News Bureau

The new freshman class at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the largest, most academically talented and most diverse in the history of the university.

The only things one needs to learn Mandarin Chinese or nearly 30 other languages is a computer with a microphone, a University of Illinois NetID and plenty of phonetic practice.

The Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is accepting applications from neurodiverse students who will be incoming freshmen in the 2023 fall semester.

According to a new commentary in Disability and Health Journal, people with disabilities who rely on service dogs often are prohibited from bringing their working dogs into teaching and research laboratories. This one barrier can stop them from pursuing careers in science, says Joey Ramp, a researcher in the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and lead author of the commentary. Ramp spoke about the issue with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates.

Five Urbana-Champaign campus professors have been named University Scholars in recognition of their excellence in teaching, scholarship and service.

By 2018, after nearly five decades of using temporary campus facilities, the U. of I.'s Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center will finally have a permanent building of its own.

The “With Illinois” fundraising campaign officially ended June 30 and concluded with a $200,000 personal contribution from Chancellor Robert J. Jones and his wife, Dr. Lynn Hassan Jones.

Depending on the dreamer, the phrase "dream house" means different things. To Bruce Busboom, construction superintendent in the Facilities and Services Division, it meant a castle - complete with a drawbridge and a pair of gargoyles spouting water 30 feet down into a moat. Nestled in dense woods north of Mahomet, Busboom Castle is a symbol of one man's perseverance and ingenuity at bringing his dream to life - with the help of his friends.

The University of Illinois is among the top-five public universities in the nation for 2015-16 Fulbright U.S. Students, according to information recently released from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

In commemoration of the sesquicentennial anniversary of President Lincoln’s death and then, two years later, of the founding of the University of Illinois, the U. of I. College of Law will host “The New Lincoln Lectures: What Abraham Lincoln Means to the 21st Century,” a series of several lectures to be held in 2016 and 2017.

The Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery: Healing and Reconciliation begins its work today.

Two things haven’t changed since Interim Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Provost Edward Feser concluded a month of campus budget presentations: The state still doesn’t have a budget, and the university still doesn’t have its annual appropriation.

Low-income undergraduate students at the U. of I. who need assistance juggling the demands of parenthood and college will be able to get assistance through programs and services offered by the Child Development Laboratory.

University of Illinois physics professor Klaus Schulten, an innovator in the use of computational methods to study the chemical and biological processes driving living cells, died Monday, Oct. 31, at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. He was 69.

This is the final issue of Inside Illinois, but it’s not the end of the campus news function.

While continuing to advocate for an end to the state's ongoing budget impasse, President Tim Killeen said Jan. 25 that the university is also proposing solutions to provide stable, predictable funding in the future.

College of education faculty member Hua-Hua Chang will receive 2017 E.F. Lindquist Award from the American Educational Research Association and the American College Testing Program at the AERA Awards Luncheon on April 29. The luncheon will take place during the AERA’s annual meeting, April 27-May 1 in San Antonio.

Analysis of a first-ever campuswide survey of recent Illinois graduates provides extensive information on where those students ended up after college. Released today, the Illini Success initiative invited 7,701 bachelor’s degree recipients in 2014-15 from nine Urbana campus academic schools or colleges to participate.

The U. of I. Police Department last week started citing smokers who flout the campus's smoking ban.

A graphic illustration of the freshman class, which boasts the university’s largest class since 2005.

She just returned from Turkey and is planning a trip to Israel. This is the work life of Brooke Eisenmenger, the director of international advancement.

Between Sept. 1, 2009, and Aug. 31, 2010, 270 faculty members and academic professionals retired from the UI, according to the Office of Academic Human Resources. Of those new retirees, 171 retired under the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program or Voluntary Retirement Program. (Last year, during the same time, 143 academic employees retired.)

There is a revolution brewing in the textbook world and, of course, the University of Illinois is leading it.

Leslie K. Morrow, the director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center, discusses the impact that a proposed law could have on the curricula and students in Illinois public schools.

Returning service men and women have always faced the challenge of reintegrating into civilian life. But those returning with disabilities because of a combat injury face the additional challenge of having to redefine their physical identity.

Giorgi Kvirikashvili, the prime minister of the country of Georgia and a 1998 master’s degree graduate in finance from the University of Illinois, will speak on campus April 27. He will make remarks and take questions at 4:45 p.m. in the Deloitte Auditorium of the Business Instructional Facility, 515 E. Gregory Drive, Champaign. The event is open to the public.

Wencui Han is a new assistant professor in the department of business administration in the College of Business.

