Innovation

Learning How Domestic Violence Victims Feel Students take part in 'In Her Shoes' Domestic Violence Experiential Training

By: Pam DeFiglio on Oct 14, 2016 in Events at NLU, Innovation

My name is Roz, and I’m married to Marty. We have two kids. He gets mad, picks fights over my cooking, criticizes me and starts hitting me. He has broken my nose, and one time he broke my rib, too. But this last fight we had was the last straw, and I’ve had it. I want to leave him.

An NLU student playing the role of a domestic violence victim tries to decide what her next step should be. Her teammates can talk to her, but she has to carry her own suitcase and “children,” in the form of stuffed animals.

On a quiet Thursday morning at NLU’s Chicago campus, Criminal Justice student Gelissa Nealon is playing Roz’s role during an experiential training exercise called “In Her Shoes.” Advocates for domestic violence victims in Washington state developed the training, and based it on the experiences of real people. Continue reading »

New to National Louis: Inclusive U Written by Courtney Brinson, Graduate Assistant in the Office of Student Experience

By: Danielle Laban on Sep 30, 2016 in Community Engagement, Events at NLU, Innovation, Leadership

shutterstock_318054821 With the fall term off to a great start, an excellent way for students to develop themselves as well as contribute to the development of our University learning community is through Inclusive U! Inclusive U is a program designed to engage students, staff, and faculty in unique professional development opportunities geared towards improving skills and knowledge around inclusivity and positive civic engagement. Continue reading »

Alum’s IDEA Wins ‘School Librarian of the Year’ Award Todd Burleson ’98 created a libratory at Chicagoland school

By: Pam DeFiglio on Sep 15, 2016 in Alumni Focus, Digital Learning, Honors and Awards, Innovation, NLU in the News

2016 School Library Journal School Librarian of the Year Todd Burleson, Hubbard Woods School, Winnetka, IL (School Library Journal, September 2016) (PRNewsFoto/Scholastic Inc.)

If lightbulbs actually went on over people’s heads like they do in cartoons, the one over the head of Todd Burleson ’98 would be blindingly bright. Burleson has created not only a new concept, but a new word to go with it: Libratory, a library that blends into a laboratory, maker space, place to encourage creativity and hub of design thinking.

For his creation, School Library Journal and Scholastic Library Publishing have recognized Burleson with their School Librarian of the Year award. Continue reading »

Crain’s: NLU’s MBA Program Innovating To Provide Online and Networking Crain's Chicago Business wrote about NLU's hybrid techniques

By: Pam DeFiglio on Aug 15, 2016 in Digital Learning, Innovation, Leadership, NLU in the News

Screen Shot 2016-08-15 at 4.41.31 PM Crain’s Chicago Business led an article about the balance between online flexibility and in-person networking in MBA programs by describing NLU’s program and quoting Catherine Honig, Ph.D., director of the MBA program.

The article described how Honig recorded a class lecture and put it on the cloud, but gathered all students virtually in real time for a live chat forum. Such an approach meets students’ needs for flexibility because the class was offered online, but it also fulfills their desire to network by letting them engage with each other. Some of the value of an MBA comes from networking, the magazine pointed out.

Writer Judith Ruiz-Branch also wrapped up the article quoting Honig saying that NLU’s goal is to meet MBA students’ needs.

See the article here.

‘Wearable Technologies’ Article by Associate Dean Borthwick Drawing Attention She examines pros and cons of smart watches, Google Glass, Fitbit and others

By: Pam DeFiglio on Aug 4, 2016 in Access for Disabled Persons, Digital Learning, Faculty Distinction, Innovation

borthwick-arlene-001 Is there a place for personal wearable technologies, such as smart watches, Google Glass, Fitbit and Muse (which tracks brain activity) in the classroom?

Yes, but there are concerns too, according to Arlene Borthwick, associate dean of NLU’s National College of Education, and her co-authors. They just learned at the recent International Society for Technology in Education conference that their article, “Personal Wearable Technologies in Education: Value or Villain?” was the most-downloaded article from the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education so far in 2016. Continue reading »

NLU Partners To Prepare High Schoolers For Teaching Careers High School District 214 in Northwest Suburbs, NLU launch Educator Prep program

By: Pam DeFiglio on May 27, 2016 in Career Planning, Community Engagement, Innovation

NLU educators and administrators were at Rolling Meadows High School for High School District 214’s launch of the Educator Prep program. They witnessed two dozen students indicate their interest in teaching by joining the program.

