Several promotions are in store for NIU’s University Development Division.

The promotions seem to resemble a game of follow-the-leader. On Oct. 1, Carol Benthal-Bingley will replace Tadson Bussey as a designer in the Publications Office.

Bussey is now the assistant director of Publications. He replaced Carlos Granados, who became the director on July 1. The former director, Michael Malone, is now the assistant to the vice president for Development and University Relations, which oversees the Publications Office.

Granados is a 1980 graduate of NIU with a degree in visual communications. He has been employed by the Publications Office since 1981, and was a graphic designer until 1989.

From 1989 until 1993, Granados has been the assistant publications director in charge of production. He supervised the typesetting and production areas, which employ several art students in the visual communications program.

As director, Granados will be in charge of the editorial, production and design divisions of publications. His responsibilities will include meeting with clients to agree on the design, cost and specifications of the materials the clients want to publish.

The Publications Office publishes brochures, catalogs and advertisements free to NIU faculty, staff and students. The office also tries to promote NIU to the community to help raise funds for NIU to operate.

Granados will be in charge of coming up with the most cost-efficient format for clients who wish to publish materials. After the client has agreed to the design and Publications has finished the product, publication can be done by either an in-house print shop or an outside printer.

Granados mentioned the upcoming NIU centennial as an occasion for more publication than usual, and hopes to use the centennial as an opportunity for more advertising and promotion of NIU. One of the near-term goals of Publications is to install an automated office with the capability of electronic publication to save time and money.

Overseeing Granados’ efforts will be Malone. He has been the assistant vice president in charge of Development and University Relations since May when NIU President John La Tourette decided to split the office into two divisions.

Malone was appointed to be in charge of public information and communication, while Tom Mitchell, vice president of Development, was assigned to oversee fund raising. Tom Montiegel oversaw both areas until May.

Malone intends to be active in shaping the public perception of NIU, which he sees as outdated. He cited references to the nonexistent NIU School of Agriculture and references to NIU’s previous charter as a teachers’ college as examples of lack of public knowledge about NIU in modern times. Malone believes NIU will benefit fiscally and politically from an up-to-date public image of what NIU has to offer.

Malone also stressed the need for more funding from private sources. “What you’re going to see is less funding from the government, and you can’t keep turning to students for more money. Private funding is the margin of excellence between an ordinary university and an outstanding institution,” Malone said.

Malone cautioned that excessive dependence on tuition will drive some students to attend private schools. The main advantage of state-supported universities is the lower cost of attendance, which would be offset by further tuition increases. “This is why we must try to raise as much private funding as we can, especially with the centennial coming up.” Malone said the centennial is a good time to make the public aware of NIU’s resources and to raise money from alumni and businesses. The Development and University Relations Office will be more focused on fund raising this year, Malone said.

Malone also said his staff is quite small for a university this size, and more flexibility in its responsibilities would be important. In the past, he said, duties had been too narrowly and rigidly defined, which limited the ability and usefulness of the staff. Malone said he intended to use talents where they were needed instead of relying on rigid job descriptions for his staff.

Granados mentioned the Publications Office will have an exhibit at Tuesday’s Resources and Benefits Expo in the Holmes Student Center Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Expo is sponsored by the Human Resource Services Employee and Wellness Assistance Program.