Dr. Lisa Finkelstein, an Associate Professor of Psychology and Program Coordinator of Social and Industrial and Organizational Psychology at Northern Illinois University, has joined in partnership with SkillsNET® to link some of the Industrial-Organizational Psychology program's top doctoral students with SkillsNET's forward-thinking, research-based approach to workforce optimization.

"We are thrilled about this partnership with SkillsNET," said Professor Finkelstein. "This opportunity will allow our students to hone their skills in a top-notch work environment. The hands-on training grounded in solid research will help ensure their development as true scientist-practitioners."

Dr. Finkelstein has been with the faculty at NIU for over nine years. She currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the largest professional organization in its field. Her research interests focus largely on aging issues at work, mentoring relationships, and humor in the workplace.

According to Dr. Darrel Sandall, Chair of Applied Sciences and President of SkillObject Technologies at SkillsNET Corporation, the partnerships allow SkillsNET to not only support scientific research, but also to offer applied developmental opportunities to future practitioners.

"Applied Research Centers are critical to SkillsNET's mission of remaining on the leading edge of best scientific processes. The partnerships serve as a means of applying innovative research within the workplace. By partnering with respected, leading universities, we get the opportunity to invest in and benefit from the talent of tomorrow," said Dr. Sandall.

SkillsNET seeks out opportunities to partner with innovative and respected universities to collaborate efforts. Additional SkillsNET applied research centers include: University of Oklahoma, California State, Purdue University, University of North Texas, and The University of Nebraska at Omaha with State University of New York-Binghamton, and University of Central Florida in the Q4 2005 expansion plan.

Further, SkillsNET's first European effort is the creation of the SkillsNET Center for Tacit Knowledge, University of Manchester (UK) and Helsinki University Q4 2005.

About Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University is located in DeKalb, Illinois. NIU offers its 24,000 students high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs within six Colleges, Graduate School, and College of Law. Northern is a member of the nation's most prestigious public higher education association - the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching also recently ranked NIU in its most productive category: "doctoral/research university-extensive," which is given to fewer than four percent of the colleges and universities in the U.S. NIU is a full member of the Universities Research Association, an association of the world's top 89 public and private institutions. For additional information regarding NIU please visit NIU.edu.

About SkillsNET® Corporation
SkillsNET Corporation provides a revolutionary tool suite and consulting service, which allows enterprises to rapidly capture work, worker, and workplace skill data elements (SkillObjectsSM) and their relationship to performance. The SkillsNET methodology allows employers to capture their workforce environment through web-based applications with minimal worker and capital investment. Highly trained Skills Analysts and Industrial and Organizational Psychologists, available on-site or via phone, assist the employee and employer through the data collection process. At the end of the process, employers receive a detailed analysis of the skill base required in their workforce, the level of skill in the current workforce, and the performance standards needed to operate in today's dynamic environment. SkillsNET methodology is aligned with the Department of Labor O*NET taxonomy. For additional information please visit www.skillsnet.com