National Louis University and High School District 214 in Chicago’s Northwest suburbs partnered to launch a first-of-its-kind in the nation program called Educator Prep.

It allows high school students, as early as freshman year, to declare their intention to become teachers, and supports them through high school and then college, through to employment as an educator in a primary or secondary school. Continue reading »

Scientist Outlines Climate Change Dangers in Earth Week Event Seth Darling of Argonne National Lab calls for changes to reduce CO2 threat

By: Pam DeFiglio on Apr 20, 2016 in Innovation, News and Issues

DSCN0641 - Version 2 The story of climate change ranges from drilling holes in Arctic ice to measure Earth’s air temperatures over the past million years, bracing for the jump in the use of fossil fuels as China and India industrialize and predicting which coastal cities will be submerged due to global warming.

But mostly, climate change is the story of energy—where we get it, how we use it and whether it’s renewable, said Seth B. Darling, Ph.D., who holds a joint appointment as a scientist with the Argonne National Laboratory and as a Fellow in the Institute of Molecular Engineering at University of Chicago. He presented a “Global Climate Change: The Path to a Sustainable Future” lecture April 20 at the Lisle campus to mark Earth Week, and NLU Environmental Committee representatives also led discussions of his points at the Wheeling campus. Continue reading »

NLU Opening Doors to Education for Urban Youth Dr. Legler takes high schoolers on tour of corporations, hopes to inspire them

By: Pam DeFiglio on Apr 12, 2016 in Innovation, Leadership, Supporting Your Success

King College Prep High School students visit the offices of Archer Daniels Midland in Chicago. The visit was arranged through Pathways to Success.

While many Chicago high school students can see the towering office buildings downtown from their neighborhoods, they may never have been inside one, nor known anybody who works in one.

NLU’s Ray Legler, Ph.D., is hoping to make these buildings–and the possibility of someday working in a stable career position in such a place–more real for urban youth.

Legler, assistant professor of psychology, recently led a group of students from Dunbar Vocational Career Academy High School to visit the downtown offices of Deloitte Consulting. The following week, he accompanied a student group from King College Prep High School on a visit to the offices of Archer Daniels Midland. Continue reading »

In Quest To Reinvent Urban Universities, Philly, NC Educators Visit NLU The Gates Foundation is challenging the three universities to innovate, help urban students graduate college

By: Pam DeFiglio on Mar 14, 2016 in Innovation, Leadership

Visiting educators from Drexel and Johnson C. Smith Universities listen to a presentation during an NLU-led tour of elementary schools in which NLU education students are teaching.

The presidents of Drexel University in Philadelphia and Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, N.C., along with their leadership teams, visited National Louis University’s Chicago campus March 7-8 as part of formulating their vision for a “mission-driven, new urban university.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a grant to the three universities, dubbing them the New Urban University Coalition and asking them to consider how the New Urban University can serve diverse, first-generation and non-traditional students. Goals include increasing retention and graduation rates and advancing the quality of life for neighboring schools and communities. Continue reading »

22 Chicago Universities Form ‘America’s Urban Campus’ NLU signs on to the effort, to brand Chicago as a premier college town

By: Pam DeFiglio on Jan 25, 2016 in Innovation, Leadership

Presidents of 21 Chicago universities were present at the Jan. 11 signing of the America’s Urban Campus partnership agreement. NLU President Nivine Megahed, Ph.D., is second from right in the second row.

On Jan. 11, National Louis University joined with 21 other Chicago universities in America’s Urban Campus, a partnership designed to highlight and advance Chicago’s pre-eminence in the higher education arena.

The Chicago Community Trust coordinated the partnership among the schools, and said it will work with Choose Chicago and World Business Chicago to brand the city as a global destination for higher education.

The partnership also expects to work on issues such as economic development, civic programming, student engagement and infrastructure. Coordinating a student day of service may also be a goal.

The Chicago Community Trust funded a detailed research study which found that metropolitan Chicago’s universities “educate 216,000 students, generate $10.8 billion in local economic activity, and support 43,000 jobs,” according to the Trust.

For more information, see the Chicago Community Trust website article.

Archives