The next meeting of the 2023-2024 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate is on Monday, December 4, at 3:10 pm, in Illini Room A of the Illini Union (1st floor). Please note the room change. Meeting materials are available at https://www.senate.illinois.edu/ss20231204a.asp. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

The CSEA Program recognizes the importance of the outstanding work of all university staff members who perform a wide range of critical functions for our university. Nominees are judged on: overall work performance, self-improvement, initiative & creativity, and enhancing the reputation of the department and/or university. Nominations are due 5 p.m., January 8, 2024. 

The Illini-Alert emergency notification system will be tested at 10:05 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 5. Visit go.illinois.edu/illinialert for additional information and technical support. To receive prompt emergency notifications, add or update your cellphone numbers and email addresses at emergency.illinois.edu.

Please encourage your undergraduate students to present their in-progress or completed research projects at the 2024 Undergraduate Research Symposium (URS) on April 25. The URS is a day-long event where students can showcase their in-progress & completed research through posters, oral, demonstrations & creative presentations. Apply by March 8 at https://go.illinois.edu/URS. 

Microsoft Copilot with Data Protection is a generative AI-powered platform designed and created specifically for organizations. Copilot with Data Protection is available for all faculty and staff with an A5 Microsoft 365 license. Log in using your NetID and password to ensure data protection. To learn more about Copilot with Data Protection, read Announcing Microsoft Copilot with Data Protection.

Under this new agreement, effective 1/1/24, lead authors at all of the University of Illinois’ campuses will be able to publish their articles as open access, ensuring their research will be immediately open and available to the public and that they will retain rights in their own work. Core-hybrid article publications are free of charge, eliminating the need for authors to pay publication fees. 

Outstanding undergraduates interested in examining health equity through hands-on research are encouraged to apply for a 10-week summer program at Mayo Clinic. Students participating in the Health Equity Research Experience will be matched with a faculty mentor and fully immersed in the research and culture of a major medical center with top-notch scientists. 

Cybersecurity Champions come from departments across campus and advocate for cybersecurity within their work areas. Tech Services provides tools and knowledge to help you identify opportunities for improvement, and each Champion gets prizes for themselves and swag to share with coworkers. Sign up for the class of 2024 no later than Jan 31: https://go.illinois.edu/2024CybersecurityChampionsSignup.

Developed by Professor Jenny Ulla, Governmental Accounting and Reporting I explores specific aspects of governmental and nonprofit accounting including constructing the required financial statements and the difference between the three categories of funds: Governmental Funds, Proprietary Funds, and Fiduciary Funds. Enroll for free with Coursera for Illinois here.

The Office of Technology Management is accepting applications for a new round of funding through the Illinois Proof-of-Concept program (IPOC). IPOC funds projects that help move UIUC research closer to public use and positive societal impact. Proposals welcome from all disciplines. Awards up to $50,000. Apply by January 16, 2024.  

Faculty/Staff/Students - Atkins Golf Club PRO SHOP SALE - 20% off All items in stock (except golf balls or gift cards) from now until 12/22. Must show your i-card.

The application for the Policy and Research Legislative Fellows Program for 2024-25 is now open until January 15. This non-partisan initiative, run by the Center for Social and Behavioral Science and supported by the Office of Public Engagement, matches graduate students with state legislators to work on policy research projects that inform public policy and help make Illinois a better place live.

Illinois Mexican & Mexican-American Students (I-MMÁS) Initiative seed funding UI System/UNAM will share the results of the funded research and interact with the teams of innovations and discovery.

Registration is open for the Winter Session of The Farms: An Allerton Folk School. Upcoming courses include Bookbinding for Artists’ Books, Afro-Brazilian Traditions – Capoeira Angola & Samba de Roda, Acrylic Pour Painting and Beginning Weaving I (Morning or Afternoon). Click on the links for more info and to register. For a full list, go here.

Our office will be open the following hours during final exam week for processing exams administered using Scantrons: December 8, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm; December 11 through December 15, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm. We will remain open during the lunch hour from 12 to 1. Please note that we have moved and are now located on the first floor of the Armory in room 151A.

From managing your yard to improving your brain health, Illinois Extension offers a wide variety of online newsletters that you can have delivered straight to your inbox. Explore today.  

As part of the Kang Lecture featuring Professor Haiyan Lee at Stanford University on February 9, 2024, a lunch seminar will commence at 11:30, focusing on her recent book, A Certain Justice: Toward an Ecology of the Chinese Legal Imagination. Faculty members and graduate students interested in the topic are welcomed. Please RSVP to jingling@illinois.edu by Dec 8.

Join VA Illiana at Chez Veteran Center, University of Illinois campus for a Women Veterans Town Hall on Dec 9, 10am-1pm! Experts, health checks, flu shots, COVID boosters, massages, snacks, raffle, kids' activities & more. Learn about eligibility/enrollment. Don't miss out!

The Cancer Center at Illinois and the Beckman Institute will host a viewing of "A Tale of Two Labs," produced by the National Center for Principled Leadership and Research Ethics (NCPRE) in collaboration with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, directed by NCPRE’s Executive Producer of Media Michael Dunne, and shot on location in part at The Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology.

