News Bureau

While many people find that death and dying are topics that they’d rather shy away from, retiree Jean Huddleston has found her purpose helping make life “bear-able” for people who are grieving.

Richard Herman officially gave up his title as chancellor of the Urbana campus Oct. 26, following a turbulent summer that placed him at the epicenter of the controversy about student applicants on the "clout list." Several dozen of these applicants were admitted to the university - some, after having been denied admission - because of their relationships to trustees, legislators or other influential people.

Karen Erdman-Reitmeier is office manager for the department of accountancy in the College of Business.

Champaign faculty-student senate at its Oct. 5 meeting - that called upon Quinn and the General Assembly to restore the MAP funding so that students could be assured they could continue their educations in the spring.

The Urbana-Champaign Faculty Senate met Oct. 5 and discussed the process that will lead to the recommendation of three Urbana faculty members to serve on the search committee for selecting a new university president to succeed President B. Joseph White, who resigned effective Dec. 31.

As of Aug. 31, 2009, the UI's Brilliant Futures campaign, the largest in the school's 142-year history, had passed the $1.707 billion mark toward its $2.25 billion goal.

After consultation with the Council of Deans, the UI Board of Trustees, UI President B. Joseph White and Interim President Designate Stanley Ikenberry, Chancellor Richard Herman announced through a campus massmail that he will suspend the search for a provost "as we deal with the issues before us."

Darlene Hutchinson is the office manager for the Center for Library Initiatives at the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, a consortium of the Big Ten universities plus the University of Chicago, whose offices are at the university.

Champaign Senate, in which he maintained that he never reversed any denied admissions and stood behind every admissions denial during his term as president.

The 99th annual homecoming celebration at the UI kicks off with the iHelp volunteer project Oct. 2. Faculty and staff members can join students and alumni from around the world in giving back to the local community in the name of Alma Mater. The event is combined with UI student service day Oct. 2.

McKinley Health Center has treated more than 600 students for flu-like illnesses, at the onset of a flu season expected to be worse than usual because both the seasonal flu and H1N1 flu are circulating concurrently.

Champaign County residents through the Meals on Wheels program since its inception nearly 45 years ago. Coordinated by Family Service of Champaign County, the program provides meals for those unable to cook for themselves because of the effects of aging, surgery or illness, high-risk pregnancy, or mental or physical disability

Members of the campus community are encouraged to provide feedback on the university's performance as part of Illinois' comprehensive evaluation for re-accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.

Lisa Smith, office administrator in the department of animal biology, has worked at the UI for more than 19 years.

Champaign Senate delayed its vote on whether to recommend Herman and White be retained or let go for two weeks. The delay was to give Herman and White "every opportunity to make their case" with constituents and give faculty members ample time to deliberate.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced five more appointments to the UI Board of Trustees on Sept. 4, filling the remaining vacancies on the university's board in preparation for its Sept. 10 meeting in Urbana.

“The School of Art + Design Faculty Exhibition” continues through Sept. 27 in the UI’s Krannert Art Museum.


Champaign Senate voted to recommend that UI President B. Joseph White and Chancellor Richard Herman be replaced, and UI Board of Trustees chair Christopher Kennedy announced that an ad hoc committee of the board would review the performance of university personnel in relation to the Category I admissions controversy.

Among the newcomers to the Urbana campus are faculty members whose appointments began this summer or fall. Inside Illinois continues its tradition of introducing some of the new faculty members on campus and will feature at least two new colleagues in each fall issue.

Mike Cinker, stores supervisor at the Library, has worked at the UI for more than 23 years. He started as a storekeeper in Stores and Receiving at Central Stores in 1986, and worked there for a little more than a year and a half before moving to the Library.

Gov. Pat Quinn announced two appointments to the UI Board of Trustees on Aug. 26, the first replacements of seven trustees who voluntarily resigned at the conclusion of a state commission's investigation into influence-based admissions practices at the Urbana campus.

The UI moved up slightly in the latest national rankings from U.S. News & World Report, published Aug. 20.

Although today's college students are members of the most "wired" generation ever - with cell phones, iPods, Wiis and other electronic gadgets - many of them are keenly interested in the natural world as well.