What has become a favorite feature of the annual Engineering Open House is the Tesla Coil Concert, hosted this year on the Bardeen Engineering Quad.

Chief Illiniwek performs last dance amid continued controversy

Edward Feser, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, discusses a new budgeting approach. He said the approach is needed to help the campus move toward less dependency on state funding, to increase transparency in budgeting, and to ensure fiscal stability and academic excellence into the future.

The chirp of screws being driven into wood and the whirr of drills filled the air in the front room of the old white house at 510 E. Chalmers St. that’s the birthplace of La Casa Cultural Latina and the former home of the U. of I.’s department of Latina/Latino studies.

Art-handling company Terry Dowd Inc. project manager Darren Martin and his work crew are creating a roughly 6 feet by 6 feet panel, part of the “bread” that will be used to make a large art “sandwich.”  The “meat” is a section of lathe, plaster and wallpaper of part of a wall covered with a vivid mural filled with bold depictions of heritage and social justice, of individual and community strength.

“We basically sandwich the walls,” Martin said. “It almost turns it into a crate.”

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is the second top destination for international students attending public universities in the United States, according to the annual Open Doors report, released Nov. 16 by the Institute of International Education. The report ranks Illinois as second in the nation for international students in 2014-15 (fifth when accounting for private schools) and ninth for students participating in study abroad programs in 2013-14. According to the report, there are more international students studying in the U.S. today than at any time in history.

When Valeri Nesbitt-Howard started working at the U. of I.'s Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center last year, it was like returning to a home she never really left.

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees on Thursday approved a revised policy requiring background checks for all new faculty, academic professional and civil service employees.

Expanded polystyrene – more commonly known by its brand name “Styrofoam” – is everywhere. It makes up your disposable coffee cup, the packing peanuts in those care packages to students, and the insulation in your office walls. At Illinois, countless bottles of chemicals, biology specimens and fragile parts of lab equipment arrive in packaging made of Styrofoam every day, and, sadly, almost all of it gets tossed in the trash.

A ribbon cutting ceremony Nov. 19 commemorated the campus’ Solar Farm being connected to the university’s electrical distribution system a week earlier. The farm is expected to produce 7.86 million killowatt-hours per year or approximately 2 percent of the average electrical demand for the Urbana campus.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. The University of Illinois chapter of Phi Eta Sigma, a national scholastic honorary society for freshmen, initiated 942 members at a campus ceremony this spring.

Personal treasures await in limbo in lost and found

The campus Dial-A-Carol program broke its previous record by a long shot this holiday season, racking up an amazing 12,000 calls in seven days.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Illinois chapter of Phi Eta Sigma, a national scholastic honorary society for freshmen, initiated 981 members at a campus ceremony this spring.

The University of Illinois’ family leave policy was revised recently to remove a teaching requirement for tenure-track faculty members after the birth or adoption of a child.

Eight civil service staff employees were honored with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award at a banquet April 20. The award recognizes exceptional performance.

Seven academic professionals were honored with 2017 Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence awards at a reception April 6. Now in its 29th year, the program honors the accomplishments and contributions of academic professionals, who provide critical support for administration, research laboratories and educational programs, and offer important outreach programs throughout the state.

Richard Partin doesn't have a Clue of the precise date he first realized he loved the Trivial Pursuit of board gaming.

Between Aug. 16, 2011, and Aug. 15, 2012, 252 faculty members and academic professionals retired from the UI, according to the Office of Academic Human Resources. Those who retired during that time were honored last spring at the campus's Academic Service Recognition Luncheon. Also honored were employees celebrating an employment milestone (10, 20, 30, 40 or 50 years) during that time.

Former University of Illinois police chief Paul Dollins is being remembered as a leader in law enforcement, a community builder and a great friend.

The Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center building will be torn down and replaced with a new building at the same Mathews Avenue and Nevada Street location.

In need of a classroom for an event or review session? Terry Free, an office manager for the Office of the Registrar, has got you covered.  

The UI’s Urbana campus made headlines around the U.S. and the world when a winter storm that dumped about a foot of snow on Central Illinois prompted Chancellor Richard Herman to cancel classes for two days, Feb. 13-14. Newspapers and magazines from New York to California and points in between as well as media in Australia, Canada, England and France reported that the snowstorm had forced Illinois to close for the first time since January 1979.

Will broccoli by any other name be more likely to wind up in students’ tummies than in lunchroom garbage cans? Does strategic placement of fruit on the cafeteria line increase its appeal to finicky kids?