Stepping Forward: Navigating Change

Join NIU leaders for an engaging discussion centered on leadership and navigating change. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions of the panelists during the event.

Featured panelists will include:

  • Dr. Matt Streb, Chief of Staff to the President, Liaison to the Board of Trustees, and Professor of Political Science at NIU
  • NIU Alumni Association board Vice President Sankat Patel, ’00, is senior vice president and national regional director of commercial treasury management at Fifth Third Bank.
  • NIU Foundation board member Brent Brodeski, ’88, M.B.A. ’91, is the founder, CEO, and financial advisor for Savant Wealth Management.
  • Kira Mickelson, Pre-Physical Therapy Major, Student-Athlete and member of the NIU Softball team, and LEaD Huskie. 

The virtual discussion will be moderated by Executive Director of the NIU Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning Dr. Jason Rhode. 

Registrants will receive a link to join the event within two days of the event.

Visit go.niu.edu/SteppingForward for more details and a link to register.

Stepping Forward: Insights from NIU Leaders

Join NIU leaders for an engaging discussion centered on leadership featuring NIU President Dr. Lisa C. Freeman, former Trustee and current NIU Foundation Board Member Wheeler Coleman, B.S. ’83, NIU Alumni Association Board President Pete Garrity, ’71, M.B.A. ’76, and NIU Student Trustee Madalynn Mershon moderated by NIU Executive Director of Extended Learning Dr. Jason Rhode. Visit go.niu.edu/SteppingForward for more details and a link to register.

How to force captions and subtitles on YouTube

Have you created a captioned video on YouTube and like to force the captions to automatically be displayed when played? This video shares the simple secrets for doing so.

For any video that you upload to YouTube and caption, add the following tag:

yt:cc=on

And, if you are embedding the video, in your embed code add

?cc_load_policy=1

Give it a try! I’m doing so in all my videos for my online courses and am so glad it’s so easy to force captions to be displayed by default.

Launching an Online Program Management Partnership

title slide for presentation, "Launching an Online Program Management Partnership"

Is your institution considering partnering with an online program management (OPM) provider? During this presentation at 2019 Online Learning Consortium Accelerate conference in Orlando, FL on November 20, 2019 learn from the experience of Northern Illinois University in choosing to partner with an OPM and steps taken to launch expanded online support services for promoting online education growth. Slides are available here.

Interactive polling and questions during the session were powered using sli.do, available at sli.do/opmlaunch

Jason Rhode takes the helm as the university’s chief online learning officer

Jason RhodeWhen it comes to leadership and strategy for NIU’s online and off-campus program development, Jason Rhode is on a mission.

As the newly appointed executive director of extended learning, Rhode will serve as NIU’s chief online learning officer and continue to build upon the university’s efforts to serve non-traditional learners.

“I am excited to work with our faculty, staff and administration in new ways to bring new programs to the market that will meet the needs of working adults in the northern Illinois region and beyond,” Rhode said.

New online and off-campus programs are in development along with enhancements to current programs.

“We are seeing an increasing number of students choosing to take online courses,” Rhode said. “Working adults who can’t come to campus to finish their degree or who choose a new career path want to take advantage of online offerings.”

Rhode said whatever the reasons for considering online classes and off-campus programs, students will have the same level of quality NIU delivers on campus.

“The online format can be just as rigorous and the learning outcomes are excellent,” Rhode said.

Online and off-campus learners have academic resources, technology support and community building opportunities that come with being a Huskie.

Behind-the-scenes, the university is moving the management and support functions for online and off-campus programs to the division of Academic Affairs, while also integrating support services from eLearning Services into the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center (FDIDC). The restructured and expanded FDIDC will offer one-stop, comprehensive support for teach effectiveness and innovation across all instructional delivery modalities.

“NIU is committed to further strengthening and expanding our online and off-campus program offerings,” Rhode said. “There are many opportunities for us to grow existing programs while also pursuing new online and off-campus programs that capitalize on the momentum and synergies that we already have in place.”

Rhode, who joined NIU in 2004, is a highly engaged and regarded voice in the field of online higher education. With nearly two decades of experience in online education and faculty development, he has held leadership roles in professional organizations including the Online Learning Consortium, University Professional and Continuing Education Association and the National Council for Online Education.

Rhode’s appointment took effect July 1.

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