The University of Illinois System and Illinois Connection is leading a strategic advocacy campaign in response to proposed legislation that would reduce the University of Illinois System universities' share of any new funding made available to public universities. Learn how the System and Illinois Connection mobilize alumni, students, faculty, staff, and supporters to make their voices heard and Take Action Now. 

A policy has been revised from the Campus Administrative Manual website: Sexual Misconduct. A policy also has been redirected from the CAM website: Approved Public Service Activities.

Join us for an introductory, in-person training designed for community members and the public who play a vital role in identifying concerning behaviors and potential threats. TERO highlights the power of community involvement and introduces a behavioral approach to violence prevention. Location: Illini Union Time: 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. (Doors open at 8 a.m.) Capacity: Limited to 30 participants per session. The last upcoming session is April 30. Register here to reserve your spot.

The Illinois Innovation Network’s Social Innovation and Impact seed grant application is now available. Projects are intended to provide seed funding for social innovation projects that translate research into activities that directly affect lives, address complex social problems, build trusted partnerships in the community, demonstrate longer-term engagement or depth of engagement, and are scalable or replicable. Apply by May 21.

New Course — Strategic Value and Leadership in Internal Audit, taught by Andrew Dahle and Edward Rogowski, builds advanced leadership skills and strengthens internal audit strategies for today’s evolving business environment, helping you lead high-performing teams, drive improvement, and position audit as a value-adding function.. Enroll for free with Coursera for Illinois.

The Office of the CIO is accepting nominations for the annual Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award through May 1. The award honors two campus IT professionals who exemplify Greg's commitment to collaboration, servant leadership, and service to the Illinois community. Learn more about the Greg Gulick Service Excellence Award and eligibility criteria. Please follow the link below to nominate a campus colleague. Nominations now open.

As organizations navigate growing complexity, workforce pressures, and evolving community needs, CQI remains an essential framework for moving beyond day-to-day problem solving toward stronger, more resilient systems. This year’s conference focuses on how CQI helps organizations stabilize what matters most, strengthen relationships and processes, and build the capacity to sustain meaningful improvement over time. We invite you to submit your proposal.

We invite you to submit original and creative proposals that help improve the ways that we think about global mental health and community well-being. We welcome a wide range of submissions, including traditional scholarly abstracts as well as creative formats such as artwork, poetry, music, short films, digital storytelling, and other multimedia presentations. This virtual conference aims to create a collaborative space where people with lived experience, caregivers, community members, artists, etc.

Ted's Cafe at the Beckman Institute is offering cold refresher drinks between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. weekdays. Flavors include strawberry, mango, raspberry, or spicy ginger raspberry. The drinks are $3.99 for a small or $4.99 for a large. The cafe also serves breakfast from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The 14-week Inclusive Pedagogy Certificate Program is a hybrid (in-person and online) experiential learning community meant to equip faculty and instructors with practical, research-based strategies for teaching diverse undergraduate and graduate student populations. Through interactive workshops, dialogue, applied activities, and reflective practice, participants strengthen their capacity to design inclusive courses and cultivate equitable classroom environments. Link to application.

We've launched the Office of the CIO newsletter, a new quarterly newsletter designed to keep university leadership, IT professionals, and the Illinois community informed and aligned. Read our first issue, which covers everything from artificial intelligence professional development resources to research technology support and what's ahead for IT at Illinois. Subscribe to stay up-to-date!

Work on the Main Library Roofing Project begins Monday, April 20. All entrances will remain open during construction. Work is expected to be completed fall 2026. Read more at https://go.library.illinois.edu/2026roofing.

Get your workshop requests in today! The Illinois Leadership Center's workshop request form will close on April 24 for the academic school year. Next year's form will open on May 1 and include offerings that help students critically think, build empathy, and express gratitude. Stay tuned!