During the Middle Ages, the Iberian Peninsula was home not to Spain and Portugal but rather to al-Andalus. Ruled by a succession of Islamic dynasties, al-Andalus came to be a shorthand for a legendary place where people from the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe; Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived together in peace. 

The Career Center invites all UIUC colleges, departments, and offices to our Illinois Part-Time Job Fair on January 30, 2024, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Illini Union. It's a fantastic opportunity to recruit students for part-time positions or internships for spring, summer, or even fall semesters! Registration is free, but space is limited, so registration is required. Please sign up here.

Join together in this workshop to make colorful handmade paper and play with pulp-based paint. Use a mould & deckle to make paper for your holiday cards, journals, or unique works of art! Ages 12+

Irene Romulo and Dillon Bergin will present on how they have been monitoring air pollution in Cicero. Cicero’s air quality is much worse than surrounding neighborhoods, and it’s worse than what previous organizations have routinely reported. Now, they're digging into the biggest industrial polluter in Cicero: the Koppers chemical plant. For more information go to go.illinois.edu/HEROP-DEC8. 

As part of Illinois Extension's ongoing strategic planning process, stakeholders are invited to a town hall to hear key findings and provide feedback. Assoc.Dean and Extension Director Shelly Nickols-Richardson and ACES Dean Germán Bollero will co-host. All are welcome on Tu Dec. 5 at 10 a.m., Zoom link:https://illinois.zoom.us/j/81504399364?pwd=WmpUS0JJekU2cDhMZXhaMSthZXhFQT09#success

Please join us for the University Archives' monthly Women in Science Lecture Series on December 7 from 12 -1 pm. Dr. Ann-Perry Witmer, Senior Research Scientist (Applied Research Institute), will share her research on designing technologies that align with the knowledge, people, place and time of societies. This hybrid event will take place in the University Archives or register for the zoom link.

Women and Gender in Global Perspectives Program, in collaboration with the Initiative on Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies, Co-sponsored by the Center for Global Studies and the Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, holds a webinar on "Understanding the Israel-Hamas war from a feminist perspective," led by Hyam Tannous and Yifat Bitton. You can register using this link.

Japan House will be open from 12–4pm on Friday, Dec 8 and 11am - 4pm on Saturday, Dec 9. Shop local and support Japan House programming with our Holiday Sale & Matcha Café! Wrap up the semester with a bowl of freshly-whisked matcha (or matcha latte) and a wagashi (traditional Japanese sweet) as you visit the inside of Japan House. All are welcome to browse and shop our holiday sale items!

Celebrate the shortest day of the year with a bonfire in the Allerton Meadow! Take a stroll through Holiday GLOW, gather around the bonfire at 7 p.m. and warm up with a meal from a food truck and beverage from the bar (5 to 9 p.m.). Then, head to the Mansion for a special Colt Ball & Friends concert from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.! $20/car suggested donation can be made upon entry, or donate online. 

Looking for some holiday cheer? Between December 7 at 12:01 a.m and December 13 at 11:59 p.m. you can call Dial-A-Carol at 217-332-1882 and request a song for our volunteers to sing to you! It’s that easy. Going on it’s 63rd year, Dial-A-Carol is University Housing’s longest-standing tradition for spreading holiday cheer across the world.

TKET enables gate-level quantum computation while managing the intricacies of NISQ technology. This presentation offers a detailed exploration of pytket, the Python module for interacting with TKET, an explanation of how gate-based circuit compilation works, and insights into TKET's extension modules for hardware and software integration. Register by 12/5 with the link in the title.

The next IGET meeting will be on December 7 at 4 pm on Zoom. This is a socializing meeting, for us all to have a little fun before finals start. One question to ponder as preparation: what is your favorite accessory/decoration on your desk? Join us at https://illinois.zoom.us/j/87616860096?pwd=UDRXVUdtdjFFcjlsTDQ3aEkwM0ZIUT09

This national meeting will describe efforts and initiatives of the North Central region to provide farm stress and mental health programs to producers and workers in 12 states (IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI). The USDA-funded North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center, based in University of Illinois Extension, is hosting and presenting. All interested are welcome.  

Looking for adults (ages 18-50) who are native speakers of American English and have normal hearing. Participants will listen and respond to speech samples and receive a hearing test during a single 1 to 1.5-hour visit. Compensation of $15/hour will be provided at completion. To learn more, fill out our screener or email: anex-lab@illinois.edu.

We are exploring challenges encountered in daily activities by adults aged 60+. If you or someone you know is experiencing difficulty with thinking, memory, or concentration or has mild cognitive impairment, we would like to learn from your experiences to develop solutions. The study will be conducted using video chat. Participants will be paid. Contact KCH-HFA-ENACT@illinois.edu or 217-265-0885.

All meals are provided for 12 weeks. 3 urine collections, 4 blood draws and 7 fecal donations will be required. Those without food allergies, intestinal disease, diabetes, gallbladder removal or bariatric surgery may qualify. BMI greater than 25 meets inclusion criteria. For your participation, you will receive up to $1000. To learn more and find out if you qualify contact: maggieo4@illinois.edu 

Help make the Next Alcohol Fitbit! The Alcohol Research Lab is looking for frequent drinkers to participate in a validation study of transdermal biosensing bracelets. Participation involves attending three laboratory sessions, wearing a transdermal bracelet, and filling out surveys for two weeks. Up to $300 in compensation for participation.