Welcome to the NLU Adjunct Council
We're Glad You Found Us!
The council meets, via conference call, the second Thursday of every month to discuss pertinent issues of the adjunct community. We are available to hear your thoughts and comments and to present them to the appropriate university committee. E-mail addresses for each council member can be found in the member's biographies below. To send a group e-mail, you can reach us at AdjunctCouncil@nl.edu
Adjunct Faculty Needs Assessment
National Louis conducted a needs assessment of 1057 adjunct faculty to gather information to begin creating a comprehensive training plan for its adjuncts. 19.5% of adjunct faculty from all three colleges responded to the survey. Survey results can be found by choosing the Survey Results 2011 here or in the side menu. Survey results from the previous year can be found by choosing Survey Results 2010 here or in the side menu.
Adjunct Faculty Orientation Grant Proposal
The Adjunct Council prepared a Faculty Development Grant proposal to design an online orientation for adjuncts. Collaborating with the Provost's Office, Ellen Belluomini and Linda Kryzak designed and facilitated the first four week pilot orientation scheduled from February 27th - March 23rd. Two groups of twenty adjuncts recently volunteered to participate in this pilot orientation. Thanks to the thoughtful feedback from these volunteer participants representing all three colleges (CAS,CMB, and NCE), a final report was recently submitted to the Provost's Office for review. For more information about the orientation, click on Adjunct Orientation here or in the side menu.
Information at Your Fingertips...
Whether you are a new to National Louis University or have been an adjunct for some time, please take a moment to browse through the Adjunct Guidebook Online. This guidebook will provide answers to many of the questions you may have about the university and resources available to you. You can find additional information by clicking on "Resources" in the side menu of this section.
VACANCY: Adjunct Council Member
If you're interested in representing your fellow adjuncts, consider applying for the Adjunct Council member position. For more information, check out the Adjunct Council Roster. For more detailed information on the requirements and responsibilities of an Adjunct Council member, consider reading the Adjunct Council Charter.
Spotlight on Council Member Susan Neustrum, Ed.D.
Susan was featured in a publication of "Impact" from the College of DuPage. The publication featured her work with "JUST (Justice, Understanding, Service and Teaching), a non profit organization that provides education and hope to incarcerated people at DuPage County jail". The article, entitled "JAILHOUSE ROCK STAR: From Dropout to Doctorate to Public Servant", is a great tribute to Sue regarding her personal and professional successes. Another council member, Nancy Harding commented that "the article was truly inspirational and you should be extremely proud of your personal achievements and the impact you have had on the residents within the DuPage County Jail system."
Meet Our Council Members...
Ellen Belluomini, M.S.W. - College of Arts and Sciences
Ellen is the chair of the Adjunct Faculty Council. She received her bachelor's degree in Social Work from University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse, and her master's degree from the University of Illinois, Jane Addams School of Social Work. She has eight years experience as a manager and leader within nonprofit organizations, fifteen years as an instructor at National-Louis University and as a therapist. Her focus is to share transformational techniques with businesses, schools, leaders, social networks, families, and individuals.
Stephanie Poczos, M.A. - College of Arts and Sciences & National College of Education
Stephanie is an adjunct instructor in both the College of Arts and Sciences and the National College of Education. She comes from a decade in advertising where she produced broadcast advertising for a variety of worldwide clients. She earned her bachelor of arts from the University of Iowa and her masters of arts in secondary education in the field of English from National-Louis University. She teaches FTF and online courses for numerous universities and in multiple disciplines. She expects a high level of excellence from her students and believes that with encouragement, support, and scaffolding students can reach their potential in short periods of time.
As a teacher she believes that one of her roles is to be a communicator of fundamental knowledge of course content that fosters critical thinking skills and allows for application out in the "real world." She also believes that it is her job to encourage thinking rather than to provide "answers." She also believes that teaching takes compassion, skill, patience, and focus. She thinks that successful teachers are committed and endlessly dedicated to constant growth, change, and improvement of themselves, their students, and their communities.
Judy Cunningham, Ed.D. - College of Arts and Sciences
Judy is our Adjunct Faculty Council secretary. She teaches at the Elgin campus in the Counselor Education Program. She has been involved in education as a teacher, administrator, or counselor for most of 41 years in rural, urban, private, and public schools and even was on the school board. Her passion is watching the excitement of learning; and the excitement is just as great with adult learners! For hobbies, she has driven an SCCA race car and rode horses in just about every venue. Last July, she rescued a herd of abandoned horses in a back 40 of Northern Illinois; there were 11 of them who had not seen humans for a VERY long time; there is excitement in learning in the barn as well! She is enjoying her teaching experiences with potential counselors.
