ACTION ITEMS
Award nominations: Linda Smith continues to work with the Awards & Lectures Committee to increase nominations of iSchool faculty and staff for awards at the campus level (e.g., Campus Awards & Honors) and from professional associations (e.g., ALA, ALISE and ASIS&T). The Office of the Provost website also provides a list of National & International Awards. When appropriate, Linda can assist in preparing nomination packages, so please alert her to the awards for which you or a colleague should be considered.
iSchool Data Science + AI Survey: Your responses to this survey will help iSchool leadership identify strengths and opportunities for engagement. It should take only twenty minutes to complete. Participation is voluntary, and answers can be attributed or anonymized. Please respond by Sunday, January 31. If you have questions or concerns, please contact the iSchool's Data Science Ad-hoc Committee via its co-chairs, Jana Diesner and Anita Say Chan.
MacOS update: Mac users may update their operating systems to MacOS 11.1 Big Sur after ensuring that there are no conflicts between applications. Please check the Managed Software Center located in the Applications folder on your hard drive. If your software is listed under the Software or My Items tabs, it is compatible. For more specialized applications, please check with the manufacturer (website or tech support) to determine compatibility with Big Sur. Be sure your machine is fully backed up with CrashPlan before upgrading. If you have questions, please contact the Help Desk. In addition, you can refer to TechRadar's problem-solving guide.
Valentine's Day card/postcard exchange: Join your fellow faculty and staff in this fun holiday activity! To participate, submit the sign-up form by Monday, February 8. On February 9, you will receive the address of another iSchool faculty/staff member. Send your Valentine's Day card or postcard by Monday, February 15, and expect a card in return! (Note: All addresses will be permanently deleted by February 15.) If you have any questions, please email the Just iSchool Faculty & Staff Social Committee (JiFS).
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
CCB Speaker Series: Angel Daniel Matos, assistant professor of gender, sexuality, and women's studies at Bowdoin College, will present “Queer YA Novels that Sadden and Hurt: Adam Silvera's Oeuvre and the Politics of Unhappiness”:
Community Connections: Student Affairs is launching a student-led series of virtual social meetups, Community Connections, which will be listed on the iSchool's events calendar. Please encourage your students to attend!
Just Infrastructures Speaker Series: Mark your calendars for this inaugural lecture! Joan Donovan, research director of the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University, will present “What is Media Manipulation?" Just Infrastructures was launched by researchers in the iSchool, Department of Computer Science, and College of Media to interrogate the complex interactions between people, algorithms, and AI-driven systems.
Welcome Weekend: Traditionally held to welcome and orient MS/LIS online students, Welcome Weekend will be open to all new Spring 2021 MS/LIS students. Student Affairs staff will be reaching out to some faculty to participate. Faculty participation has consistently been cited as one of the most critical and well received highlights of the weekend.
- Saturday - Sunday, February 27 - 28
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Building usage: Spring semester guidelines are located in the iSchool COVID-19 Wiki. The building will be open weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For those who come in regularly, twice weekly COVID-19 testing is required as well as twice weekly check-in (Room 112 or 109) to confirm compliance. Those who visit occasionally must make an appointment at least two hours before arrival, provide negative COVID-19 test results dated no more than four days in advance, and swipe in using an iCard. Questions? Email the Return to On-Site Work Team (RTOW).
Course cancellations and enrollment updates: All spring courses have either met enrollment targets or curricular needs. Therefore, no courses will be canceled. Please continue to monitor your enrollments via Banner or DMI.
IDEA Forum: Linda Smith has been working with representatives of several other iSchools to plan the inaugural IDEA Forum, scheduled online for the week of March 8. The goal is to bring together the iSchool community to connect on the critical topics of inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA) impacting our field and the world. More details about the event and how to register will be shared as soon as information becomes available.
Instructional support: All iSchool doctoral students have been assigned to a course. Academic Affairs has posted an advertisement to Handshake for additional TAs and graders to address additional needs that may arise. Most enrollment caps are set to no more than 29 (and generally at 25) students, unless support is available; if support is assigned, the enrollment cap is increased to at least 35. Due to the growth in the number of students across iSchool programs, enrollment in many courses and sections has increased to meet students' needs. Emily Knox will provide an overview of the process and address the allocation of TAs in an upcoming faculty meeting report.
Moodle upgrade: The Learn@illinois.edu Moodle system has been upgraded from version 3.6 to 3.9. This was a significant upgrade that included a wide variety of changes. For a brief overview of major highlights, read the communication from the ATLAS team. You may also review the Moodle New Features pages: Moodle 3.7 New Features, Moodle 3.8 New Features, and Moodle 3.9 New Features.
Religious observances: The University of Missouri has posted a comprehensive guide to religious observances. Please keep these dates in mind as you plan for the semester.
Spring academic calendar: There is no spring break this semester. The semester will be divided in half, with courses for the first half beginning on Monday, January 25, and courses for the second half beginning on Monday, March 22. No classes will be held on Wednesday, February 17; Wednesday, March 24; and Tuesday, April 13.
Summer/fall course schedules: Academic Affairs and Student Affairs will begin working on the summer and fall course schedules during the first week of February.
Zoom sign-in process: As mentioned in the recent Massmail, Zoom users are now required to log in using their NetID and password to access University of Illinois meetings and events. As a result, Technology Services has changed the default Zoom security setting for “Only authenticated users can join meetings” to "ON." If you created a meeting before January 19, please go to the “Advanced Settings” section of your meeting and turn on this setting (refer to directions provided by Technology Services). When logging into your Zoom account, be sure to click “Sign In with SSO” (Single Sign-On). Questions? Contact the Help Desk.