This study examines the expansion of affirmative action in Brazilian federal and state universities, focusing on historically excluded Black (pretos) and brown (pardos) students. Drawing on public data, surveys, and interviews, it shows that implementation has been gradual yet lasting, contributing to demographic shifts in graduate education. By early 2025, 81% of federal and 67% of state universities had adopted unified affirmative action policies. Findings highlight growing emphasis on sustainability and transparency, signaling a more mature phase of policy implementation.

Brazil is revolutionizing higher education equity through Law No. 12,711/2012, which expanded in 2023 to include graduate programs. Research shows a significant demographic shift: by early 2025, 81% of federal and 67% of state universities adopted unified affirmative action for Black, Brown, and Indigenous students. This evolution marks a transition from mere policy adoption to a mature focus on sustainability and transparency, cementing Brazil’s role as a global innovator in academic inclusion.

Join the Division of Parks and Natural Spaces at the Illinois Arboretum for a tree planting in celebration of Arbor Day and the university’s newly attained arboretum accreditation. The event will be held at noon Friday, April 24, and include light refreshments. View a map of the tree planting location at the link above. The Arbor Day celebration is part of the Tree Campus Higher Education® initiative, which F&S leads in collaboration with campus partners. Since 2015, the U. of I. has been honored with that designation for its continued commitment to effective urban forest management.

The Grainger College of Engineering invites you to attend the IDEA Institute Symposium on Monday, April 27. The symposium is a poster session which highlights outcomes from GIANT projects. The GIANT program provides funding and mentoring to enable teams of students, postdocs, staff, and faculty to propose and implement research-based initiatives that foster collaborative problem-solving and create pathways for all aspiring engineers and scientists.

The Center for Research and Innovation in Technology-Enhanced Learning's inaugural Future of Learning Technologies Showcase highlights transformative work at Illinois that is redefining how people learn with and through technology. This showcase brings together people from across the U. of I. for multidisciplinary sessions, demos, and discussions on visions of the future of learning. Our aim is to highlight innovative and diverse happenings at the university at the intersection of learning and technology and to spark meaningful interdisciplinary conversation and collaboration.

Join us for the inaugural AImpact Workshop, co-organized by the Department of Economics, the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, and the School of Information Sciences, and focusing on the following theme: How Artificial Intelligence Shapes How We Think, Learn, and Work. Please register here: https://aimpact.illinois.edu/events/aimpact-workshop-2026.html.

Please join us next week for our annual Gesa E. Kirsch Graduate Student Symposium! Support fellow graduate student presentations and welcome back our keynote speaker Kaia L. Simon who will be hosting a workshop title, "Three Ways of Looking at Your Research." She will also be giving a keynote speech, "'Sometimes You Wish You Didn’t Know A Second Language': Refusing to Translate at Work." Please click here for the flyer and more information!

This lecture explores Romani culture, flamenco’s Romani roots, and the history of flamenco dress in Europe before and during the nineteenth century. Examining fabrics, construction techniques, and the makers themselves, it traces the tension between everyday Romani dress practices and the theatrical invention of flamenco costume for stage, tourism, and cultural consumption. Featuring excerpts from Behind the Flamenco Dress: An Interview with Adela Olmos. Presented by Rosa Cisneros, an artist, researcher, choreographer, and award-winning documentary filmmaker at Coventry University in the UK.

Leaders in the game industry come together to share their career journeys and the state of games. They will discuss the use of artificial intelligence in games, the joys and challenges of working across teams, what the future holds for indie games and new developers, and why they love working in the game community. Industry panelists are from Netflix, Respawn, Bend Studio, and Activision Blizzard. Food provided. Join us for a fun event that celebrates play!

Did you know that over half of college students worry about being able to afford their course materials? Are you wondering how you can create a budget-friendly course for students? This workshop will introduce you to Library and campus resources you can share with students to help them save money on textbooks, articles, technology, and other materials they need for classes. Come with questions if you have them!

Tired of hearing advice about highlighting your notes and writing lists? There are lots of study tips out there, but they don't work for everyone, especially if you're neurodivergent. This workshop is for those who find that popular advice doesn't work for them to learn new study habits, such as reading tips, time tricks, and building habits on uplifting strengths instead of centering difficulties.

