Congratulations graduates! We celebrate you and your accomplishments! To recognize this achievement, the Graduate College will host a Doctoral Hooding Ceremony on Saturday, December 14 at 10 a.m. in the Foellinger Great Hall at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Join us in celebrating by watching the livestream of the event at https://go.illinois.edu/hooding-live.

Need a little holiday joy during finals week? You’re invited to join in on an Illinois tradition – Dial-A-Carol! Since 1960 our students have been singing holiday songs to callers from all over the world. Sign up through our volunteer form to sing, or just give us a call at 217-332-1882 between December 12 – 18 to request your favorite holiday tune!

We are excited that Fighting Illini football is going bowling! As part of this exciting moment, we want to ensure that you, our dedicated supporters, get exclusive access to official University of Illinois bowl merchandise before it’s made available to the public. To secure your souvenir bowl apparel, click on the above title and complete the form. You will receive an email with details on how to purchase your official Illini bowl apparel before we send it out to the general public.

The Writers Workshop will close all satellite locations after Dec. 12. The Main Library will have modified hours beginning on Saturday, December 14, and will close for the semester at 5pm on Wednesday, December 18. On Wednesday, we'll host drop-in hours from 3-5pm. See our website and social media for the full finals schedule! We will re-open on January 22.

Our office will be open the following hours during final exam week for processing exams administered using Scantrons:  Friday, December 13, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm; Monday,  December 16 through Thursday, December 19, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm.  We will remain open during the lunch hour from 12 to 1 pm.

December 12 is the last day to withdraw from ALL semester courses with "W's" recorded (Withdrawal/Cancellation Form and department approval required; and approval required from ISSS in the case of International Students). All forms must be submitted to the Graduate College before 5:00 p.m. on Reading Day, December 12. Students enrolled in non-standard part of term courses should refer to their graduate program for deadline information. Have questions about submitting a Withdrawal form? Click here for an advising appointment!

December 12 is the last day to add or drop (with a "W") a Semester or Part of Term B course (via Late Registration Change in the Graduate College Student Portal. All forms must be submitted to the Graduate College before 5:00 p.m. on Reading Day, December 12. Students enrolled in non-standard part of term courses should refer to their graduate program for deadline information. Have questions about registration deadlines or submitting a Late Registration form? Click here for an advising appointment!

Friday, December 13, at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline for masters students to complete their thesis deposit, if required, for Fall 2024 degree conferral. This deadline is firm and cannot be waived. Because all corrections and all required deposit materials must be received no later than 5:00 p.m., the Thesis Office strongly encourages students to submit the thesis for review one week prior to the deadline. For further information about the process visit the Thesis Office website.

The Mental Health and Wellness Winter Break Resources webpage is now live. If you are staying in the area and need help during winter break, please review the information listed on the page for hours and availability of respective departments on campus, as many units will be closed and/or have limited hours.

You’ve got this! Finish the semester strong with some international snacks and drinks. Cosponsored by International Education, University Library and McKinley Health Center. 

The Amazon-Illinois Center on AI for Interactive Conversational Experiences (AICE) is now accepting nominations for the 2025 PhD Fellowship, recognizing outstanding PhD students conducting innovative research in Machine Learning Systems at Illinois. The fellowship offers 9 months of support (~$70,000 value), including a stipend, tuition waiver, and travel funds, plus opportunities to collaborate with Amazon scientists. For more details, please visit Link.

As the Department of Education has extended the national deadline for the Fulbright-Hays DDRA program, the campus application deadline has been extended to January 20. Fulbright-Hays funds students who are U.S. citizens, nationals, or permanent residents to conduct dissertation research abroad in modern foreign languages and area studies. All potential applicants should alert our office of their intent to apply as soon as possible. For details, visit the Fulbright-Hays listing in Fellowship Finder.

Are you interested in studying Arabic, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Czech, French, German, modern Greek, modern Hebrew, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, or Ukrainian? Apply for an Academic Year 2025-26 and/or Summer 2025 Foreign Language & Area Studies (FLAS) fellowship through the EU Center! FLAS recipients must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. Students from all departments and disciplines are encouraged to apply. The application deadline is Friday, January 31, 2025. See here for details, and contact eucenter@illinois.edu with any questions.

