News Bureau

Benefit Choice open enrollment ends June 1. U. of I. employees who have not already done so are reminded that if they wish to make changes to their health or dental insurance, dependent coverage or flexible spending plans, the changes must be made using NESSIE, the university’s online self-service benefits application. All changes must be made by June 1 and will have an effective date of July 1.

The Illinois Supreme Court May 8 struck down legislation passed in 2013 that would have scaled back state employee benefits.

Despite continued uncertainty over next year's university health care benefits, the state has announced June 15 as the end date of the Benefits Choice period.

Expressing reluctance to add to the financial burdens of students and their families in tough economic times, university trustees  approved a 2.6 percent tuition increase for new Illinois resident undergraduate students – less than the 4 percent increase originally proposed.

Chancellors of the three UI campuses presented their initial plans for the future of the university’s online degree programs – including more intercampus collaboration and blended learning – at the July 23 UI Board of Trustees meeting at UIC.

Champaign campus had raised $1.184 billion of its $1.5 billion goal to date. UIC has raised $424.9 million toward its $650 million goal and UIS has raised $21.3 million towards its $28 million goal. The campaign began July 1, 2003, and is scheduled to conclude Dec. 31, 2011.

Campus does homework preparing for new strategic plan

Library changes enhance access to resources New service model for Women and Gender Resources Library The University Library is exploring new ways to enhance collection access and service delivery. This fall, an integrated service model is under way for the Women and Gender Resources Library. The new model, used increasingly among academic libraries, redistributes women and gender resources among library units containing related materials. The change provides broader access to resources for faculty members and students from a variety of interdisciplinary fields. Cindy Ingold, women and gender resources librarian, retains her current office in the main Library and her full-time appointment, providing reference services and building strong research collections in collaboration with other campus librarians. She also is spending time in residence with two campus units, the Gender and Women's Studies Program and the Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program, offering reference consultations. The library's physical space has been converted into a conference room for meetings and gatherings related to women and gender studies as well as general library matters. For information about using the collection, contact Ingold, 333-7998 or cingold@illinois.edu. History and Philosophy Library merges with Newspaper Library The History and Philosophy Library and Newspaper Library have merged to form a new center for historical research on campus. The History, Philosophy and Newspaper Library brings together source material from a variety of related disciplines, integrating resources and services to more efficiently serve faculty members and students. The consolidated unit is located in the recently renovated 246 Main Library. It provides an extensive menu of public services and an inviting layout of reader space, computer terminals, microfilm reader-printers and scanners, and print collections. The new library is headed by Mary Stuart, who previously managed the History and Philosophy Library. "The merger brings together a concentration of expertise and resources in a way that offers a more cohesive research experience in a comfortable, welcoming environment," Stuart said. For more information, stop by the library or call 333-1509.

Fine arts scholars join computer scientists to explore cultural creativity

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. College students preparing to apply to law school are invited to attend Law School Day at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Sept. 24.

Central Management Services recently announced the extension of contracts for all current health plan vendors through June 30, 2012. The health insurance rates remain the same.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. College students preparing to apply to law school are invited to attend Law School Day at the University of Illinois on Oct. 3.

Several senators at the Sept. 16 Urbana Academic Senate meeting provided input on a report prepared over the summer by the Senate Executive Committee's ad hoc Task Force on Faculty Issues and Concerns.

Annual Meeting of the Faculty

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Illinois college students preparing to apply to law school are invited to attend Law School Day at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Oct. 17.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Several scholars from the Democratic Republic of Congo will be among the participants discussing Congos future during a colloquium at the University of Illinois Oct. 11-13.

Inside Illinois is now accepting advertising Who can advertise? Campus units and departments as well as off-campus businesses may advertise in Inside Illinois. (See our ad guidelines on the Web for content guidelines and restrictions.) Ad Sizes: 1/8, 1/4, 1/2 and full page ads as well as pre-printed inserts. Campus advertisers interested in a four-page supplement should call well in advance. Deadlines: Space should be reserved two weeks in advance and camera-ready ads are due at 4 p.m. one week prior to the publication date. Rates: Rates will vary depending on whether the ad is for an event or service affiliated with the UI. Multiple insertion discounts also are available. For more information: Doris Dahl, editor333-2895 / dkdahl@illinois.edu www.news.uiuc.edu/ii/iiadv.html

University administrators and the Graduate Employees Organization are one step closer to an election that will decide if certain graduate assistants on the Urbana campus want to be represented by a collective bargaining unit.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Lewis M. Branscomb, a public policy expert from Harvard University and co-chair of the committee that recently wrote a report on countering terrorism, will deliver the inaugural lecture Oct. 8 (Tuesday) of a seminar series at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Alternative medicine and quality of life issues are among the topics to be considered when world leaders in the fields of aging and measurement meet at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Oct. 16-18 for the 10th Measurement and Evaluation Symposium.

UI Committees 2003

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - When Ralph Cicerone, a renowned climate scientist and the president of the National Academy of Sciences, first set foot on the UI campus in the mid-1960s, focus wasn't his strong point.

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Senate Executive Committee leaders Monday kept the door open for the Urbana Academic Senate to directly offer advice to UI President Michael J. Hogan and the UI Board of Trustees on a proposed approach to universitywide enrollment management.

