Downtime in the academia world is taboo for Natalie Churyk. There’s always research, interviews and papers to work on, but she manages to do more than just the standard academic rat race.

Churyk, an assistant accountancy professor, manages to help out her students, deal with barbed wire and give back to the DeKalb community. She finds time for in-line skating and even travel.

“I do like to travel a lot; I spent last Christmas in Egypt,” she said. “I had a wonderful time seeing all the sights and the pyramids; the tombs – that was phenomenal. Also, I Rollerblade occasionally, but it’s hard to Rollerblade here in Illinois. I used to Rollerblade in California; that was fun.”

Churyk lived all over the country, from California to New York, before settling in DeKalb in 2001.

“The reputation and the financing program is outstanding,” she said. “The program is what made me come here. I’ve always wanted to teach, and then I was going to become a certified public accountant. Then I realized I could teach other students to become CPAs. I just combined the two aspects, and here I am.”

Not only does Churyk teach, she also gives back her time and expertise to the DeKalb community by being the treasurer on the board of The Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center, 921 W. Lincoln Highway.

“We have mainly been working on restoring the homestead,” she said. “One of our main objectives is to try and get a blacksmith shop going.

“Eventually, we’d like to start an innovation center and talk about a lot of the other inventors around DeKalb and other historical things that happened in DeKalb,” Churyk said.

As of 2005, the renovation of the Glidden home consists of exterior and interior refurbishing. Some of the exterior work is the renovation of the front porch as well as other improvements. On the interior, hardwood floors have been refinished and the front parlors have been renovated.

“My neighbor is actually the president of The Homestead, and so that’s why I initially got involved,” Churyk said. “They needed a CPA, and I wanted to be treasurer, so I was an ideal candidate, and it seemed like a worthy cause. What I like about it is it’s something where I can utilize my accounting skills.”

As treasurer of The Homestead, Churyk doesn’t leave the real-world experience of working with accounting at the classroom door.

“Sometimes I can bring it into the classroom,” she said. “Sometimes I can mention ‘I’m on the board of directors; here are some ethical issues for you to consider.’ Some issues come up in our board meetings, like where our grounds and garden person also owns a landscaping business, so we have to get bids. Do we get bids for his company? Do we go to outsider companies? Is it acceptable to get bids from his company? These types of dilemmas come up, and it’s good to bring that into the classroom.”

Churyk also finds a way to fuse her love of accounting with her love of helping students by helping out with on-campus student organizations.

“We really needed a full-time faculty adviser for the National Association of Black Accountants,” she said. “I felt that NABA needed a full-time dedication. I’ve been with NABA for about three years. It’s gone from about 12 members up to 50, so it’s grown substantially.”