Recipients of Lynn & Student Activism awards announced

In a ceremony held April 25 on campus, Jan Droegkamp was presented with the Ninth Annual Naomi B. Lynn Award for Outstanding Contributions to Women at UIS and Leslie Rossman received the Second Annual Student Award in Recognition for Positive Contributions in Gendered Issues to the UIS Campus Community through Activism.

The Lynn Award is made by the UIS Women's Center Council; the Student Activism Award is presented by the Women's Issues Caucus. Read more>>

Faculty member receives grant to study community radio

Jim Grubbs, associate professor of Communication at UIS, has received a research grant from the National Association of Broadcasters, one of only six awarded nationally this year in NAB's Grants for Research in Broadcasting program. Grubbs will conduct a study of why some small, rural-market radio stations succeed while others do not. Read more>>

Lincoln scholar will address UIS' 35th commencement ceremony

Internationally renowned Lincoln scholar and historian Phillip Shaw Paludan will deliver the Distinguished Scholar Address at UIS commencement ceremonies, which will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 13, at the Prairie Capital Convention Center in downtown Springfield.

Paludan, one of the nation's foremost authorities on Lincoln and the Civil War, is Professor of History and Naomi B. Lynn Distinguished Chair of Lincoln Studies at UIS. Read more>>

Sherry Hutson receives third annual CAPE Award at UIS

Sherry Hutson, web developer in the Chancellor’s Office, is the recipient of the third annual Chancellor’s Academic Professional Excellence Award at UIS, presented at a reception held April 18 in the PAC restaurant.

Materials nominating Hutson for the award noted, in part, "her role is critical in ensuring that the campus can both recruit students and carry out its administrative functions." Read more>>

UIS team lobbies for women’s issues at Model United Nations

UIS students lobbied for women’s issues at the national Model United Nations simulation, held in New York City during the week of April 10. The UIS delegation participated as representatives of the Women’s Environment and Development Organization, an international non-governmental organization that works to influence UN policymaking and promotes women as elected officials.

The annual event is the largest college UN simulation in the country. This is the 10th straight year that UIS has fielded a delegation at the competition. Read more>>

UIS hosts events for Disability Awareness Week

UIS will host a number of activities April 24 through 28 in observance of Disability Awareness Week. Events range from workshops on American Sign Language to a wheelchair basketball game, an exhibition rugby game, an adaptive dance workshop, and a session on job-search strategies. All events will be held on the UIS campus and are free and open to the public. All facilities are fully accessible to the mobility-impaired. Some events require advance reservations.

See the schedule of events>>

"UIS Cares" will focus on Washington Middle School

The UIS Office of Student Volunteers, Service, and Civic Engagement will sponsor the fourth annual “UIS Cares” event on Saturday, April 29. This year UIS will again partner with Washington Middle School, 2300 E. Jackson, to work on landscaping projects on the school grounds. Volunteers are still needed. Read more>>

UIS online collaborative project is among IBHE “effective practices”

“Achieving Diversity through Online Inter-Institutional Collaboration,” an online teaching partnership between UIS, Chicago State University, and Northeastern Illinois University, is one of the “effective practices” chosen by the Illinois Board of Higher Education to be highlighted on its website in April.

Under this collaboration, member institutions offer joint courses that allow students in separate classes to share discussions or work on projects together using online learning tools. The goal is to provide access to a broader diversity of views and perspectives than would ordinarily be possible in traditional classes at any one campus. Read more>>

Music groups to present Spring Showcase Concert

UIS music groups will present their annual Spring Showcase Concert at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 28, in the PAC Studio Theatre.

The concert will feature the UIS Band, Chorus, Chamber Orchestra, and World Percussion Ensemble in a program that ranges from Beethoven and Bach to the UIS Fight Song. All proceeds benefit the UIS Music Student Merit Award. Read more>>

Media Advisory: Earth Day speaker Dr. Sandra Steingraber

UIS will celebrate Earth Day with a presentation by Dr. Sandra Steingraber called “Contaminated without Consent: How Chemical Pollutants in Air, Food, and Water Violate Human Rights.” Steingraber, an ecologist and cancer survivor, is the author of Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment.

7:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 19, in Brookens Auditorium Read more>>

Sen. Durbin to discuss federal financial aid cuts with students

U.S. Senator Dick Durbin will hold a town hall meeting with students at UIS to discuss impending cuts to federal student financial aid. The senator will also discuss legislation he recently introduced that would make college more affordable for students and parents.