Did you know that there are multiple methodologies to create literature reviews, with different aims, goals, protocols, and outcomes?  Attend this workshop to learn about the range of evidence synthesis (literature review) methodologies, from a traditional narrative review to rigorous reviews such as systematic reviews and umbrella reviews. We will discuss 12 types of reviews, identify the similarities and differences between them and provide insight into how to select the review type that is best suited for your project.

This presentation will review acceptable strategies for writing with generative artificial intelligence at different stages of the writing process and will address considerations for data privacy and ethical communication. It will be most useful to advanced students as well as instructors interested in learning more about setting guidelines for and supporting students' incorporation of GenAI in writing.

Join the National Center for Supercomputing Applications in celebration of its 40-year legacy of advancing high-performance computing. The day includes reflections from past NCSA directors and talks exploring NCSA’s legacy of innovation. We’ll also highlight current efforts and new opportunities on the horizon. See the full schedule of events online. Attend in person or on Zoom. See you on Thursday, April 30!

Join Funk ACES Library for its 8th Solving the World’s Challenges panel from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21. During this event, three campus experts (from natural resources, environment, and energy; Illinois Natural History Survey; and integrative biology) will discuss their work related to invasive species and answer questions from guests. In-person attendees can enter a book drawing and enjoy the post-panel reception. To attend online, please register for a Zoom link.

Join us for a lecture with Michael Gaudio (art history, University of Minnesota). This lecture examines panoramic landscapes created in the 1840s and 1850s by artists who sought to bring Minnesota Territory into focus both as an object for aesthetic contemplation and as a destination for white settlement, and from which they also sought to bring into focus the native Dakota people who were being displaced from the region at the time.

Come together with families from around the world at our International Families Celebration! Held in recognition of the traditional International Day of Families, this family-friendly gathering invites parents, children, and all to connect through fun, globally inspired activities that encourage learning, curiosity, and shared experiences. Families can enjoy international snacks, children’s games, hands-on crafts, storytelling, and children’s literature from around the world. There will also be a balloon artist. Children of all ages are welcome. This event is free and open to all.

We invite you to the 2026 Nutrition Symposium taking place on Wednesday, April 22. This year's symposium, "From Nutritional Composition to Communication: Nutritional Signals in Action," will feature Dr. Rachel Ross (Albert Einstein College of Medicine) as our keynote speaker presenting "Feast and Famine: How Early Life Food Insecurity Shapes the Brain, Body, and Lifelong Health."

For this lecture, entitled "What Criticism Teaches: The University Conditions of Non-Economic Life," the Sawyer Seminar will host a leading scholar on the history of higher education. Newfield, author of several books on the modern university and former president of the Modern Language Association, will present on recent scholarship examining the limits and effects of the prevailing economic assumptions guiding both university operations and the valuing of university degrees.

The IGB’s Art of Science program is a celebration of the common ground between science and art. Images from Illinois research were the starting point for these works, which were created by researchers working in partnership with IGB artist Julia Pollack. These pieces are the result of conversations between the scientists and the artist. The show opens from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. May 1 and will run through the month of May. The opening is free and open to the public. Refreshments provided.

Join Kiruba Haran of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as he presents in person at the spring 2026 Kent Seminar Series from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, April 23. Presentations this semester focus on topics related to innovation trends in aviation. Haran's lecture will explore near-lossless electrical machines. Food and soft drinks will be provided beginning at 1:30 p.m. in the Illinois Center for Transportation Classroom.

This year's Bluebell Festival includes two special opportunities to dine in the Allerton Mansion: Supper Club on Friday, May 1 (6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and a Blooming Breakfast on Sunday, May 3 (9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.). While many Festival activities are free and open to the public, these meals (and some workshops) do required pre-registration. Learn more at the links above.

This lecture, by Sarah Gould, professor at Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, argues that paintings exhibited in London in the mid-nineteenth century should be understood within polluted atmospheres that shaped not only artistic representations, but also practices of conservation, collecting, and display within a broader culture of technological accommodation to pollution.

