaching in low income communities; b) show promise of becoming highly qualified teachers and role models; c) and have significant financial need. Patricia Cassin-Graft, Class of 1957, and Michael J. Graft, Sr. have established the Patricia Cassin-Graft Student Teacher Assistance Fund at National Louis University. The fund is a permanent endowment supported by the Graft family, other alumni and friends. The fund is meant to assist National College of Education students who are dedicated to serving under-served schools, who face financial stress and who recognize the importance of the philanthropic values that have made these funds available.
Visit nl.edu/graftscholars for more information or to donate to the fund.