New Positions and People in the GCOE

I am pleased to announce that Cindy Jones has been appointed Assistant to the Deans, effective July 1, 2022. The new position was created under Andrea Evans's leadership and is intended to provide more focused support for the responsibilities of the Office of the Dean, but especially tasks related to faculty workload and contracts; the submission of licensure forms and documents; and course schedules. Cindy's office is now located directly across from the Office of the Dean on the 4th floor of Lech Walesa Hall.

In addition, Mejra Dervisevic was recently hired as the office administrator for the Department of Teacher Education. A new office administrator for Special Education and Health Sciences and Physical Education is expected to be announced soon.

With regard to faculty, Dr. Diana Gallardo has been hired, beginning this fall, as an assistant professor in Counselor Education. In addition, Dr. Margo Giannoulis will join our principal preparation program this fall, also as an assistant professor. Look for more information about these individuals as we make the transition into the new academic year.

Finally, beginning on August 1, Dr. Connie Zak will join us as an administrator assigned to lead the development of a university-wide plan for a new nursing program. Dr. Zak will have an office on the fourth floor of Lech Walesa and will work collaboratively with James Ball, the Provost's Office and many others across the university to produce a roadmap for the new program.

Please join me in thanking all of these individuals for taking on their new roles and responsibilities and for joining us in the vitally important enterprise of making high quality programs in education and community outreach accessible to all.

Reading Circles on Somatic Healing

After assessing feedback from a comprehensive series of one-on-one interviews, workshops, surveys, national institutes on best practices, and focus groups that included a cross-section of faculty, staff and students, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (OEDI) is excited to launch a university-wide shared reading initiative focused on the theme of “somatic/body healing.” 

 The initiative involves the formation of faculty/staff and student reading circles that will meet once a month for 90 minutes. During those 90 minutes, participants will read aloud one (1) chapter from Resmaa Manekam’s My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Pathway to Mending Our Hearts and Bodies. 

Reading circles will be assigned and scheduled based on participant preferences. No pre-reading is required. Simply, show up on Zoom or in-person (depending on group preference), read aloud (reading aloud is optional) and engage in a facilitated discussion.

Those interested in serving as a facilitator for a reading circle will attend an OEDI training and meet with other facilitators to assess and adjust as necessary to ensure optimal reading-circle facilitation.

A copy of Resmaa Manekam’s My Grandmother’s Hands will be provided to all participants who need and want one. 

 Additionally, two (2) “Communal Groundings” luncheons will be held from noon-1:30pm on October 26th and November 30th at all three NEIU campus locations where participants can share their experiences in the reading circles while sharing a meal.  

 Dr. Shireen Roshanravan, Executive Director of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, will be holding Zoom presentations on this initiative and other OEDI 2022-2023 programming on the following dates. Feel free to drop by during these sessions to learn more and ask questions.

• 8/4 at 2:30pm
• 8/12 at 11:00am
• 8/19 at 10:00am

 The success of this initiative depends on early planning. To that end, please complete this faculty/staff survey by August 19, 2022 to assist the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion with planning for the Fall 2022 semester. 

GCOE Principal Candidates Receive Scholarships

The Illinois School Leader Pipeline Program was created in 2022 to support a diverse group of aspiring school leaders as they progress through principal preparation programs in the state of Illinois.  You can read about the Illinois Principal Association’s partnership with ICPEA and BEAC to provide this support on this web-page.   

One hundred scholarships were recently given to diverse students throughout Illinois. The GCOE is pleased to announce that 8 students currently enrolled in the NEIU - Principal Preparation Program were among these recipients. Congratulations to these students!

Berkel	Charlise
Debnar	Nicole
Knowles	Robert
Oberts	Joseph
Raheel	Saddaf
Rios	Silvia
SAKINA	SYEDA
Walson	Janna

Kudos and special thanks also go to Dr. Noreen Powers, Director of GCOE’s principal preparation program. Dr. Powers was on the selection committee for the scholarships and helped promote the program within the GCOE.

Register by August 8 for the 2022 Faculty Institute

It is time to register for the 2022 Faculty Institute, "Cultivating Inclusive Community and Mental Health: Thriving ‘Post’ Pandemic at NEIU." All tenure-track faculty, instructors and adjuncts are invited to participate in this institute. The schedule of events is as follows:

• 10 a.m.-12 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16: College Meetings Day 1 (no registration needed)
• 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 17: Faculty Institute Day 2 (lunch included)
• 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18: Faculty Institute Day 3 (lunch included)

Registration for the 2022 Faculty Institute is required by Aug. 8. When registering, be sure to use the drop down menu to change the ticket quantity to “1.” 

