For 25 years, the Women’s Resource Center has provided opportunities to NIU students throughout the campus.

While the focus is on women and women’s issues, the center’s employees are willing to help any students regardless of gender who have a concern or wish to use the center’s facilities.

Located on the corner of Normal Road and Lincoln Highway, the center has many features that students and parents are able to use.

“We have a library upstairs and we have computers, there’s a living room where several student organizations come to watch movies, and we have a play area downstairs if parents wanted to come by with their kids,” said Rita Reynolds, a graduate assistant for the center.

The library has a number of books pertaining to women and career development, and it also has materials that cover parenting, finances, legal issues, relationships and women’s health, said Marianne Tomlinson, acting assistant director of the Women’s Resource Center.

“A student could benefit from using our library in that there is space for students to come and work in a quiet atmosphere. There are also three computers available for students’ use in the library,” she said.

Students can come in with anything from break-up or pregnancy concerns to consulting with center employees about returning to school after an interruption in their education, Reynolds said. These services include support groups, attending fairs on campus to address women’s issues, scheduled events, workshops and consulting with individual students about specific concerns they may have.

“We work a lot with non-traditional women students who have had a break in their education,” Tomlinson said. “They are coming back to school and are dealing with having a family, maybe working full-time and trying to fit studying and going to class in their already busy schedule.”

The center can refer students to other offices and can give information about institutional policies that affect women on campus as well, she said.

The center also works with other organizations and offices on campus when planning events and helping students with their concerns.

“We work with Safe Passage both in referring people to their agency for help and we have done programming in collaboration with them,” Tomlinson said. “We attend networking for family meetings in the community which keep us up to date on what programs are offered so we can help meet students’ needs by knowing where to refer them for the extra help they may need.”

Students who may be interested in working at the center can find information on the NIU Human Resources Web site and the NIU Student Affairs Web site for graduate assistant needs, Tomlinson said. For internships the student would have to contact the center for information on what is available and can visit the center for a tour and information at any time.

“For me it’s a very supportive place to be and they’ve been supportive of what their goals are as well as what my own goals are,” Reynolds said.