Energy conservation efforts, and cheaper fuel prices, saved $7.5 million at the Urbana campus for Fiscal Year 2009, about $2.5 million more than had been projected shortly before the fiscal year ended on June 30, according to information released recently by Facilities and Services Division.

Aspiring writers around campus who are yearning to share their thoughts or expertise with the online world now have a quick and easy way to start with the new blog service offered by Web Services.

The Illinois State Geological Survey has been awarded nearly $995,000 over the next three years by the U.S. Department of Energy to create the Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium Technology Training Center at the Urbana campus of the UI.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Food writer and commentator John T. Edge will dish out a heaping helping of his work on Sept. 16 as the lead author in the Fall 2009 Carr Reading Series at the University of Illinois.

Beth McKown, office administrator at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, has been with the UI for 29 years.

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.

The UI has put an end to the "Category I" admissions tracking system and is implementing new admissions related processes that are intended to make the UI's embattled admissions system "a model for the nation."

Along with their computers, iPods and school supplies, a few university students may be bringing along the Novel H1N1 Influenza A virus, also known as the swine flu, when they come to Champaign-Urbana for the fall semester, and campus officials are urging faculty and staff members to prepare for a possible flu outbreak early in the semester.

A Minute With™... Robert D. Palinkas, M.D.,  the director of the McKinley Health Center

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.

An interim policy will enable the university to institute unpaid furlough days for faculty members and academic professionals if significant budget shortfalls occur. A second policy addition allows the university to shorten the appointment period for employees whose salaries are paid from grant and contract funds, if funding is lost.

Instead of spending the waning days of summer vacation honing their dribbling and passing, or their backstrokes, some young people who come to the UI campus will be developing skills that could one day save their lives.

UI Board of Trustees Chairman Niranjan Shah announced his resignation from the board on Aug. 3, becoming the second trustee to resign from the board in the midst of a state investigation into admissions practices at Illinois. Shah's resignation came less than a week after trustee and former chair Lawrence Eppley submitted his letter of resignation to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn and called upon the eight other trustees to do the same.

Kim Matherly, administrative assistant I in Library administration, has worked at the UI for 19 years.

The Secretariat, the fellowship organization for office professionals on campus, is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

Investigators are being surveyed to provide feedback about their perceptions of the regulatory process for research at the UI. The Institutional Review Board, the body that oversees all research involving human subjects conducted or sponsored by the UI, recently e-mailed 1,595 principal investigators and co-investigators asking them to participate.

Champaign real estate developer, was instrumental in helping them connect with the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and explore the concept of a green business association with local business leaders, whose excitement indicated that the concept could extend well beyond campus or the local community.

Universities in two of the world's largest agricultural regions will collaborate on research and teaching. The UI's College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences and Jilin University's Heping Campus, located in northeastern China, signed a memorandum of understanding to develop research collaborations.

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.

Debbie Lanter, office administrator for the School of Integrative Biology, has worked at the UI for nearly 32 years.

Faculty and staff members at the Urbana campus are pursuing a variety of eco-friendly initiatives aimed at protecting the environment and helping the campus pare its utility bills.

The Urbana campus is ahead of schedule in meeting Chancellor Richard Herman's goal of reducing energy consumption by 10 percent by Fiscal Year 2010.

At a news conference on the UIC campus June 10, Gov. Pat Quinn signed an executive order establishing an independent panel to examine UI admissions procedures.

At its May 21 meeting in Chicago, the UI Board of Trustees unanimously passed a resolution to restructure Global Campus, the university’s online degree program.

According to its MySpace profile, Ninth Letter is a 27-year-old Taurus from Champaign, Ill., with nearly 600 friends.

Champaign County Emergency Management Agency and the Champaign County Emergency Operations Center, conducted an emergency preparedness exercise that tested the campus's ability to distribute medication to masses of people during an infectious disease outbreak.

A new Web interface for the human resource module of the Banner software system is expected to make it easier for users to execute and track HR transactions as well as enhance data integrity, improve user satisfaction and reduce operating costs. The system will be used at all three campuses.