ACTION ITEMS
Academic calendar: Please carefully review the fall academic calendar.
Advising email addresses: Student Affairs has updated advising email addresses for ease of reading and remembering:
Award nominations: Linda Smith will work with our Awards & Lectures Committee this academic year to increase efforts to nominate iSchool faculty and staff for awards at the campus level and from professional associations. When appropriate, she can assist in preparing nomination packages, so please alert her to awards for which you or a colleague should be considered.
Course scheduling: Academic Affairs continues to work on scheduling courses, and spring scheduling is a priority. If you are teaching this spring, please review the course title, date, time, and any section information in Course Explorer. If changes need to be made, please contact Emily Knox as soon as possible.
Students in acute distress: Please review the University’s wellness resources and share them with your students.
Vacation and sick leave reporting system: Overtime-exempt civil service professional employees will now use an expanded version of the my.ischool system currently used by faculty and academic professional staff to report time off. These employees should begin reporting all leave usage from August 22 forward in the application. The system has two functions: To request time off from supervisors and to allow direct uploading of vacation and sick time usage to our enterprise systems. Tips include:
- Please enter any time off from 8/22/21 to present.
- Time off should be entered when the need occurs rather than later. The system will send periodic automated reminders to supervisors if a time-off request appears to have been overlooked.
- The system also accommodates time off that doesn’t involve sick or vacation usage, such as short absences, jury duty, bereavement leave, etc.
Please click on the following links for recorded training sessions and/or direct any questions to iSchool HR:
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Data Privacy Seminar: Bruce Schneier, internationally renowned security technologist, will present “The Coming AI Hackers” on Thursday, October 21, from 12:00-1:00 p.m. Details are available online.
Diversity Committee: The next meeting of the Diversity Committee will be held on Thursday, October 28, from 9:00-11:00 a.m. Visit the event page for more information about the committee and how to join the meeting.
iSchool Research Showcase: The showcase will be held online instead of on campus and is scheduled for Wednesday, October 27. For details, visit our website.
The Newbery Medal at 100 Symposium: This special symposium, held on Friday, November 5, from 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m., will celebrate 100 years of The Newbery Medal. For more information and to register, visit the Newbery Medal at 100 webpage.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
AISLE Annual Conference: The iSchool will participate in the Association of Illinois School Library Educators in-person conference at the iHotel in Champaign. Plans include an open house to celebrate new spaces in the Hub Champaign Daniel building on November 7, a reception on November 8, and a booth in the conference exhibit hall. Please contact Jill Gengler with questions.
Alumni guest speakers: If you need assistance with identifying alumni to serve as guest speakers for your class or make connections for research, please contact Jill Gengler.
Campus visits: The iSchool has resumed in-person campus visits for prospective undergraduate and graduate students. Prospective students will meet with a member of the Recruitment and Admissions team, discuss programs of interest, and tour iSchool facilities, including the fourth floor of the new building. All visit days have limited capacity to ensure social distancing and safety, and guests are required to wear a mask. For those unable to visit campus, virtual informational sessions will continue. Questions? Contact Moises Orozco Villicana.
Canvas transition: The iSchool began transitioning to the Canvas learning management system with a large number of our fall courses. The transition will continue with an opt-out in spring, with all courses possibly being migrated by summer. If you are teaching in the spring, you will receive more information about how to begin making the transition. The ITD team will provide one-on-one consultations when the time comes to migrate courses. If you need more information, please visit the Canvas transition website or contact the Help Desk.
Communications name change: The name of iSchool Communications has been changed to Communications and Marketing. This change reflects the increased focus on marketing, consistent with trends across campus, as well as the evolution of staffing in our unit.
Help Desk hours: Hours in the iSchool main building are Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m., and Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Hours in the new building are Monday through Thursday, 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Junk mail folder: Please be sure to regularly check your junk mail folder in Outlook. There have been reports of Outlook filtering nonjunk messages to this folder. If you have questions or concerns, please contact the Help Desk.
Student work locations: As we transition back from remote work, please contact iSchool HR as soon as possible if one of your student employees/employees will be changing a work location. With pandemic-related delays in obtaining travel visas abroad, some employees have had to work remotely temporarily until they can enter the country. While information is collected in the my.ischool appointments application, employees and supervisors should inform iSchool HR in advance about changes in work locations. Untimely reporting can result in incorrect tax withholdings or delays in pay. Employees working overseas are usually paid by wire transfer, and it may be virtually impossible for a student to access those funds from the U.S. In addition, an employee arriving to work in the U.S. for the first time is required by federal law to immediately complete an I-9.
Technology and facilities questions: Please direct questions to the following new email address: ischool-support@illinois.edu.