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| Staff Newsletter | January 2024 |
Dear colleagues,
I hope your 2024 is off to a great start. As we ease into the new year, I want to call your attention to an important process led by the Office of the Provost that will begin soon: University re-accreditation.
Next year, Northwestern will undergo its 10-year comprehensive review for re-accreditation through the Higher Learning Commission (HLC). Northwestern has been accredited by the HLC since 1913 — a status that signifies educational quality and accountability. Accreditation also helps ensure regulatory compliance across American colleges and universities and establishes eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs.
This process also provides an opportunity to reaffirm and showcase Northwestern's commitment to excellent teaching, innovative research, diversity and inclusion, and the personal and intellectual growth of our students.
The review will culminate in an on-site visit by HLC peer reviewers to Northwestern April 28-29, 2025. The visit typically includes meetings with the University’s leadership and members of the Board of Trustees, as well as open forums with faculty, staff and students. A core team within the Office of the Provost will manage all components of the re-accreditation process and prepare for the peer review visit.
Over the next 15 months, I anticipate that the buzz of activity surrounding these efforts will spread across units. Thus, we plan to dedicate a portion of our Feb. 7 Office of the Provost All Staff Meeting to set the table for what to expect. I look forward to seeing you at that meeting, followed directly afterward by our second Coffee With Colleagues.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Hagerty |
All about the staff |
Meet Anahit Gomtsian
Anahit Gomtsian is Associate Director for Faculty Recognition in the Office of the Provost. She has been at Northwestern since 2015, when she started as a temporary program assistant for the Board of Trustees and for Program Review. She has been in her current role since September 2017.
Please share more about your role and what you most enjoy about it.
My role involves identifying prestigious external honors and awards for our faculty to pursue, matching appropriate faculty with those awards, and assisting with the nomination process. I enjoy working with faculty and, specifically, the opportunity to learn more about the phenomenal research taking place at Northwestern — from water security to costume design to polymer science.
Partnering with units across the university to work toward a shared goal of advancing faculty recognition has been a wonderful way to build connections and contribute to advancing Northwestern’s mission. And, of course, it’s undeniably a thrill when a faculty member wins an award we have worked together to pursue!
You are also a graduate student in political science at University of Illinois-Chicago. What is your area of research?
My dissertation research explores how city and local-level refugee aid organizations work to support and integrate refugees given varying national-level policies. Most of my research is Chicago-based, but I have also explored this dynamic in other cities, including New York, Sydney and Amsterdam. I have always been interested in humanitarian topics. As an Armenian, I grew up learning about the Armenian Genocide, and much of my early graduate-school work explored humanitarian law as it relates to responses to and prevention of genocide. Eventually, this migrated into exploring the aftermath of genocide and other conflicts, which often involves displaced populations, including refugees. I’m hoping my work will in some small way contribute to our understanding of issues related to refugee policy.
What is an interesting fact people might not know about you?
I am a linguaphile. I was born in Latvia and learned Russian and Armenian from birth. When I was young, my family lived in Montreal, where I learned French and English. That’s also when my father bought me my first Celine Dion CD — basically, a requirement to live in Quebec, and yes, I’m not afraid to admit I still love her music! In high school and college, I took Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. I try to keep up at least a moderate level of fluency in those languages by practicing speaking, listening to music and watching movies. I love having a portal through language into other cultures.
Brag about your teammates! We feature one staff member in each newsletter. Nominate someone by emailing the Office of the Provost and telling us, in a sentence or two, how your colleague contributes to Northwestern’s mission and why everyone in the Office of the Provost should get to know them.
Staff who started roles in December
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News, notes and need to know |
Meet Northwestern’s new deans On Jan. 31 from noon to 1 p.m., Provost Kathleen Hagerty will host a webinar with Northwestern’s three new deans: Bryan McKinley Jones Brayboy, Dean of the School of Education and Social Policy; Jonathan Bailey Holland, Dean of the Bienen School of Music; and Chris Schuh, Dean of the McCormick School of Engineering. This will be a great opportunity to get to know the inspiring academic leaders who will make their mark on the University for years to come. You can register online or watch a recording of the session, which will be posted on the Office of the Provost news site. If you have specific questions for the deans, please submit them when you register.
Call for TEACHx 2024 Proposals Proposals for TEACHx, Northwestern’s annual celebration of teaching and learning with technology, are now being accepted. The 2024 conference will return to the Norris University Center May 15-16 and will explore a wide range of topics, including AI use cases and impacts, grading and assessment strategies for today’s students, and Universal Design for Learning. The deadline to submit a proposal is Feb. 18 at midnight. Learn more on the TEACHx website.
Office of Global Safety and Security's Spring Break Travel Checklist If you are organizing or leading an overseas Spring Break trip involving students, start your planning with this Checklist for Group Travel Abroad. Group trips are defined as three or more students participating in the same general itinerary, often, but not always, led by a Northwestern faculty or staff member. If you haven’t done so already, check in with Beth Osterlund for trips involving graduate and professional students and Andrea Mendoza for trips involving undergraduates. For overseas group trips involving only employees (faculty and/or staff) who would like Office of Global Safety and Security support, contact Julie Friend.
News from the Office of Human Resources A new year might mean your benefit deductions have changed due to your Open Enrollment choices or annual premium increases. Additionally, 403(b) Retirement Plan limits have increased, so you may need to update your deferrals. It is important that you periodically review your paycheck to ensure you have the proper deductions.
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More resources Help us build future newsletters! If your unit is working on a project that is relevant to the entire Office of the Provost, or if you have awards, honors or accomplishments to share, send an email to officeoftheprovost@northwestern.edu. |
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