Dance at Illinois presents "Roller Skating while Black," an interactive lecture-demonstration on the history, technique, and cultural influences of Black rhythm skating, by guest artist Isaiah Harris. This event is part of the department's production season, "Black on Black; A Celebration of Black Dance," highlighting the impact, diversity, and innovation of Black dance artistry through a series of masterclasses, performances, lectures, and public events that engage our campus and local communities. Lecture begins at 5:15 p.m., skating follows at 6:30 p.m. $8 admission fee; $4.50 skate rental.

Become a Dementia Friend by attending this interactive training from 12:15 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. April 27, at McKechnie Family LIFE Home (75 Bailey Dr, Champaign, 61820). This session will build your awareness and practical skills for supporting individuals living with dementia in your professional or community role. Learn how dementia affects communication, decision-making, and daily functioning, along with simple strategies to better recognize and respond to those needs. Register at: go.illinois.edu/Dementia-Friends.

Attend the Spring Into AI: Art Revolution in the Age of Artificial Intelligence event at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 23, either in Armory Room 172 or online. We will have two panelists from the School of Visual Arts (New York City), Anthony Giacchino (film) and Terrence Masson (visual arts), who will share how generative AI has expanded their artistic vocabularies and practices. Showcasing their art and decades of interdisciplinary experiences, they will also consider the future of their respective fields, both in the professional and academic spheres. We hope you will join us.

Join the upcoming Spring Into AI event from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, April 24, in Armory Room 172 and online via Zoom for the session “Generative artificial intelligence in the studio: Experimenting with AI tools in graphic design education” with speakers Jena Marble and Kendall Lyell.  Students will discuss their workflow, the role of prompting and iteration, and how they navigated the relationship between generated outputs and their own design decisions. Access online.

This April, cultural and resource centers will host events exploring environmental justice issues and how they impact our communities and highlighting the effort of leaders from historically marginalized communities. Lectures, book clubs, film screenings, and a field trip will provide students with unique opportunities to further explore environmental justice theory and praxis. Ecofeminism is an ideology and movement that sees climate change, gender equality, and social injustice in society. Visit go.illinois.edu/ecojustice2026 to see the full calendar of events!

The Illini Union Board is soliciting submissions for its first ever Cultural Short Films Festival! Held from 8 p.m. to 1p.m. Thursday, April 30, on the Quad. Guidelines: 10-20 minutes length - Topic can be anything that adds to understanding of other people and cultures. The aim of this event is to highlight short films celebrating cultures around our community. Submit your clips: https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/1832507483. The submission deadline is midnight Thursday, April 23. If you have questions, please reach out to Arjun Papneja, director of Cultural Programs, at papneja2@illinois.edu.

Cancer Voices performs true stories from survivors, doctors, family members, nurses, and researchers. Watch the trailer here. The 45-minute script shares how different people move through cancer research and treatment. Our performances and following community discussions work toward effective, just health care for all. This project is made possible by a Research Award from the Chancellor’s Office and by contributors who shared their stories. Performances are free and open to all. 6 p.m. April 29: at Lincoln Theater in Lincoln Hall. 6 p.m. May 1: at Station Theater in Urbana.

Elisa Frühauf Garcia, Fluminense Federal University (Brazil), and Christian Darko and Fuk Ying Tse, University of Birmingham, will discuss the importance of embedding scholarship in an interdisciplinary and global context. This talk is part of a new initiative, Gender@Work: A Global Lab on Bodies and Politics. Sponsors: Illinois International-BRIDGE, School of Labor and Employment Relations, Center for Study of Global Gender Equity, Humanities Research Institute, and Office of Access and Community at Gies College of Business.

Please join us from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, April 24, for the Spring Open House at the McKechnie Family LIFE Home. The event will showcase current projects in interdisciplinary research focusing on student engagement. Guests are invited to explore the facility at their own pace, listen to presentations, and interact with live demonstrations. Limited parking is available in the lot behind the building and at Illinois State Water Survey, Building No. 8. Click here for additional details. RSVP now for this exciting opportunity!

