PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 28, No. 12, Jan. 15, 2009

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Brief Notes

Office of the Provost

2009 Annual Faculty Retreat is Feb. 6

“In the 21st century, the world itself is setting very high expectations for knowledge and skill … educators and employers have begun to reach similar conclusions – an emerging consensus – about the kinds of learning Americans need from college.”  – “Liberal Education and America’s Promise” (LEAP), by the National Leadership Council (established by the Association for American Colleges and Universities).

The 2009 Annual Faculty Retreat will take place Feb. 6 in Illini Union rooms A and B focusing on the theme of “Preparing Students for the Global Century,” presenters and participants will begin answering the question of what we are doing to prepare Illinois graduates for the challenges of an increasingly complex and diverse world. The retreat will draw upon the findings about the “Essential Learning Outcomes” and “Principles of Excellence” from the LEAP report.

The event brings faculty members from across campus to share and explore best practices and innovations. Joanne Munroe, a Fulbright scholar and cultural anthropologist, will be the plenary speaker. Skilled in translating from one disciplinary context to another and a consultant on inclusive excellence, she will assist participants in indentifying and  exploring ways in which the campus can provide the necessary learning and experiences for its students to be contributing engaged leaders in a global environment.

In addition to the keynote talk, there will be concurrent sessions featuring UI faculty members sharing their teaching innovations and insights from their classes. During lunch, the poster presentations will highlight the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research projects and campus initiatives with opportunities for further dialogue with these presenters.

New this year will be facilitated roundtable discussions. Participants will share ideas about how specific teaching and learning practices relate to the values that underlie the Campus Strategic Plan (for example, supporting diversity; preparing students to be leaders; encouraging creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship). In addition, the 2008-2009 Distinguished Teacher-Scholars will be introduced: Ann Abbott, professor of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, and Rajeshwari Pandharipande, professor of linguistics, of religious studies and of comparative literature. 

Information about the retreat and registration is online. Registration is limited.

Spring semester events

Lincoln Bicentennial lecture announced

Two prominent scholars will address aspects of Lincoln’s legacy in separate lectures prior to the celebration of his 200th birthday.

On Feb. 4, David Zarefsky, of Northwestern University, will lecture on the topic “Lincoln and the House Divided: Launching a National Political Career.” Zarefsky’s talk, part of the lecture series “Lincoln’s Rhetorical Worlds,” is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center. Zarefsky is the Owen L. Coon Professor of Argumentation and Debate in the department of communication studies at Northwestern and author of the award-winning book “Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate.”

On Feb. 11, James Oakes, of the City University of New York, will speak on “Becoming Lincoln: From Conservative to Radical.” Oakes’ lecture, part of the history department’s Lincoln Bicentennial Lecture Series, is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on the second floor of the Levis Faculty Center. Oakes is a professor of history and holds the Humanities Chair in CUNY’s Graduate Center. He is the author of “The Racial and the Republican: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, and the Triumph of Antislavery Politics” (2007), which shared the Lincoln Prize in 2008. He also has written several other acclaimed works on slavery and the South.

More details on these and other Lincoln-related speakers and events during the spring semester can be found online.

Division of Management Information

New Campus Profile now online

A new version of the Campus Profile is now available on the Web at http://dmi.illinois.edu/cp/. The profile, compiled by the Division of Management Information, includes 10 years of indicators for every department and administrative unit at the UI, with totals at the school, college, vice-chancellor and campus levels.

Strategic profiles also can be accessed for each college and major unit, listing the goals and metrics identified for each unit in the campus Strategic Plan. 

This year, three- and five-year targets for each unit’s strategic metrics have been added. A new dynamic graphing feature now allows visual comparisons of each unit’s progress to the progress made by the campus. 

Two new classes of items were include this year; DMI requests feedback as to their usefulness.  Item #2685 is Grant & Contract Expenditures by the home department of the principal investigator. Items #4050-4053 show the number of thesis students supervised in a department who have a home department elsewhere.  Both of these items were developed in an effort to support and measure growing interdisciplinary research and teaching efforts.

The new profile is currently considered to be in draft mode because a few colleges have yet to complete the data entry for their metrics and targets as well as a few administrative units that have yet to submit their data.  There are plans to develop additional graphs in upcoming weeks in support of the campus strategic planning initiative. 

As part of the Senior Academic Leadership development series hosted by Training for Business Professionals, three hands-on “Data Savvy Department Head” sessions are being offered to help administrators learn how to use the Campus Profile and other Web resources provided by the division.  Reservations can be made at http://illinois.edu/goto/cpseminars.

For more information, contact Carol J. Livingstone, 333-3551 or livngstn@illinois.edu.

Civil Service Advisory Committee

Staff members may vote Jan. 20

All Civil Service employees (excluding temporary and extra help) are encouraged to vote Jan. 20 for a representative to the State Universities Civil Service Advisory Committee. The polling place, in the southwest area of the Illini Union overlooking the Quad, will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voters must present a current I-card to vote.

