Mark McGowan

What year did you start working at NIU?
1999

Where is your hometown? and where do you live now?
Rockford is the answer to both of those questions.

In what department do you work?
Institutional Communications/College of Education

Where did you attend school? What degree(s) did you earn?
NIU, B.A. in journalism, 1992

Describe your typical day—what do you do while at work?
My job is primarily as a storyteller, so I frequently conduct interviews with students, faculty and staff about cool courses, hands-on learning experiences, external partnerships, important research and more. I turn those interviews into stories that I post on the College of Education news website and share with NIU Today. I also manage social media for the college, create alumni newsletters and supply content for emails sent to Illinois principals and superintendents. Finally, I often am asked to proofread and edit documents written by others throughout campus.

What do you like about working at NIU?
Two things: people and learning. First, my colleagues (a few of whom were already here when I started) have become among my closest friends, and we have stood with each other through triumphant and challenging times, both professionally and personally. Second, almost every interview either teaches me something or makes me think, and I am grateful for both. I love asking questions that stop people as they search for the right response; it’s those answers that most fascinate me and where I often find the hook for my stories.

What advice would you give to students currently attending NIU?
Go to class — that’s where you hear directly from the professor, where you can ask questions, where you can engage in discussions, where you can open your ears and minds to perspectives and circumstances different than your own and where you can turn classmates into resources and friends — and get involved. My best friends at NIU all worked with me at the Northern Star, where we were learning on and from the job (and from each other!) while building powerful camaraderie.

What is important for students to know about the office/department that you work in? What student services does your office provide?
Susan Mizgalski, my talented supervisor here in the College of Education, regularly operates an online pop-up store that allows our students (along with faculty, staff, alumni and friends) to buy branded gear to show their college pride. It’s fun to watch the parade of COE majors who come to our office excited to pick up their T-shirts, hoodies, sweats and other purchases.

In what ways do you see your colleagues help student success?
Susan has spearheaded projects to beautify the hallways and stairwells of Graham, Gabel and Anderson halls. The decorations not only make the spaces colorful, vibrant, welcoming and informational but also demonstrate how the College of Education values its students, assure our Huskies that they belong and show them how far their NIU degrees can take them.

What is your favorite memory of NIU?
As a student, it was my time at the Northern Star. Producing a five-days-a-week, printed newspaper is a miraculous feat for a bunch of college kids who also are taking full loads of classes, but we pulled it off, again and again and again. As a staff member, it was the Orange Bowl season. By a stroke of good timing, it was the only year (so far) that I held season tickets. As a parent, it has been watching my daughter enroll, find her place and thrive.

What accomplishment(s) are you most proud of?
I'm most proud of some of the Northern Now alumni magazine stories I’ve written — especially separate profiles on former NIU Jazz Ensemble directors Ron Modell and Ron Carter as well as a piece on the Penguin Players — along with a 2005 story for Northern Today that explored the circumstances surrounding Northern Public Radio’s Susan Stephens inspiring a piece in the New Yorker and my continuing work to document the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education’s Project FLEX.

What fulfills you personally and professionally?
Personally, it’s time with family and friends, whether walking on a bike path, driving rural roads with the tunes blaring, watching old movies and TV shows (and live sports) on my couch or performing music for familiar faces and strangers. Professionally, it’s hoping that I told each story in the best way possible, bringing someone else’s experiences and wisdom to life for others through my words.

Which of NIU’s core values align with your own?
Curiosity and creativity. I genuinely want to know more about every person I meet, and I truly believe that everyone has a story to tell if you just ask, especially if you repeat “Why?” throughout the conversation. Meanwhile, I’ve devoted my life to writing words here and during my newspaper days that I hope inform, entertain, enlighten, challenge, compel and reward readers. Creativity is the perfect vehicle to drive critical thinking, knowledge, laughter, tears and empathy, and the gift to me (and my colleagues in this business) is that no two projects are the same. We start from scratch, and get to exercise our creative muscles, every time.

Have you contributed to any NIU Foundation fundraising campaigns such as the Day of Giving or Huskies United? If yes, why did you decided to support NIU?
I routinely donate to the Department of Communication’s journalism program in the hopes that current students who are following in my footsteps to become writers, reporters and editors can achieve those goals and keep the Fourth Estate alive in the process.

What did you want to be when you were growing up? Are you currently doing it? If not, what changed your path?
For many years, I was confident that I wanted to draw comic books for a living, but some “Whiz Kids” summertime classes in cartooning taught me that it was a lot more than just drawing and that I lacked the dexterity, patience and (unfortunately) talent to pencil, ink, erase and everything else involved in the process. Later, during middle school, I fell in love with reading newspaper columnists and modified my future plans to becoming a nationally syndicated columnist. That dream was briefly derailed during high school (and even college) with notions that I could become a rock star. Neither of those aspirations came true, but I did write for professional newspapers for nearly eight years and have been writing about NIU since 1999.

Are you participating in or have you participated in any NIU shared governance or professional development groups? If so, how has your participation enhanced your experience as an employee?
I served as an alternate on the Supportive Professional Staff Council for two years; my favorite parts of that experience were getting to know the amazing and incomparable Deb Haliczer and reading all of the nominations of SPS staff so that I could help to select winners for the annual awards. Also, I was the guy who for many years wrote the NIU Today stories on the SPS and Operating Staff awards, a process that annually reminded me of the incredible people who work here.

What do you do to relax or recharge?
As mentioned earlier, I watch lots of old TV shows and movies (as well as live sports, especially football), take long country drives and try to get my steps in at a few different parks in and near Rockford. During the summer, I also enjoy sitting on my front porch observing the traffic pass by.

Do you have any hobbies or interesting personal pursuits you're involved with in your spare time?
I play keyboards in a popular “yacht rock” cover band called Nauti-Nauti, and we are entertaining fans throughout the Rockford/stateline area and southern Wisconsin. Come dance and sing along with us!