During Academic Convocation two faculty and student research presentations are featured during the traditional program. This year we are pleased to announce that Dr. Amy Ozier from the School of Family, Consumer, & Nutrition Sciences will lead a team of students as they present on Creating Positive Nutrition Materials that Address Healthy Eating and Overweight Issues for the WIC Population. One of the main goals of the project was to assist students in applying research, behavioral theory, and practice to complete a project in the community addressing a nutrition education need. Students worked with Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) staff to develop nutrition education materials that incorporated positive, but relevant messages about healthy eating and risks associated with being overweight. This project truly exemplifies how effective community nutrition can happen when it is done correctly through appropriate needs assessment, nutrition education development, implementation, and evaluation. Everyone involved in the project walked away with a sense of pride and excitement.
The other presentation is lead by Dr. Laura Vasquez from the Department of Communication. She and her students will discuss the many exciting film projects they worked on throughout the year. The first project regards the LA Field School Program which was made possible by an NIU alumnus, Robert Katz, the executive in charge of production of the Academy Award winning film CRASH. They worked with Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins on his film Slipstream. Hopkins wrote, directed and starred in the film and welcomed the NIU students warmly. The students were able to rotate through several crew positions during the filming. Because of this amazing opportunity, four of the six participants are now working in the movie industry in Los Angeles. The second project Dr. Vasquez and the student team will discuss regards the four students who produced a video advertisement for Chipotle restaurants entitled “Just the Fax” which won first place in a national competition. The students, Brittany Samson, Sara Honchar, Chris Darkes and Joe Giorgi, were awarded $7,500. NIU also received $7,500 for their winning entry. Two of the students are using their share of the winnings to move to Los Angeles to pursue their dream of working in the film industry. Lastly, a group of students was given the task of representing NIU to potential students by creating their own videos. Their media will soon be made public on an NIU Web site, “HuskieTube.” This site has numerous videos from five seconds to five minutes long that depict the positive energy and enthusiasm of NIU Huskies.