11:30 a.m., Monday, April 17, Lincoln Residence Hall. Read more>>

UIS to present discussion on “Healing Partnerships”

The Women’s Issues Caucus at UIS will host a brownbag lunch discussion on “Healing Partnerships: Men and Women Challenging Rape Culture and Ending Rape” beginning at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 26, in PAC conference room D.

Featured speaker Ross Wantland is a gender-based violence prevention educator and coordinator of sexual assault education at UIUC. Wantland will lead a discussion on a number of topics, including how college students of both sexes can become involved in ending sexual violence. Read more>>

Visual Arts Gallery to present “Reactions”

“Reactions” an exhibit of works by six graduating seniors in the Visual Arts program, will be on display at the UIS Visual Arts Gallery from April 27 through May 13. An opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 27, in the gallery.

Students whose work is represented in this exhibit are Leah Anderson, Amanda Bennett, Evan Lamb, Kyle Otte, Charlotte Smith, and Lesia Stone. Media and styles range from old ceramic and print processes to innovative digital video; the common element that ties this varied display together is human reaction. Read more>>

“Ceiling Zero” showcases works by senior art students

“Ceiling Zero,” an exhibition of work by seniors in the Visual Arts program, will be on display from April 27 to May 13 in the Lincoln Residence Hall Great Room. An opening reception will be held from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 27.

The exhibit includes painting, sculpture, and graphic design by James Cockroft, Prudence Edwards, Gary Hinkle, Rich Kohlrus, Valerie Lehman, and Doug Robbins. Read more>>

Earth Day observance includes discussion of local food systems

An examination of sustainable local food systems will be part of the activities hosted by UIS in observance of Earth Day 2006. The two-part presentation will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 20, in Brookens Auditorium.

The program will begin with a screening of the movie “The True Cost of Food” by the Sierra Club Sustainable Consumption Committee. A panel discussion on food policy, the local food system, and the status of organic farming in Illinois will follow. Read more>>

Student artwork showcased in downtown exhibit

Artwork in a variety of media by students in UIS' Visual Arts program will be on display from 6 to 9 p.m. on Thursday, April 20, at the Quality Inn & Suites - State House, located at 101 East Adams, Springfield. Read more>>

BOT approves tuition hike; UIS remains among most affordable

While tuition will increase at UIS this fall, the price of attending the university will remain among the lowest when compared to the other public universities in the state.

The U of I Board of Trustees voted April 11 to increase tuition by $1,005 for new in-state undergraduates entering UIS this fall to a total of $5,580 a year. This rate will be guaranteed for four years under the state-mandated guaranteed tuition plan.

UIS Chancellor Ringeisen said revenue from the tuition increase will restore state funding and tuition to 2002 levels, allowing the university to begin turning the corner on strengthening academic quality after four years of budget cuts and level funding. Read more>>

UIS to hold annual Alternative Prom

The Queer-Straight Alliance at UIS will host its third annual Alternative Prom from 8 p.m. to midnight on Friday, April 14, on the stage at Sangamon Auditorium.

Alcohol-free and open to all lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, and questioning youth and their allies in the area, the Alternative Prom is an opportunity for LGBTQ youth to have a good time with friends in a safe environment. Read more>>

UIS Innocence Project to host advance screening of documentary

"Facing Life: The Retrial of Evan Zimmerman," a new documentary that will premiere Monday, June 5, on A&E, will have a special advance screening Tuesday, April 25, at UIS. Hosted by UIS' Downstate Illinois Innocence Project, the screening will be at 6:30 p.m. in University Hall, room 2008. A discussion with the filmmakers will follow.

"Facing Life" documents Zimmerman's decision to face the possibility of life in prison rather than accept an offer of freedom that would falsely brand him as a murderer. Read more>>

UIS women’s tennis schedules first annual alumni match

The women’s tennis team at UIS will hold its first annual alumni match on Friday, April 21, at the campus tennis courts. The event will pit past SSU/UIS tennis players against the current UIS team. All past members of a Sangamon State University or UIS women’s tennis team are invited to play. Read more>>

UIS to host annual Verbal Arts Festival

UIS' 2006 Verbal Arts Festival, scheduled for April 19 through 21, will feature events ranging from readings of original works to an address and an "arts night."

A keynote address by Marcellus Leonard, UIS associate professor of English, will open the festival at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, in the Visual Arts Gallery. On Thursday, April 20, the release of the 2006 Alchemist Review, the campus' literary magazine, will be celebrated with a reading and reception beginning at 7 p.m. in the Housing Commons Building. Friday, April 21, is "Arts Night" at UIS, sponsored by the U of I Alumni Association at UIS and featuring paintings, theater, and a buffet dinner. Read more>>

UIS Center for Entrepreneurship accepting applications for grants

The Center for Entrepreneurship at UIS currently has available, and is accepting applications for, nine $5,000 matching grants that will be awarded by June 15 to innovative small businesses in the area. Any existing or proposed business venture from the Springfield area can participate in the UIS Grants and Awards program. Each $5,000 award requires a $5,000 match from the applicant.

