Northern Illinois University hosted its first Engaged Learning, Teaching and Scholarship Conference on Tuesday.
The focus of the conference was for NIU faculty and staff to learn from one another. Participants were selected by a faculty panel.
NIU graduate student Chris Kraner expressed his enthusiasm for interacting more with his department.
“Our outreach is actually big enough that, as a grad student, there are people here that I haven’t met who actually work under the same department as me,” Kraner said.
The conference included presentations on multiculturalism, kindergarten readiness, and partnerships for teacher development.
Alan Clemens, an instructor in Foundations of Education, said he hopes this conference helps to enhance the student experience on campus.
“I’m interested in staying connected to the community that the conference represents, which is the community of faculty and staff and administrators here on campus who are committed to seeing us maximize our opportunities to engage students with research, engage students in class, [and] for making the student experience on campus richer,” Clemens said.
The day’s events concluded with brief discussions about the future of engaged learning at NIU.