April 20 |1 p.m.| IE Workshop with Stephan Crump: Explore presence within improvisation, featuring Crump's works "Slow Water" and "Passerine." FREE!  April 21 | Noon | Artists Talk with Stephan Crump and Erica Gies | A conversation about environmental science and Gies' "Water Always Wins," the inspiration behind "Slow Water." FREE!  April 21 |7:30 p.m.| "Slow Water" | Imagine music free from constraints or agendas; music overflowing with attention to its wondrous surroundings; music allowed to meander and take its time, trusting the collective's intent. Purchase tickets at KrannertCenter.com!

NCSA, in collaboration with the Illinois Quantum Information Science and Technology Center, invites you to the next Quantum User Group Bring Your Own Lunch and Learn on Thursday, April 23. For additional details, please refer to the calendar page.

Allerton is partnering with the Illinois Prairie Ikenobo Chapter to offer two classes this May: Ikebana: Party with Shakuyaku 芍薬 on Saturday, May 16 (10 a.m. to noon or 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.), and a Grand Ikebana Demonstration on Sunday, May 17 (noon to 1 p.m.). Learn more about the philosophy of ikebana — meaning “make flowers come alive. Learn more and register by clicking on the links above.

In honor of the annual commemoration of the Armenian Genocide, Helen Makhdoumian will give a talk entitled "On Beginnings, or the Roots and Routes of the Nested Memory Concept." Helen is a Collaborative Humanities Postdoctoral Program fellow at Vanderbilt University who received her PhD in English with a certificate in the Initiative in Holocaust, Genocide, and Memory Studies at the U. of I. 

The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy increases over time. In some systems, however, entropy decreases in parts of the system while increasing in others. A zebra does not violate the second law, but there is a sense in which the zebra resists or exploits the second law by shunting entropy into its environment. Philosophy professor Heather Demarest (University of Colorado Boulder) defends a metaphysical account of this difference in terms of multiple realizability - the more microphysical realizers a kind has, the less it is able to resist the second law.

Join us for an industry panel on artificial intelligence in business. Professionals from biotech, manufacturing, and financial services will share real-world applications, lessons learned, and insights on AI's impact on work and innovation. Discover what technical and human skills companies value, how AI is transforming recruiting and workforce development, and how students can prepare for an AI-enabled workplace.

The Fulbright-Nehru Program offers U.S. students, scholars, and professionals a unique opportunity to engage deeply with India’s leading institutions, collaborate across disciplines, and contribute to strengthening international partnerships. We invite staff and faculty to join Global Relations on April 30 for a brief virtual informational session to learn more about Fulbright India and how you can apply to join a distinguished network of Fulbrighters advancing knowledge in a rapidly changing world. You can register for the event using the link above.

Global Relations invites Illinois faculty and administrators to an information session about the Fulbright Specialist Program.Through the Fulbright Specialist Program, U.S. citizens who are established faculty, administrators, or professionals can engage in programs for periods of two to six weeks. Fulbright Specialists come from a wide range of disciplines and may work in higher education institutions in more than 150 eligible countries. We invite you to join us for this special online info session with IIE to learn more.

In commemoration of the 40-year anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, the Slavic Reference Service will be hosting a virtual roundtable discussion featuring three distinguished speakers to reflect on the tragedy and its lasting impact. The event will be held on Zoom at 11 a.m. Friday, April 24. To attend the roundtable, please register via the following form: 2026 Commemorating Chernobyl Roundtable Registration. Access details will be shared the week of the roundtable. Please direct any questions to the SRS at srscite@library.illinois.edu. We look forward to seeing you there!

Join three Quick Start Workshops this week (April 21 and 24) to learn how make your PDF documents and Excel spreadsheets accessible. Also covered this week is how to check your documents for accessibility. Additional workshops on various topics are available throughout the semester. Sign up and expand your accessibility skills!