The Center is part of the Innovate Illinois Project offered through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and works in collaboration with EntreNET, a network of organizations and individuals in greater Springfield designed to form a seamless program of opportunity for entrepreneurs. Read more>>

UIS biology student wins prestigious fellowship

Sara Paver, third-year Capital Scholar majoring in Biology, has been selected as a 2006 Undergraduate Research Fellow by the American Society for Microbiology.

The ASM fellowship is a competitive program aimed at students who intend to pursue graduate careers in microbiology. Fellows receive a stipend to conduct full-time research at their home institutions during the summer and present the results at the ASM General Meeting the following year.

Paver's research will be a study of how nutrients are regenerated by bacteria in lakes. Her faculty mentor, Dr. Michael Lemke, associate professor of Biology, explained that the work will help foster a better understanding of ecology, nutrients, and the role of bacteria in the environment. Read more>>

UIS to hold annual Technology Day

UIS' annual Technology Day, on Friday, April 14, will focus this year on “Teaching in the Digital Domain: UIS Moving Beyond the Boundaries.” All activities will be held on the second floor of University Hall.

The symposium will begin at 9:30 a.m. in UHB 2034 with a keynote address by Margaret Maag, assistant professor of nursing at the University of San Francisco, who will speak on “M-Learning Technology: Mobile and Multimedia Modalities for All Learners.” Maag’s presentation will also be available via live webcast.

Following the keynote address, some 20 presentations and poster sessions will focus on interesting and innovative ways that the campus is using technology for teaching and scholarship. Read more>>

Criminal justice honor society inducts four

Induction ceremonies for four new members of the Epsilon Chi Chapter of Alpha Phi Sigma, the national criminal justice honor society, will be held at 6 p.m. Sunday, April 23, in the Public Affairs Center restaurant at UIS. The ceremony will also honor 16 members who are graduating this academic year.

Alpha Phi Sigma is the only national honor society for criminal justice majors and recognizes academic excellence. Read more>>

Four students receive Outstanding AST awards

Four undergraduate students at UIS – Amy Ballinger-Cole, Lori Harrison, Diana Meister, and Tammie Williams – have received Outstanding AST Awards from the Applied Study Program. To be nominated, students must demonstrate excellence in several areas. A total of 15 students were nominated this spring.

Ballinger-Cole, a Liberal Studies major, worked on the publication of an electric cooperative. Harrison, an Accountancy major, worked at a small home appliance store in Decatur. Meister, a Management major at the Peoria campus, arranged an internship at her current workplace that involved creating an orientation document for new employees. Williams, also a Management major at Peoria, developed an AST focused on developing managerial skills in light of a recent promotion. Read more>>

Faculty member receives appointment to American Museum of Natural History

Michael Lemke, UIS associate professor of Biology, has received an appointment as Research Associate at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. The appointment affords him the academic status of a researcher-in-residence at the museum.

Lemke spent part of last spring and summer at AMNH while on sabbatical leave from UIS. A colleague noted that during this earlier stay Lemke was recognized as a valuable asset to the museum's new focus on microbiology. Read more>>

Faculty member's poetry receives formal review

Nancy Genevieve Perkins, UIS associate professor of English, is one of seven “contemporary female Midwestern poets of place” profiled in a collection of essays that appears in the recently released Midwestern Miscellany XXXII.

“Fighting the Darkness: The Poetry of Nancy Genevieve,” by Loren Logsdon, is a formal review of Perkins' first two books of poetry – NYX: Mother of Light and NYX: Daughter of Chaos. Read more>>

UIS alumni to host “Pathways to Dynamic Careers”

The Alumni Council of UIS' College of Education and Human Services will sponsor “Pathways to Dynamic Careers” from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Monday, April 24, in Sangamon Auditorium lobby.

The event is designed to provide information to those considering a career in education or human services, as well as to assist current students with career decisions. Alumni and others in the community may also use the program as an opportunity to network and learn more about ways to use their degrees. Read more>>

WUIS to air new arts programs, documentary series

Public Radio WUIS-WIPA will add two arts-related programs -- Close Up and The Word -- to its weekly line-up starting April 25. In May the station will broadcast Crossing East, an eight-part documentary on the history of Asian-American immigration. Read more>>