The 2024-2025 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Senate is scheduled to meet at 4:10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, in the Alice Campbell Alumni Center Ballroom. The Senate meeting will immediately follow the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Faculty. Meeting materials are available online. We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

We strive to create an exceptional workplace, and your input is crucial. Please participate in our first Workplace Satisfaction Pulse Survey. Your anonymous feedback will help us continue to improve and make Illinois a great place to work. Complete the survey by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. It should take less than five minutes to complete. Thank you!

Applications are now being accepted for the Academic Leadership and Management Institute (ALMI) 2025 Cohort. ALMI is a small, interactive in-person academic leadership program for junior faculty members who are building a research group within the Colleges of LAS and Grainger. Applications accepted until Nov. 15. More info available on program website.

The University Academic Alliance of Taiwan has launched its International Young Visiting Scholar Program. Open to young (under age 45) faculty and postdocs, the program offers $10,000 for 1-3 months of research, teaching and/or entrepreneurial activities in Taiwan. The Office of the VP for Economic Development and Innovation can assist applicants with their plans and applications.

Stay connected! University staff are invited to subscribe to Career Connections, The Career Center's bi-monthly e-newsletter featuring upcoming student-focused career services, programs and workshops, including career education, pre-health, international students career development and employer relations events. Click here to subscribe.

iSEE's Environmental Leadership Program gives undergrads hands-on experience with environmental policy-making and corporate sustainability. They will engage with local and state government officials, present policies to decision makers in Springfield and Urbana-Champaign and meet business leaders in Chicago working on corporate sustainability! Students should apply by Oct. 30! Application >>>

The Office of the Provost invites you to the Through the Faculty Ranks series: Building a Stronger Future Together by Leveraging the Hidden Value of General Education. Faculty who teach and/or have an interest in undergraduate education, the session will cover benefits students gain from the General Education Program and how you can develop successful teaching practices. Click here to register.

Illinois sophomores and juniors who are seriously considering a biomedical research career as a PhD or MD-PhD are invited to submit their application for Illinois preselection to the 2025 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) to work alongside Mayo Clinic researchers on cutting-edge biomedical research for 10 weeks next summer.

7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 21, by Dr. Jim Angel                                           
To help in understanding where our climate is headed, we must first look at multiple climate factors. What do those trends portend for the near future? Some climate tools that we can use to monitor current and historical conditions will be shared. More information and registration in title link.   

After Oct. 24, you will no longer be able to upload files to U. of I. Box with unencrypted FTP.  Use this time to connect using other methods like encrypted FTP, Box Drive, Box API or email upload. There will be no exemptions or extensions. More information about the unencrypted FTP End of Life notice can be found in this Box Support article. 

University of Birmingham and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign provide funding for collaborative projects on sustainability with researchers in the Global South to share how Climate Action and Sustainable Development must accelerate to meet Paris and UNSDGs. Register to attend an online event on Oct. 15, 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (UK), 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. (Illinois). Here is the application.

The 2024 Annual Meeting of the Faculty will be held at 3:10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14, in the Alice Campbell Alumni Center Ballroom. This meeting is a central forum for discussing issues affecting the entire faculty. President Killeen and Chancellor Jones will be present to participate in discussions and answer questions. All faculty members are invited to attend, and no registration is required.

Learn how to use EndNote, a citation management software program, to keep track and organize citations and cite while you write your papers. A limited one-year subscription can be purchased from the U. of I. Webstore (Endnote on Webstore for $55). Please note that this introductory session is geared towards those who are new to EndNote.

Learn to make common word processing documents accessible for screen readers and how to make presentations accessible. We’ll cover MS Word and PPT, Google Docs, PDFs and best practices for accessibility you can incorporate across formats. You’ll leave with readily implementable strategies and checklists to ensure your research, teaching and presentations are more accessible to diverse audiences.

Web of Science is a large multidisciplinary platform of abstract databases for articles, book chapters and conference proceedings. This session provides insight and strategies for getting the most use out of the platform. We will highlight how to search for literature and authors as well as where to find citation and grant information.

