Meet the Staff

Michelle Pickett
Director
mpickett@niu.edu

Kyle Abel
First-Year Advisor
kabel@niu.edu

Sam Baker
Extra Help/Hope Chicago
sbaker2@niu.edu

LaBrian Carrington
Associate Director
lcarrington1@niu.edu

Cathy Dancey
Office Support Specialist
cdancey@niu.edu

Lauren GrimmLane
Hope Chicago Coordinator
lgrimm@niu.edu

Thelma Howland
First-Year Advisor
thowland@niu.edu

Ray Jenkins
First-Year Advisor
rjenkins@niu.edu

David Leija
Hope Chicago Coordinator
dleija@niu.edu

Heather Lissman
First-Year Advisor
hlissman@niu.edu

Jon Miller
First-Year Advisor
jmiller33@niu.edu

Tasha Neisewander
First-Year Advisor
tneisewander@niu.edu

Alma Pizano-Onofre
First-Year Advisor
apizano-onofre@niu.edu

Emily Raetzke
First-Year Advisor
eraetzke1@niu.edu 

Nicole Schafer
First-Year Advisor
nicole.schafer@niu.edu

Debra Simpson
Reenrollment Coordinator
dsimpson@niu.edu

Camyle Tate
First-Year Advisor
camtate@niu.edu

Karla Vilchez-Neal
Assistant Director/Navigate
kneal@niu.edu

Hicela Woods
Reenrollment Coordinator
hwoods@niu.edu

Bridget Yochem
First-Year Advisor
byochem@niu.edu