News Bureau

The rules defining whether a U. of I. employee can or can't endorse an outside vendor's product or service just became clearer, as a result of a revised policy statement in the Campus Administrative Manual.

Senators on the Urbana campus will be asked in the coming months to consider several proposed changes to the university's governing documents.

Champaign Senate meeting.

Five U. of I. faculty members have been named 2014-15 fellows of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's Academic Leadership Program.

Technology has a way of recalibrating careers.

The decision whether to create a school of medicine on the Urbana campus may hinge on a report from U. of I. President Bob Easter.

Champaign Senate passed a resolution at its Oct. 20 meeting that offers support for campus academic professionals and states that SUCSS has exceeded its

The U. of I. is expanding its pioneering two-year partnership with online course content provider Coursera, announcing Oct. 15 a new cohort of classes and a unique approach for delivering them.

In light of the recent campaign to unionize specialized faculty and an ongoing effort by the Campus Faculty Association to form a union of tenure-system faculty members, campus human resources officials are receiving questions from faculty members about the unionization process and their rights under the Illinois labor law.

The U. of I. will solidify its relationship with National Taiwan University in November when a group of about 30 campus leaders travels there for a global issues forum titled, "Smart Cities, Healthy Cities."

Committees 2014-2015

Jennifer Barnhart is a confident person, but she was just being honest with herself when she asked: Am I still capable, after 14 years as a stay-at-home mom, of holding down a full-time job?

Champaign Senate was unable to get through its full agenda Sept. 22 after discussion of the Steven Salaita issue ran longer than anticipated.

The U. of I. and the U. of I. Foundation continue to raise the fundraising bar.

Nicole Anderson doesn't have to strap on a helmet to play an integral part for the U. of I. football team.

It all seems so logical now, especially at Illinois: the ramps, the curb cuts, the wheelchair-accessible buses, the world-class wheelchair athletes.

The University Healthcare System Committee on Sept. 3 told Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise to proceed on plans to develop an autonomous, engineering-centered college of medicine on the Urbana campus, but stopped short of endorsing the proposal.

Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise apologized to the Senate Executive Committee for the handling of the Steven Salaita appointment and promised to lead a campus conversation to help heal any faculty divisions caused by the incident.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the federal law that established the cooperative extension programs at the land-grant universities, but unlike some centenarians, U. of I. Extension isn't content sitting back and reminiscing about its auspicious past.

Finding money to update or replace laboratory equipment just became easier with a campus initiative recently unveiled by the offices of the Provost and Vice Chancellor for Research.

It's a rare moment when Brandon Boyd, the facilities manager for McKinley Health Center, isn't doing something related to construction.

The U. of I. Board of Trustees concluded the administrative chapter of the Steven Salaita saga Sept. 11, voting 8-1 to not appoint Salaita as a tenured professor in American Indian Studies on the Urbana campus.

High-tech thinking is ingrained in every inch of the new Electrical and Computer EngineeringBuilding, but it’s the cavernous spaces that catch the untrained eye.

This year's new faculty members included in our annual "New Faces" feature. Inside Illinois continues its tradition of introducing some of the new faculty members on campus and will feature two new colleague in each edition of Inside Illinois during the fall semester. 

The Senate Executive Committee voted to create a task force/ad hoc committee to review aspects of the campus's system for appointing tenured faculty.

Ranae Buck, an employee with the university since 1988, knows full well the professional importance of going with the tide.

The U. of I. will further expand its global presence by establishing an office in India.

This year's new faculty members included in our annual "New Faces" feature. Inside Illinois continues its tradition of introducing some of the new faculty members on campus and will feature two new colleague in each edition of Inside Illinois during the fall semester. 

Variety is said to be the spice of life, but it turns out to be an active ingredient in the learning process as well.

A detailed plan is being developed for the proposed new college of medicine on the Urbana campus and is expected to be presented soon to the Urbana-Champaign Senate for consideration.

Associate Provost Elabbas Benmamoun is the new vice provost for faculty affairs and academic policies. His appointment is effective Aug. 16, pending approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees.

Many adults who mentor students in the Illinois Promise program often had "aha moments" during their youth, instances when a caring adult's guidance or insight changed the course of their lives, said Susan Gershenfeld, the director of Illinois Promise Student Services.

U. of I. trustees approved administrative appointments and construction projects July 24 during the board's regular meeting at Student Center East on the UIC campus.

It's a little hard for a visitor to miss Mark Mitchell's office in the U. of I. College of Veterinary Medicine's Small Animal Clinic.

Robert Hauser has agreed to continue serving as the dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences through August 2016.

The U. of I. News Bureau has a new director.

Be suspicious. Be very suspicious. Especially if it looks official - bank, credit card company, university human resources - and they're asking for your personal information.

The Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment has awarded the first round of funding, totaling more than $940,000, for major interdisciplinary research projects at the U. of I.

U. of I. President Bob Easter told members of the presidential search committee that the new university leader must have a "presidential personality" capable of serving a long list of constituents with diverse needs.

The only thing missing from Julie Turnock's Gregory Hall office is a big tub of hot buttered popcorn.

Representatives of the U. of I.'s presidential search committee were on the Urbana campus June 25 asking constituents at a town hall meeting what kind of president they would like to lead the university.

Lisa Kidd and Michael W. Wililams, lighting director and associate lighting director at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, and chemistry professor Eric Oldfield.

Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise said she and her leadership team are working on the myriad details in a plan to create a medical "enterprise" on the Urbana campus, but cautioned it would take "many, many steps before this becomes a reality."

Marsha Daniels, senior event services manager for the Illini Union, and Mark Overmier, manager of system services for the U. of I.'s Staff Human Resources office.

Members of the Urbana campus will have the opportunity on June 25 to offer comments to a committee leading the national search for the U. of I.'s new president.

The Rare Book and Manuscript Library recently hosted 13 children ages 8 to 11 for a daylong camp that ended with a cursing contest. These were Elizabethan curses ("Thou craven, milk-livered flax-wench" was the winner), judged primarily on penmanship. It was part of Valerie Hotchkiss' campaign to save the art of cursive writing and, equally important, the ability to read cursive writing.

Laura Barnes, a librarian for the Prairie Research Institute, and Heather Gillett, a graphic designer in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences advancement office.

Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise plans to reach out to critics of a proposed venture with Carle Healthcare System that would create a campus-based medical college.

Because it has dramatically reduced its carbon dioxide emissions in the past several years, the U. of I. is selling an estimated 150,000 metric tons of certified carbon credits to Chevrolet, which is retiring them on behalf of the environment.

James Kilgore, the embattled Urbana campus lecturer with a criminal past, urged the U. of I. Board of Trustees to not include criminal background checks as part of its specialized faculty hiring policy.