Are you overwhelmed by organizing your sources? Zotero is a free, open-source citation manager that helps you store and organize your files and insert formatted citations into papers. You will leave this hands-on workshop with a Zotero library set up and ready to use!

We have all sat through presentations that were boring, confusing and drab. How do you communicate your message most succinctly? What visuals will captivate and inform your audience the best? Is it only about your slide design or are there other techniques that leave a lasting impression? In this session we distill the magic that just might take your next presentation from bland to grand. 

Learn more about the culture of Kazakhstan through the perspectives of three Kazakhstani scholars who will present an overview of key elements of their culture and share their experiences on growing up in Kazakhstan, transitioning to life in the U.S. and more. Feel free to bring lunch and eat in the classroom. Please register in advance here: https://go.illinois.edu/SpotlightKazakhstan2024

Compete in games of soccer against teams representing different countries! The 27th Indoor World Cup hosted by ISSS and Campus Rec will take place on Saturday, Nov. 16. Faculty and staff, as well as dependents, are eligible to participate. Advance registration required by Oct. 25, $50 per team. More details and registration can be found here: https://go.illinois.edu/WorldCup2024

The IT Pro Forum is back for Fall at the I Hotel and Conference Center! On Nov. 12, sessions will be live at the I Hotel and simulcast over Zoom, with a second day of fully online sessions on Nov. 13. Registration for in-person attendance closes on Oct. 25. Sign up here and join us for the premier biannual knowledge-sharing event for IT professionals from Illinois and beyond.

The Institute of Communications Research is delighted to invite you to our Research Seminar event featuring Caleb Carr, professor of communication at Illinois State University, speaking on AI in Communication Research.  https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/540421936

Create a family history scrapbook inspired by the Book of Life from the hit PBS program "Finding Your Roots." Workshops on Friday, Oct. 25, and Saturday Oct. 26, are led by one of the show’s associate producers, Mai Perkins. Visit our calendar for full details and required materials. Scrapbooking supplies are provided.

Following the success of the Graduate and Professional School Fair, we are offering two events! At noon on Oct. 16, attend the "Writing Your Personal Statement" workshop to learn how to craft a compelling statement that sets you apart. Then at 5 p.m. on Oct. 17, join the "Preparing for Graduate School" workshop to gain essential information to navigate your graduate school journey. 

The Forum on the Future of AI in Education will host a discussion on recent developments in AI in teaching and learning in the field of education. The Forum will also highlight the policy implications for K-12 education, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Illinois State Board of Education.

Join us for a discussion with Jeanne Kramer, Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative, to further your understanding on planning study abroad for all types of students. This workshop offers you a chance to dive into potential issues abroad and provides an opportunity to discuss questions or concerns with our staff and other program leaders. Visit safetyabroad.illinois.edu for more info and to register.

We invite you to the Illini Union Open House! This is a fantastic opportunity to explore the diverse services and spaces we offer for your meetings, conferences and events on campus. Whether you’re planning a small meeting or a large conference, the Illini Union supports you with meeting space, multimedia, hotel rooms, food and you can use a CFOPAL. Refreshments and prize drawings.

The Illinois Leadership Center will be hosting our "Inclusive Leadership" Leadership Lab from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 30, in the Illini Union ABC Rooms. This program is free and open to all students. Registration will remain open until Oct. 18 and can be found on OneIllinois under the Illinois Leadership Center's events page. Please encourage interested students you know to sign up!

Gryphon Lecture: Rethinking the Influence of Religion and Religious Identity in Contemporary U.S. Children's Literature. A lecture by professor Anastasia Ulanowicz. This talk centers on middle-grade novels produced during the oft-neglected Second Golden Age of children's literature (1950-1980), which demonstrate complex engagements with religious identity and practice. 

Join Angeli Jayme, research scientist at the Illinois Center for Transportation at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, as she presents in person at the Fall 2024 Kent Seminar Series from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17.  Food and soft drinks will be provided beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the ICT Classroom. 