Public engagement symposium

Proposals for event due Feb. 2

The inaugural Public Engagement Symposium and Technology Showcase will take place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 9 at the Illini Union. Faculty and staff members, students and community partners are invited to submit proposals for poster sessions, performances, concurrent sessions and panel discussions.

The technology showcase will highlight uses of technology that have strengthened, increased or made possible successful public engagement activities. Through demonstrations, panel discussions and concurrent sessions, the public can gain insight into how technology is incorporated and be able to share ideas for choosing and using the tools that can best support their public engagement projects.

The showcase is sponsored by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Public Engagement, Office of Continuing Education, and Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services. All symposium events are free and open to the public.

To register, go to www.conferences.uiuc.edu/engagementsymposium or call Conferences and Institutes at 333-2880 to register by phone. Final proposal deadline is Feb. 2 and can be submitted online at http://illinois.edu/goto/peproposal.

For questions regarding the proposal process, contact Kris Campbell at kjc@illinois.edu or 333-9525. Notifications of acceptance will be e-mailed by Feb. 10.

UI Extension

Web site offers ways to cope

UI Extension has created a Web site to help consumers cope with the economic downturn – “Getting Through Tough Financial Times” (www.ToughTimes.illinois.edu). The site will be updated as the economic situation warrants.

“The driving idea behind this effort is to help consumers identify ways to manage their resources wisely during this financial crisis,” said Lois E. Smith, a UI Extension consumer and family economics educator based in Edwardsville who is contributing information.

“All disciplines throughout UI Extension have been asked to contribute to the Web site so there will be a wide variety of perspectives and topics covered.”

The Web site considers topics such as avoiding money traps, setting spending priorities, managing debt, talking with creditors, saving and investing in turbulent times, and others. Each category is organized around common concerns and situations as well as information on how to avoid problems.

A news section contains updated information on timely topics related to the economic situation and offers practical advice for families.

Dates, times and locations of Extension workshops addressing issues covered on the Web site also are included.

‘Dimension and Typography’

Exhibition on view through Feb. 7

An exhibition that explores the potential of multi-dimensional typography runs through Feb. 7 at I space, the Chicago gallery of the UI’s Urbana campus.

“Dimension and Typography: A Survey of Letterforms in Space and Time” features recent work in print, video, sculpture and installation by an international group of artists, designers and programmers.

According to co-curator Jimmy Luu, a professor of graphic design at Illinois, the exhibitors have a shared interest in “investigating the potential of letters that exist beyond the flatness of two dimensions.” Work included in the survey, he said, hints at how the field of typography may evolve “when letters are freed from their two-dimensional traditions.”

“Up until the past decade, letters have mainly been presented as flat shapes in printed form,” said Luu, who is curating the exhibition with Ryan Molloy, a professor of graphic design at Eastern Michigan University. “While the notion of giving dimension to letterforms has existed for centuries within the field of typography as smaller pockets of activity, recent advances in digital technology have provided designers greater freedom and ease with which to explore the spatial and temporal qualities of typographic form.”

Featured in the exhibition is work by Mohammad Reza Abdolali, Iran; Yeohyun Ahn, John Page Corrigan and Viviana Cordova, Indiana; Andrew Byrom and Geoff Kaplan, California, J. Kyle Daevel, Tennessee; Oded Ezer and Ariel Malka, Israel; Jack Featherstone and Chrysostomos Tsimourdagkas, London; Denise Gonzales-Crisp and Will Temple, North Carolina; Keetra Dixon + JK Keller, Andrew Sloat and Benjamin Van Dyke, New York; Tuan Phan, Texas; and Jim Stevens, Michigan.

More information about the exhibition is available at www.dimensionandtype.com.

The gallery, located at 230 W. Superior St., Chicago, is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Tuesday through Saturday.

Preserving heirlooms and family treasures

‘Preservation Emporium’ to be Feb. 21

The UI Preservation Working Group will host “Heirlooms, Artifacts and Family Treasures: A Preservation Emporium” from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 21 at the Spurlock Museum. This free event is open to the public, and visitors are welcome to bring small, hand-held items or images of larger items in order to discuss specific preservation questions with specialists. Experts will be available in a variety of specialized areas ranging from antiquities to modern digital media.

There will be a keynote address from 1 to 2 p.m. by Mark Pohlad, professor of art history at DePaul University and a specialist in photohistory. The address, “The Camera and Abraham Lincoln,” will describe the photographs of Lincoln in the history of photography. Lincoln was the first extensively photographed president, and the first for whom the media helped sway an election. Through vivid, large-scale projected images, Pohlad will trace the images of Lincoln and his circle while describing the nature and challenges of photography in the mid-19th century.

The Preservation Working Group, created in 2003 as a subcommittee of the Chancellor’s Cultural Engagement Council, has organized activities that have focused on educating the university community and the public on issues concerning preservation. Participating members include the University Library, Spurlock Museum, WILL AM-FM-TV, Krannert Art Museum, Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program.

