Organizations and Networking

The Faculty Senate is the elected, representative body of the faculty. It considers, makes recommendations, and passes resolutions concerning matters of general university interest, including educational and research endeavors; hiring policy; the tenure and promotion system; and campus life. The Faculty Senate strives to protect academic freedom, promote excellence, equity, and diversity within the faculty and student body, and advance the general welfare of the university.

Because senators are elected by every department in the university, they may be the eyes and ears of faculty members. Please feel free to contact your department's senator in order to learn more, or make suggestions about university policies and initiatives. Also be aware that the Senate administers an ombudsman program in order to discretely assist faculty members with any issue that cannot be resolved at the department level. The Faculty Senate website has further information about membership and its activities.

Each year the President, Provost, and Faculty Senate President appoint faculty members to various university-wide committees (often including students and staff as well as faculty) that establish policy or advise the Northwestern administration and faculty on various matters. Should you be interested in serving on such committees, contact faculty-senate@northwestern.edu.

The Organization of Women Faculty (OWF) was founded in 1981 to improve the status and working conditions of women faculty at Northwestern as well as to provide a forum for intellectual and personal exchanges. The organization is concerned with all issues affecting women faculty members within the University community. 

You may also contact the Associate Director of the Northwestern University Women's Center, Njoki Kamau, at (847) 491-2734.

Faculty members who have been elected to Phi Beta Kappa are strongly encouraged to affiliate themselves with Northwestern’s chapter, Alpha of Illinois. Please contact Nick Davis, Associate Professor of English.

The mission of University Circle is to provide opportunities for Northwestern University women to participate in service, scholarship and social activities that enhance the University community. An annual membership is $25 and is open to all women affiliated with the University including faculty, staff, students and spouses.

Originating in 1998 and co-hosted by the Office of the Provost and the Office of Administration and Planning, the Lawrence B. Dumas Domain Dinner series has featured hundreds of faculty presenters and engaged thousands of guests. While presentation topics have ranged greatly since the series' inception, the mission has remained the same: to stimulate faculty interactions across departments and disciplines and to highlight Northwestern's distinctive interdisciplinarity. The series has served as a launch point for various endeavors at the University and catalyzed numerous other existing research initiatives.

Due to space limitations, attendance at Domain Dinners is by invitation only and is aimed primarily toward tenure-line faculty at Northwestern University.  Please contact the Office of Administration and Planning with any questions. 

Leveraging the successful model of the faculty lunch series that led to the creation of other institutes at Northwestern, the goal of the Data Science Research Networking Luncheons is to identify significant and upcoming research areas with a big data orientation and to stimulate discussion of these research arenas. These networking luncheons are made possible through an allocation of funding from the Office of the Provost to the Data Science Initiative and bring together faculty members from both campuses, multiple schools, and a wide variety of academic departments to share ideas, explore research areas of priority to the University, and work on impactful projects.  The intention is that these luncheons will lead to new faculty connections and collaborations, possibly resulting in research initiatives and proposals, collaborative publications, and the identification of other new projects and opportunities.  Please contact the Office of Administration and Planning for additional information.

On the Evanston campus, the Residential & Academic Engagement team offers a venue for informal interaction between undergraduate students and faculty through the Residential Colleges.  Faculty affiliating with one of the colleges have the opportunity to get to know faculty and students across disciplines, are invited to take meals with students in the colleges, and participate in residential college-sponsored events on-and off-campus throughout the academic year. The 11 residential colleges include multi-thematic colleges as well as colleges focusing on such topics such as public affairs, commerce and industry, humanities, and international studies. 

Faculty interested in affiliating with a residential college are welcome to contact the Office of Residential Academic Initiatives or call (847) 467-4663.

The Office of Global Marketing and Communications (OGMC) provides media relations, print publications and web communications services for the University. In addition, OGMC produces Northwestern's alumni magazine and Northwestern News, the twice-weekly email newsletter that goes to all faculty, students and staff. News about the University is also posted daily on Northwestern's home page and the Northwestern Now website. Often accompanied by video and audio, the news features cover a variety of subjects, from major research breakthroughs to fine arts events to faculty honors.

The Daily Northwestern is published Monday through Friday during the academic year. Since 1881, this award-winning student publication has been one of the nation's most respected college newspapers and is delivered free of charge to more than 50 locations around NU's Evanston and Chicago campuses. Classified advertising in The Daily Northwestern is an effective way to connect with students for part-time child care, work study help, research assistants or sublets.

PlanIt Purple is Northwestern University’s centralized online events listing. The University community is the listing's primary audience, but it is also viewable by the general public. Users can display events on PlanIt Purple according to their date, general location, sponsoring group, or event type. University departments and offices can post their events and use the database of events to create their own public listing. For more information, email PlanIt Purple or call (847) 491-4870.