Join Allerton’s most recent Rooting a Deeper Connection artist at an Art Show: Lemareye Jones from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Mansion Library. The show will feature the photography Jones created during his recent residency. Come learn more about Lemareye and his art. Jones will be present to discuss his work and a cash bar will be available. Free, but registration is appreciated here.

Help celebrate the opening of Allerton Park’s first accessible woodland trail at a Community Coffee in the Wandering Woods on Tuesday, Oct. 22. Stop by this open-house style event to enjoy a drink on Allerton from Moon Bean Coffee and explore the path and connecting with others. The park’s power chairs will be available for those with limited accessibility (first come, first serve). Free.

Learn to decorate spooky-themed cookies with royal icing at Halloween Cookie Decorating on Sunday, Oct. 27, in the Allerton Mansion. Instructor Jennifer Holhubner will demonstrate and explain wet-on-wet technique, outlining and flooding. Cookies will be provided and participants should bring a container to take home their decorated cookies. $75 per person. Register here by Oct. 18. 

Could you benefit from a workshop that provides strategies on reducing stress, fostering resilience and maintaining well-being during election season? Join the Counseling Center to learn how to manage stress in our current political sphere. This workshop is in-person only and offered twice: 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 15 and Oct. 16. Registration is strongly encouraged. 

This workshop introduces citation as a practice that interacts with wider systems of power, privilege and prejudice and considers possibilities for citational justice within those systems. This event will be hybrid on Zoom and in the Main Library, Room 106, and is open to all U. of I. affiliates. Please register by Oct. 21, and you'll receive a reminder email the morning of the event.

The Counseling Center and Illinois Theatre's Inner Voices Social Issues Theatre will present "The Importance of Names" at the Beckman Institute. The performers will address critical social issues that impact the college experience and society at large. Registration required. Food will be provided.

Professor Deborah N. Archer of NYU School of Law will present the 2024 David C. Baum Lecture on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights, "The Power and Persistence of Racism." Free and open to the public, a limited number of lunches will be available to lecture attendees. 

The Women's Resources Center in collaboration with other cultural and resource center on campus will be hosting the Ecojustice Series! This series will explore the intersections of social justice and environmental justice. Save the dates today and register for the field trip! For the full calendar of events, please visit go.illinois.edu/EcoJustice2024. 

Jeremy Hobson is the host, creator and executive producer of "The Middle with Jeremy Hobson," a weekly radio show and podcast that airs on more than 400 public radio stations and is distributed by Illinois Public Media. He spent 10 years hosting numerous shows on major news events. He has interviewed presidential candidates, world leaders, business titans, artists, authors and journalists.

Is there a better place to hear a ghost story than around a campfire at Allerton Park? Join us for Fireside Fridays: A Día de los Muertos Celebration from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, in the Meadow Picnic Area. U. of I. professor Dr. Emma Velez will share the magic of indigenous stories and lead attendees in making their own craft. $6 per person (5 and under free). Register here.

Eric and James from Tech Services will discuss the fundamentals of email authentication, its importance and the strategies implemented at U. of I. to address these challenges. Participants will gain insights into enhancing email security and understand the evolving landscape of email threats. The session will conclude with a Q&A, where attendees can ask their email-related questions.

Sharon Donovan, CAS professor of food science and human nutrition, discusses how the transdisciplinary Synergistic Theory and Research on Nutrition and Obesity Group (STRONG) Kids 2 program uses a cells-to-society approach, providing unique insights into how individual biology interacts with the family environment to promote healthy eating habits in young children.

Robyn Deterding, former Campus Recreation Director, lost her 15-year-old son in a car accident and chose to donate his organs. Since then, she’s been a strong advocate for the Gift of Hope and organ donation. To support her efforts, Campus Recreation is holding a blood drive at the ARC from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 12. Come donate and help make a difference! 