International students please join us at the Tata Innovation Dialogue with Akhilesh Tripathi, CEO of Digitate. Learn how his leadership propelled ignio™, a Tata Group innovation, into one of the fastest-growing enterprise applications globally. Discover Tata’s cutting-edge practices and future outlook. Explore Tata Global Internships—prestigious opportunities offering international students transformative global experiences! Zoom link https://go.illinois.edu/TataInnovationDialogue.

Graduate College Career & Professional Development will offer a series of virtual workshops over break. During the week of January 6, we will hold workshops on the faculty job search (Faculty Job Search Essentials, Interviewing, and Negotiation). During the week of January 13, we will hold workshops on the industry/nonprofit job search (Industry/Nonprofit Job Search Essentials, Resumes & Cover Letters, and Interviewing). See dates/times at https://go.grad.illinois.edu/workshops. We are also available for career advising (https://grad.illinois.edu/careers/advising) during break.

Remember, free professional headshots are available at the Professional Portrait Lab—ideal for LinkedIn and more! Open Mondays (1-2:30 p.m.), Wednesdays (3:15-4:30 p.m.), and Thursdays (10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.). We’ll be closed for Winter Break starting December 12, 2024, reopening the week of January 27, 2025.

ISSS will be presenting workshops on Optional Practical Training and Curricular Practical Training (OPT and CPT) on reading day, December 12th. This two-part workshop has been designed for all F-1 international students, regardless of program or level of study. Students will have the opportunity to meet with advisors from ISSS and ask questions about F-1 work authorization in the US.

This presentation will focus on practical strategies for writing and publishing journal articles, with a focus on revising a seminar paper or course project for publication. This workshop will review general expectations of academic publishing and will be most useful for early-stage graduate students. Writers from all disciplines are welcome. It is open to current University of Illinois affiliates (students, faculty, and staff). Please register with your U of I email account by 11:59pm on December 11 to receive the Zoom invitation.

Mark your calendars! Join the Writers Workshop to kick off the New Year the "write" way! For folks planning to catch up on some writing over Winter Break, we'll be offering a mini-retreat during the week of January 13th on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday from 9:00 am - 12:00 pm, in the Main Library's Orange Room and by Zoom. Please note that you only need to register once to attend any or all of these dates. 

On Reading Day, take a study break to relax and refresh at the library's end-of-semester tradition, De-Stress Fest! From animals, crafts, VR, snacks, academic support, and more, there is something for everyone! Locations include Funk Library, Grainger Engineering Library & Main Library. See our calendar post for each location's unique schedule of events. We hope to see you there! 

Celebrate the end of the semester with this special movie screening courtesy of the Japan Foundation Film Series! Japan House will feature Finding Calico, 2015, dir. Yoshihiro FUKAGAWA, a highly acclaimed film to showcase Japanese cinema. Admission to the screening is free but registration is required due to limited space inside the classroom. Students can opt to purchase snacks and beverages made by Japan House interns prior to the film starting. Please note the location is at the School of Art + Design, NOT Japan House! Doors open at 4pm, movie showing starts at 4:30pm.

Celebrate the end of the semester with this special movie screening courtesy of the Japan Foundation Film Series! Japan House will feature Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko,  2021, dir. Ayumu WATANABE, a highly acclaimed film to showcase Japanese cinema. Admission to the screening is free but registration is required due to limited space inside the classroom. Students can opt to purchase snacks and beverages made by Japan House interns prior to the film starting. Please note the location is at the School of Art + Design, NOT Japan House! Doors open at 6:45pm, movie showing starts at 7pm.

Are you hosting a Black History Month event? Whether it’s a discussion, performance, or community activity, we want to feature it! We are gathering Black History Month events into one central calendar, so submit your program to https://go.illinois.edu/BHMC2025 by January 8, 2025! Let us highlight all the fantastic work happening on campus and in the local community!!

McKinley Health Center serves on-campus students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 

The University of Illinois Counseling Center provides mental health counseling and well-being education for students. 

If you or a student you know may need support with their basic needs or financial stressors, please reach out.