"They may forget what you said/did but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Elizabeth Kotis, M.S. - National College of Education
Elizabeth is one of our newer members to the adjunct council. She teaches ESL/Bilingual courses in the Curriculum and Instruction program. She has many years of experience working with students of all abilities, ages, and backgrounds. Elizabeth completed her B.A. in secondary education with a concentration in English. She completed her first Master's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies in Curriculum and Instruction and her second in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus on ESL/Bilingual education. She is currently a student in the educational psychology program at National Louis University and hopes to complete a dissertation on the topic of gifted English language learners. Elizabeth also has course work in educational leadership and gifted education. It is her hope to attain an administrative certificate. Additionally, she strong believes that education is the great equalizer. Therefore, she uses technology as a tool to mentor students from under represented groups.
Elizabeth also has a wonderful husband and two children. She and her husband hope to continue to instill the love of reading in their children; specifically in English, Greek and Spanish.
Linda Kryzak, C.A.S. - National College of Education
Linda enjoys spending time with family and friends, teaching and learning, reading, traveling, hiking, and tinkering with technology! Community involvement activities include volunteering as a web designer/consultant for LRCA Sheltered Workshop in River Grove and former ISBE surrogate parent for students with special needs. At National Louis University, she's been teaching as an adjunct for the past eleven years for the Technology in Education program. She's also been teaching SPE545: Assistive Technology and SPE 572: Practicum I for the Special Education Program. As a former elementary Principal and Director of Instruction and Technology, she's been able to bring her expertise and experience to a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate students at NLU. She is also proud to be a graduate of the Technology in Education Program at National Louis University.
In addition to teaching for NLU, she is also a field supervisor for both undergraduate and graduate special education teacher candidates at the University of St. Francis and undergraduate early childhood and elementary teacher candidates for the University of Akron. She is honored to serve on the adjunct council and provide adjunct faculty representation on the NLU Senate Academic Technology Committee.
Susan Lorey, C.A.S. - National College of Education
Susan is one of our newer members to the adjunct council. She has a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Illinois, an M.A.T. in Elementary Education from Roosevelt University, and a C.A.S. in Reading and Language from National Louis University.
Sue has been on staff at National Louis University for more than a decade. Her steadfast commitment to the College of Education has included a wide range of teaching responsibilities, including course instruction for graduate students enrolled in Elementary Education and Reading & Language programs and field supervision of both graduate and undergraduate teaching candidates.
Additionally, Sue has taught courses for Roosevelt University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Concordia University Chicago.
Laleh Kalantari, M.B.A. - College of Management and Business
Laleh comes from an Information Technology background, both in academia and industry. She started her teaching career at a university in west central Illinois and taught full time from 1988 through 1998. When she moved to the Chicago-land area she joined the industry and worked with a major corporation performing in different capacities ranging from Application Analyst, Developer, Project Manager, and finally Systems Analyst.
Laleh started teaching online back in 2001 and has experience using WebCT, Blackboard Vista and eCollege. She enjoys the online environment and finds interacting with students in a virtual setup both rewarding and satisfying. The virtual world challenges the students in a way that prepares them for the 21st century workforce quite successfully. Laleh's teaching portfolio includes Introductory and Advanced Computer Applications, Database Management Systems, Computer Security, Project Management and Information Technology Management. She has a B.S. from Montclair State University in New Jersey. Knowing about the MIS program at University of Minnesota, she entered the graduate program and earned her MBA in Management Information System in 1987.
Nancy Harding, MBA, CPM, CQM, CQA, College of Management and Business
Nancy has been an adjunct faculty instructor for CMB since the mid 1990's. She is credentialed to teach in both the undergraduate and graduate level. Courses that she has taught include MGT 431, MGT 410, MGT 412, MGT 452, MGT 454, MGT 430, MGT 478, MGT 479, MGT 533, MBA 502, MBA 526, and MBA 506. Nancy also serves as a mentor to new adjunct faculty members joining the College of Management and Business. She recently assumed the position of Co-Chair and will represent the Adjunct Council on the Faculty Senate Committee. In addition, she participated in the recent Provost Search Committee and participated in the 2010 Connection Committee. For the past two years Nancy has also served on the Senate Faculty Development Committee.
Nancy's professional expertise centers around supply chain, project management, quality, and training. She has been responsible for new vendor sourcing and development in Asia, South America, and Mexico, as well as managing work teams on a global basis. Nancy holds certifications in Quality Management, Auditing, Project Management and Supply Chain. Susan Neustrom, Ed.D. - Member at Large Susan is an adjunct faculty for the College of Management and Business and CAS teaching in the BSM program and the ABS programs. She holds a BS in Management from National Louis University, an MA in Organizational Leadership/Training and Development from Lewis University and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University.
Susan Neustrom, Ed.D. - Member at Large
Susan is an adjunct faculty for the College of Management and Business and CAS teaching in the BSM program and the ABS programs. She holds a BS in Management from National-Louis University, an MA in Organizational Leadership/Training and Development from Lewis University and an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Argosy University.
