A tenure-track faculty union at NIU is a long time coming and I say that having been here only four years.As a graduate student in the Graduate Employees’ Organization at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, I earned yearly cost-of-living raises...

NIU faculty will be entering a new phase, if the union application filed with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board is approved. Hopefully, this move will lead to more constructive communication between the faculty and administration and yield...

Students should recognize faculty are also heavily affected by program prioritization and should consider this when providing feedback because they will be here long after most students.Program prioritization is a process where task forces reviewed academic...

I am writing this column at the last possible minute, which should come as no surprise to those that know me.If I started this column weeks ago, or even days ago, I would not be able to fully speak on my experience at the Northern Star. It still baffles...

Pass:Finals are approaching quickly for us here at NIU. It is about that time to stock up on Red Bull and get ready for long nights to be spent at the various study locations around campus. Some choose the convenience of Barsema and its 24 hour availability,...

Pass:Students will have another option for late-night studying during finals week. The Holmes Student Center will be open 24 hours during finals week. Instead of many students having to trek to Barsema Hall, they will be able to go to the Holmes Student...

I read the article on the NIU faculty’s intent to unionize in the Northern Star on Monday with great dismay. I have worked for other universities that unionized, the faculty thinking they are now in a position of power, with a union to battle for them....

Pass:The “Just for Girls” video design camp, that will be hosted by the Digital Convergence Lab in June, is a great opportunity for girls to take an interest in technology- based careers.The camp will show girls how to design and play their own video...

Program prioritization task force reports that recommended how resources should be allocated to 459 academic and administrative programs were released Monday. NIU requested that students and faculty provide feedback from now until May 23.Kaylyn ZielinskiColumnistAll...

Pass:  NIU has increasingly been going green over the years, and a committee on environmental Aafairs is going to help. It is important for everyone’s voice to be heard in the Student Association. The approval of a committee that will allow environmental...

On Thursday, the Northern Star published the column “NIU lacks transparency with course evaluations.” I agree that evaluations are important and students should take them seriously. Let me try to explain how evaluations are used, what they actually...

Kaylyn ZielinskiColumnistThe university should have waited until the program prioritization reports were released to have the town hall meeting because the meeting did not provide any new or vital information.The meeting did not address the programs that...