Synthesis is the area of human-centered design that takes us from inspiration to ideas and from stories to solutions. In addition to discovering practical pathways toward new perspectives, participants will learn to identify innovative opportunities by collaboratively making sense of others’ stories and challenges.

This session will give you strategies for getting the most out of Scopus; the largest interdisciplinary database of peer-reviewed literature including journals, books and conference proceedings, particularly in the sciences. We will highlight how to find literature about a particular topic, reviewing author details, using article citations to discover more information and evaluating sources.

This session will provide an overview of how artificial intelligent tools interpret pictures and sound to generate new images, video and voices. We'll discuss how these techniques are being used for research, in film and across campus to support new scholarship and creative works. We'll identify strategies for recognizing deepfakes and tools that you can use to protect your own image and voice.

Meicen Sun, professor at the School of Information Sciences at the U. of I., will present a talk on "Damocles’ Switchboard: Information Externalities and the Autocratic Logic of Internet Control." More information on this talk and the iSchool’s CIRSS “Studying Science Scientifically: State of the Art and Prospects for the Science of Science”  Speaker Series is available here.

The F&S Diversity and Inclusion Committee is hosting guest speaker Dr. Kevin Mumford, professor of history, in honor of LGBTQ+ History Month. He will speak on the topic "American Animus: Bias Crime and the Fight Against Hate." To join the Zoom meeting at noon on Wednesday, Oct. 16, register at https://go.fs.illinois.edu/diversityandinclusion.

The College of Media will hold a new three-part series, “Bridging Divides: Conversations on Media and Disagreement.” The first talk, "Reaching Across the Aisle: Advertising and Messaging in an Age of Polarization," will feature advertising professor Jason P. Chambers and alumnus Michael Strautmanis, executive vice president, Obama Foundation. Register to join via Zoom.  

What do humanists need to know about current and developing trends? Robert Townsend from the American Academy of Arts and Sciences will discuss the latest from the Humanities Indicators project. Learn what their data means for our work inside and outside the academy in 2024 and beyond. Register for your Zoom link.

Older adults often experience ear and hearing-related issues, such as ringing in the ears and difficulty hearing daily sounds in quiet or noisy backgrounds. These issues can eventually lead to social isolation, cognitive problems and a decline in overall quality of life. Learn about age-related hearing loss and what we can do about it. Presenters: Rohit M. Ananthanarayana and Vahid Delaram.

The Alcohol Research Lab is looking for social drinkers to participate in our study. Participation involves attending one 6- to 9-hour laboratory session and completing cognitive, social and communicative tasks while EEG brain responses are recorded. A referral of at least one same-gender friend is required at the time of sign up. Up to $100 in compensation. 

Labs are invited to participate in pilots of Labs That Work For Everyone, a professional development program created for STEM environments in partnership with HHMI. The program’s skills and concepts enhance teamwork and leadership skills. Early participants reported benefitting from the program. Pilots require group discussions, asynchronous online components and pre- and post-testing.

Do you have occasional slips in memory? If you or anyone you know is 60+ years old, takes prescribed medication for high blood pressure, has mild problems with memory and uses smartphones, then you are eligible for this study that supports medication taking using smartphones. Compensation provided for participation. For more information, please contact us at 217-244-7383 or medmanage@illinois.edu.

Help make the Next Alcohol Fitbit! The Alcohol Research Lab is looking for participants for 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 $400 in compensation for participation. 

Recruiting 3-month-old infants who are exclusively breastfed since birth and have not received any solid foods. We will collect one infant stool sample to study the gut microbiota. Participants will receive a gift certificate upon sample collection. For more information, contact Dr. Marcia Siegel at monaco@illinois.edu or 217-244-2873.

We are seeking participants ages 50 and older for a two-hour study ($35 compensation) to explore how people learn to use virtual reality and their training support preferences. Participants should have prior hands-on VR experience, be fluent in English and be willing to visit the U. of I. campus. For more info, please contact us at vrsupport@illinois.edu or 217-300-5445, or click here to sign up!