All participants will have an opportunity to learn from the dynamic keynote speaker Dr. Mays Imad, Assistant Professor of Biology at Connecticut College and Senior Fellow, AACU STEM. Her research focuses on stress, self-awareness, advocacy and classroom community, and how these relate to cognition, metacognition and student learning and success. 

Annie Evans, Director of Education and Outreach for New American History at the University of Richmond, will joins the Institute as a special breakout session presenter. She will help us explore an array of tools and digital resources developed by New American History including Bunk, American Panorama, and a growing open educational resources learning resources library.

There will be plenty of things to do at this year’s Faculty Institute. Join a variety of interactive and moderated panel presentations on topics such as digital pedagogy, how to enhance students’ sense of belonging, and mental health. Hear what your college deans have to say about what it takes to embrace the changes of the last few years. Celebrate recent faculty achievements with your colleagues. 

Lunch will be served, and faculty will have the chance to enjoy free massages and cuddles with therapy dogs.

Brian Vivona Completes Quality Matters Program

The GCOE is pleased to share that Dr. Brian Vivona, Professor of Human Resource Development, has successfully completed NEIU’s Quality Matters Course Credential Program for HRD 400: HRD and the Organization. Courses that carry the QM Certification mark have met QM Standards at a level of 85% or greater in an official review process. Certification is valid for three to five years depending on the QM Rubric used to review the course. 

To date, seven NEIU courses have received official designation as Quality Matters-certified courses in diverse programs, including Gerontology, Human Resource Development, School Leadership, and Sociology. The CTL is proud to support the next cohort of faculty participating in this online course quality initiative, including colleagues in Computer Science, Early Childhood Education, History, Management, and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

Congratulations, Brian!

Latina/o/x Education in Chicago is now available for order!

The GCOE is please to announce the publication of Latina/o/x Education in Chicago, a new book co-edited by three outstanding Latina scholars, all affiliated with NEIU: Dr. Isaura Pulido (Professor, EICS), Dr. Angelica Rivera-Lopez (Director, Proyecto Pa'Lante), and Dr. Ann Aviles (former Associate Professor at EICS, not at the University of Delaware). This work spotlights Chicago's dynamic Latinx community and introduces educators to the issues involved in addressing important educational challenges. 

The book features contributors including Dr. Gabriel Cortez, but also Dr. Milrelsie Velázquez, Dr. Lilia Fernández, Dr. Jaime Alanís, Dr. Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Dr. Erica Dávila, and Dr. Leticia Villareal-Sosa. 

Copies of the book can be purchased online using the link below. Insert the code 22UIP to receive a 30% discount.

https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=55zqd6pa9780252044502&fbclid=IwAR1jLOMNRZJe-eVEYSIXaYuyU-IO5r0J348tUK4P4gVGsH0GHx5rEiYd5uA

Dr. Georgia Bozeday Retirement

 Dr. Georgia Bozeday has announced her retirement from teaching in the Goodwin College of Education, effective at the end of August 2022. 

Dr. Bozeday has provided over a decade of service to GCOE and our principal preparation program. An extraordinarily gifted and extremely highly rated adjunct instructor, she will be most missed but will continue to serve, as she has for over a decade now, on the LLD/LEAD Principal Preparation Partnership Board. 

As a former assistant superintendent for decades and almost two decades with RushNeuro (a division of Rush Hospital), Dr. Bozeday's assistance and support of GCOE’s state mandated partnership board has been most valued and needed. We wish her all the best with her retirement and look forward to her continued input and feedback on our program.

2021-2022 Tenure and Promotion Announcement

I am pleased to announce the awards of tenure and academic promotions in the GCOE, effective Aug. 16, 2022:

Awards of Tenure and Promotion to Associate Professor in the following disciplines:

• Zachary Bloom, Counselor Education
• Jenny Ruth Dawley-Carr, Educational Inquiry and Curriculum Studies
• Russell Wartalski, Literacy, Leadership and Development

Awards of Promotion to Professor in the following disciplines:

• Isaura Pulido, Educational Inquiry and Curriculum Studies