College of Education
Northern Illinois University
Graham Hall
DeKalb, IL 60115
Phone: (815) 753-1948
Fax: (815) 753-2100
cedu@niu.edu
Dr. Toni Tollerud of the Counseling, Adult and Higher Education department has been recognized as one of this year's Presidential Teaching Professors. The award affirms what scores of students already know: Dr. Tollerud is an exceptional educator.
“Toni epitomizes what a teacher needs to be. She always makes you stretch, always makes you go for your vey best,” says Sandra Kakacek, a counselor with more than two decades of experience who decided to pursue her doctorate after meeting Tollerud.
Applying that same standard to herself, Tollerud throws herself into her work so completely that colleagues have a difficult time separating Toni-the-teacher from Toni-the-person.
“Toni lives her work. Her identity as a teacher is who she is. She is naturally gifted in front of the class and an excellent mentor,” says longtime friend and co-worker Francesca Giordano who, as the assistant chair of Counseling, Adult and Higher Education, frequently asks Tollerud to work with young teachers in the department.
The passion and energy that she brings to the classroom helps many students reach goals they never imagined possible.
“She gave me the strength, inspiration and will to push myself like I have never pushed myself before,” says Andrew Franklin, a counselor at Kaneland High School. “For the first time in my life I discovered my true career path, something I had been searching for since I was a kid.”
Like many of her former students, Franklin has joined with Tollerud in trying to raise the profile and status of school counseling in Illinois. Last year, he was part of an effort that got the Illinois Education Association to include language in its platform to formally recognize (for the first time) school counselors and the importance of their work.
That kind of breakthrough was a distant dream for Tollerud when she arrived at NIU in August of 1990 and was given the directive to create one of the best counseling programs in the state.
To achieve that goal she worked to enhance and reshape the curriculum and direction of the counseling program for undergraduate and graduate level students. She also created the Illinois School Counselors Academy to improve the skills of counseling practitioners, and later the School Counselor’s Institute, which works to help educators who wish to make the transition from the classroom to counseling.
Those efforts helped her establish a reputation across the state and in 2000 earned her the Outstanding Mentor Award from the North Central Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors. In 2002 the college of education selected her to receive the award for Extraordinary Contribution in Service and Outreach in 2002.
Currently, Tollerud serves as the director of training for the Center for Child Welfare and Education, but she keeps her hand in teaching by leading training sessions and professional development courses. Staying away from the classroom simply would leave too big a void in her life.
“Teaching energizes me,” she says. “Students in my classes are there because they want to do a better job as counselors, teachers or administrators, and my goal is to help them be more passionate about what they are doing.
The NIU Presidential Teaching Professorships were established in 1991 to recognize and support faculty who excel in the practice of teaching. Recipients of this award have demonstrated their commitment to and success in the many activities associated with outstanding teaching. The recipients receive budgetary support and release time for the enhancement of their teaching skills. After four years as a Presidential Teaching Professor, each of these eminent faculty members is designated a Distinguished Teaching Professor.