In my last semester at Northern (NIU)in 2000, I completed work on two interesting projects at NIU's Business Information Technology Transfer Center. One was to develop a prototype and business plan for a web site to cater for music enthusiasts. The goal was to discover what possibilities and opportunities were available to set up an e-commerce site by completely outsourcing the technology and operations platforms. My second project involved developing a Global Mailing system, which would combine a web and a phone interface where letter mail and faxes can be sent over a more secure medium on the internet for onward delivery to destinations where internet access was limited or unduely expensive.

While at NIU, I worked part-time as a graduate staff assistant to associate provost, undergraduate education who oversees operations in 8 different offices. My responsibilities involved designing an operations support system using Microsoft Access to assist some of these offices with creating activity reports. I also initiated the development of departmental web sites for three of the Offices under the Associate Provost.

In other roles, I have been involved in the planning and implementation of retention initiatives, such as the freshmen and transfer students "early alert program", the peer mentoring program, and the campus-wide Majors event. These programs have provided direction to new students exposing them to the various resources available at NIU to enrich their college experience.

My specific responsibilties were to initiate contact with over 130 randomly picked new students in their first few weeks at NIU to find out how they were settling in. I also set up a database to track their progress and to run reports for our office. As part of this initiative, I also initiated the development of a homepage for the Advising, Information and referrals office to help students locate campus resources at any given time, especially after office hours. The homepage eased off phone requests for basic information on locating campus advisors, tutoring resources, procedures for transferring courses from other colleges to NIU among other issues.

In the 1997/98 academic year, I worked with a number of students in organizing multicultural, social and educational programs through a student group on campus, the African Students Association (ASA), which I was privileged to serve, as President in the 1997/98 year. During my tenure, the executive team of the ASA implemented programs such as 'bridging the gap,' Afro rhythms, Field Museum exhibition, African Studies Conference and co-sponsored events such as the multicultural carnival, the reggae explosion with other groups on campus. Our membership grew to become one of the most diverse and active student groups on the campus. Our efforts culminated in the ASA being chosen as NIU's Outstanding Student Organization for 1998. I received numerous accolades during my tenure, including a prestigious emeritus award for outstanding leadership by the entire ASA membership. I also received the NIU Programming and Activities Director's award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to enhancing the quality of life at NIU.

Between 1994 - 96, while still in the United Kingdom, I worked for the Ford Motor Company as a production staff assistant. My main responsibilities were in quality control management and specifically in maintaining established production targets for each shift at churning out an average of 550 vehicles that were at least 98.5% defect free. This experience in addition to computing classes I was enrolled in, through the Ford Employee Training program, prepared me for my next role at NIU's Student Housing and Dining Services, as a graduate residence hall advisor.