There’s a new head man at the NIU Athletic Ticket Office who should be familiar with the surroundings.

New ticket manager Norm Jenkins, 30, returned to his alma mater in late November after spending two years with the Peoria Chiefs, the Chicago Cubs’ Class A baseball affiliate in the Midwest League. Jenkins served as director of ticket sales and merchandising, and later as the director of operations.

“It’s really great. Coming back to my alma mater is something very exciting,” Jenkins said. “We really look forward to serving our customers in the most efficient manner possible. The ticket office has come a long way in recent years. We just hope to continue that expansion and our customer-oriented services.”

Currently, Jenkins and his staff are selling tickets for the Huskie men’s and women’s basketball programs, going over final plans for the 1992 North Star Conference Post-Season Tournament hosted by NIU on March 5-7 and developing ticket strategies for NIU football next fall. He succeeds Tom Freidel, who left NIU last spring to become ticket manager at Marshall University.

“Basically, we’re aiming to streamline our ticket operation,” Jenkins said. “Eventually, our long term goal is to make this one of the top Division I ticket offices in the country.”

Jenkins received a bachelor of science degree in journalism and public relations from NIU in December, 1986, and a journalism associate arts degree from Kishwaukee College in 1981.

A 1979 graduate of Rochelle High School, he won varsity letters in football and basketball and played baseball at Kishwaukee.