UI Committees 2007-08

UI joins alliance to find cures for infectious diseases

Serious concerns remain among faculty members and student members of the Urbana-Champaign Senate regarding changes to the university administration and to key university governing documents proposed by the UI Board of Trustees – and now those concerns are in writing.

Champaign Senate

On Oct. 21, members of the Urbana Academic Senate heard the first reading of a proposal that would give the University Senates Conference, which has representatives from all three campuses, the power to propose amendments to university statutes.

Champaign Senate Nov. 17.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- University of Illinois English professor Nina Baym will discuss the link between women and their interest in science -- from a historical perspective -- when she presents the Center for Advanced Study's 10th annual professors' lecture Nov. 28 at the UI.

The campus community is invited to a town hall meeting hosted by Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise at 4 p.m. Dec. 6 in the Colwell Playhouse at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Graduate College to examine why some don't complete doctoral study The UI Graduate College has been awarded a $100,000 grant by the Council of Graduate Schools to examine the problem of graduate students who begin doctoral programs but who leave without completing their degrees. The UI is one of 21 institutions nationwide chosen to participate in the $2.6 million, three-year project. Working with the Graduate College on the project are doctoral programs in animal sciences, chemistry, civil and environmental engineering, computer science, educational psychology, electrical and computer engineering, English, French, history, mathematics, mechanical and industrial engineering, microbiology, neuroscience, physics and political science. The goal of the project is to significantly increase degree completion by developing "best practice" models that can be promulgated throughout the graduate community. The project is supported by a grant from Pfizer Inc. and the Ford Foundation. The participating schools are to collect and submit data on doctoral completion and attrition; implement interventions in areas such as selection, mentoring, financial support, program environment, and curricular processes; and develop rigorous assessment strategies to measure the impact of these interventions. "Doctoral education has much to gain from participation in this program, as our graduate programs recognized immediately when we approached them about it," said Richard Wheeler, the dean of the college. "I am very pleased that every department we invited to join us in this study agreed to do so with enthusiasm."

Senators will be asked at their Dec. 9 meeting to vote on a resolution supporting the 2013 Information Technology Strategic Plan.

A review of the operational structures of the Urbana Academic Senate office is over, and Senate Executive Committee chair Roy Campbell said a complete list of recommendations will be brought before the SEC for action in the near future.

UI President Michael J. Hogan has ordered a comprehensive study of university sexual-abuse policies in an effort to "reaffirm our commitment to the safety and well-being of all members of our community and visitors to our campuses."

Printed surveys were distributed in a spring issue of Inside Illinois with the option to fill out the paper survey or do the survey online. Surveys were completed by 440 Inside Illinois readers (141 online and 299 printed).

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - A screening of "After Innocence," including a discussion with the director of the 2006 film, will be the kick-off event of this year's University of Illinois commemoration of the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Why is the issue of immigration so contentious in a nation of immigrants? Why do Americans welcome immigrants but also consider them a threat? As Congress considers changes to immigration, what are the policies that make sense?

Members of the Urbana-Champaign Senate rejected proposed amendments to the senate's constitution and bylaws that would have paved the way for academic professionals to elect representatives to the senate.

Several upcoming programs and events commemorate the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the sesquicentennial of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Faculty members encouraged to participate in NRC assessment Surveys on research-doctorate programs due Feb. 15

The Urbana-Champaign Senate reiterated its support of Chancellor Nancy Cantor at its Feb. 17 meeting at Foellinger Auditorium. Robert Fossum, professor of mathematics and chair of the Senate Executive Committee, presented a statement delivered by Acting Chairman Kenneth Schmidt at the Feb. 13 UI Board of Trustees meeting that apologized to Cantor and her family for the university’s inability to stop the recent billboard campaign against her. Schmidt also restated the trustees’ confidence in Cantor’s leadership, a sentiment echoed by a Senate Executive Committee resolution, which Fossum also read for the Senate and asked the senators to affirm by applause.

The Academic Senate approved a statement Feb. 28 asking administrators and the UI Board of Trustees for more participation in the planning of modifications to the university's management structure.

Those wishing to comment on the proposed closing of the UI Institute of Aviation have until next week to make their voices heard.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Aruna Roy, a community activist and campaigner for freedom of information in India, will lecture on "Speaking Truth to Power" on March 13 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

The UI and other state universities would receive no increase in funding from the state next fiscal year if the budget proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich in his annual address on Feb. 20 is approved by legislators. However, Blagojevich did propose funding several capital projects at the UI campuses, including renovations at Lincoln Hall and the petascale computing facility at Urbana, and supported transferring operation of the four state scientific surveys to the UI.

Three diverse efforts will be the inaugural projects of the new Institute for Advanced Computing Applications and Technologies at the UI. The institute transfers advances from the computer science and engineering research at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications to the larger scientific, engineering, and arts, humanities and social science communities in order to speed progress across all of these frontiers.

A report commissioned by the Senate Executive Committee that focuses on the university's financial condition will be revised before its findings are presented to the full Urbana Academic Senate.

A proposal by Gov. Rod Blagojevich that state universities and other state agencies cut 8 percent from this year's budget would mean layoffs for student workers, graduate assistants and employees, cutbacks in undergraduate courses and library services and would jeopardize the university's ability to compete for research funds. That's the message the UI Board of Trustees heard from all three chancellors and top administrators at the March 13 trustees' meeting in Rockford.