For more information about the Preservation Working Group, visit http://will.illinois.edu/pwg/.

University Primary School

2009-10 enrollment begins

University Primary School will accept enrollment applications through March 20 for the 2009-2010 academic year.  For more information, parents may contact Nancy B. Hertzog, director, at 333-3996, or visit the Web site at www.ed.uiuc.edu/ups. Applications are available at 51 Gerty Drive in Room 95 of the Children’s Research Center or they may be downloaded from the school Web site.

University Primary School is an early-childhood program that serves preschool, kindergarten and first-grade students in a project-based curriculum.  Children must be 3 years old on or before July 1 for the preschool classroom and 5 before Sept. 1 to be considered for the kindergarten enrollment.

An informational meeting about the program will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Feb. 12 in Room 26 of the Children’s Research Center.  Child care will be provided.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Events commemorate King’s vision

Jolette Law, the coach of the women’s basketball team at the UI, will discuss “Students and Community Engagement: Fulfilling Dr. King’s Vision” in a keynote speech Jan. 22 at the Illini Union.

A panel discussion on local community outreach and engagement will take place after the talk, which begins at 7 p.m. in Room 314.

Law’s speech, sponsored by the Illini Union Board and the Campus MLK Planning Committee, is one of many events scheduled in conjunction with this year’s community commemoration of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Four Score and a Dream Ago,” a community celebration, will begin at 10 a.m. Jan. 24 in the lobby of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Among the events scheduled for the event are musical performances, dancing, and children’s art-making. The celebration, like all the King events, is free and open to the public.

Other events planned throughout the commemorative celebration – titled “Four Score and a Dream Ago: Weaving Our Common Destinies” – include a Jan. 26 screening of “Brother Outsider,” about the life and legacy of civil rights leader Bayard Rustin; a youth festival (Jan. 19); and a unity breakfast (Jan. 19).

Go to www.admin.uiuc.edu/mlk/ for a complete schedule.

Citizen police academy

Course covers all areas of police work

Champaign County residents interested in getting an inside look at how local law enforcement works are invited to participate in the Champaign County Citizen Police Academy.

The academy, which meets Thursday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. for 10 weeks beginning Feb. 19, will cover crime prevention, community-based policing, drugs, gangs, school safety, DUI enforcement, citizen-police contacts, use of force and firearms safety, crime scene investigation, a tour of the Champaign County Jail, and a patrol ride-along with your local department.  The meetings are held at the Police Training Institute, the firing range and Willard Airport.

Starting its 23rd session, the academy strives to help local residents better understand police work. In addition, the police agencies involved in the academy seek feedback from participants about law-enforcement issues.

For more information or to enroll in the program, call your local law enforcement agency or contact the Police Training Institute at 333-2337. 

‘Women in Physics’

Physics conference is Jan. 16-18

The second annual Midwest conference for undergraduate women in physics, sponsored by the physics department at the UI, will be held on the Urbana campus Jan. 16 through 18 at Loomis Laboratory.

Sheila Tobias, a feminist activist and advocate for women in science, will discuss “Women in Physics: From Margin to Mainstream and Beyond” in a keynote speech that begins at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 17 in Room 141.

Tobias’ speech is one of many events scheduled in conjunction with the conference. Other events include talks by faculty members; panel discussions about graduate school and career opportunities in physics, with current Illinois graduate students; presentations and discussions about women in physics; laboratory tours; student research talks; a student poster session and several networking opportunities.

The conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, the Office of the Provost and the College of Engineering, is one of three such conferences focusing on women in physics being held simultaneously across the country this weekend. The other two conferences are being hosted by the University of Southern California and Yale University.

Go to http://physics.illinois.edu/conferences/wip/schedule.html for a complete schedule.

“Harry Potter Hogwarts Feast”

Spice Box season begins Feb. 6

“Harry Potter: A Traditional Hogwarts Feast” will kick off another season of themed meals prepared for the public by hospitality management majors at the UI Spice Box. The feast – the first of 17 themed meals planned for the second semester – is scheduled for Feb. 6.

The Spice Box, located on the second floor of Bevier Hall, is a working laboratory for students majoring in hospitality management in the department of food science and human nutrition.

Additional meals feature an array of themes, including “Viva Las Vegas,” “A Spice Box World Tour” and “Caribbean.” Meals will be served on Wednesday and Friday evenings throughout the semester.

A complete list of the meal dates, themes, and guest chefs is available online at www.spicebox.uiuc.edu. Menus will be posted as they become available. E-mail jnorth@illinois.edu if you would like to be placed on an e-mail list to receive updates about upcoming events.

Each dining event offers either a four-course meal, including salad, appetizer, featured entrée and dessert, or a two-course salad and entree combination. A specialty alcoholic beverage and a wine list also are offered. Price varies and the meals are available by reservation only. Reservations are available at 5, 5:30, 6, 6:30, 7, and 7:30 p.m.

To reserve seating for any of the fine dining experiences, call 333-6520.

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