Strengthen your students’ research skills and better connect course materials. In this session, the eLearning Librarian, Evie Cordell, will show how to integrate Library resources into Canvas so students can easily access key collections. You’ll explore ways to embed research tutorials, use the Library Resources Module, design custom Canvas modules, and assign the “Librarian” role to connect students with subject liaison librarians.

The next Online Student Services Watercooler Group meeting is at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 21, via Zoom. This month, we will have student panelists joining us to discuss their experiences in an online program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Join us for a 2-hour, hands-on workshop that introduces educators to human-centered design! You’ll work through a real challenge from your teaching, explore learner perspectives, and prototype a new idea alongside other educators. Leave with practical tools and one actionable shift you can bring back to your classroom. 

Are you interested in a study involving research that will lead to advances in screening for depression and anxiety? We seek participants who currently have depression and/or anxiety to participate in a study that will involve completing some electronic surveys and doing a recorded interview on Zoom. This study has been approved by the Peoria IRB (#1776905).

The Learning and Language Lab is inviting teenagers ages 14-17 to participate in an online experiment investigating teens’ reading behavior. The experiment will take up to 60 minutes to complete. Participation involves reading sentences on a screen and responding to survey questions. Everything can be completed online at home, and teens will receive $15 in Amazon credit as compensation. If your child is interested in participating, please reach out to our team contact at snk6@illinois.edu, and we can send you more information on how to get involved!

The Nutrition and Exercise Performance Research Group is seeking participants to participate in a 12-week exercise intervention study to investigate the effects of exercise on dietary protein in adults with type 2 diabetes. Participation in this study involves sampling blood, breath, and urine during two all-day trials. 12 weeks (2-3 times per week) of progressive resistance and aerobic training and periodic diet recalls. Upon completion, you will receive $1,000, information about your body composition, and caloric needs. Contact for more details.

The PLAY Lab is looking for children finishing preschool or kindergarten to participate in a year-long study. Participation involves attending five laboratory sessions over one year and completing some motor and cognitive tasks while various brain responses are recorded. Up to $100 in compensation. PLAY LAB-Department of Health and Kinesiology, Freer Hall | play-lab@illinois.edu; INTEREST FORM LINK!

What are we studying? How do different production methods affect what people are willing to pay for syrup? Must be at least 18 years old. One-time visit of no more than 30 minutes; includes tasting tree syrups. Compensation: receive $15 to participate in the willingness to pay study, where you may use some of that money to "purchase" a tree syrup.

We’re interested in media literacy and artificial intelligence among older adults. We’d like to understand your perceptions and use of media, technology, and AI if you are aged 65+ and retired. Please contact Michelle Nelson at nelsonmr@illinois.edu or 217-344-5068 if you’re interested in scheduling an in-person interview. $35 gift card is provided upon completion of the interview.

The Nutrition and Exercise Performance Research Group is recruiting recreationally active adults (19–40 years old) to participate in a 2-day study examining how food combinations affect muscle protein synthesis and whole-body protein utilization. Participation includes four free meals, resistance exercise, muscle biopsies, and blood, breath, and urine sampling across two lab visits. Participants who complete the study will receive $300 and information on body composition and caloric needs. Interested individuals may contact Calvin at (cw148@illinois.edu) to learn more and see if you qualify!

The Nutrition and Exercise Performance Research Group is looking for participants to partake in a 2-day study to establish the utility of the indicator amino acid oxidation method in adults. Participation in this study involves 2-day habituation lead in with all meals provided, muscle biopsies, and blood, breath, and urine sampling during two all-day trials. Upon completion, you will receive $150 and information about your body composition and caloric needs. Contact Gena (NEPRESEARCH@illinois.edu) for more information! Male participants are strongly encouraged!

The study is to understand and explore ways to design health information with older adults. The study procedures include reading health texts, completing surveys, and interacting with researchers to design health information. Adult older than 60 years old are welcome! The study will take two hours in iSchool building (614 E. Daniel St.) with a compensation of $35 in cash (parking fee included). Thank you very much.