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Online programs administered by Academic Outreach in the Office of Continuing Education were omitted from a story in the Jan. 17 edition of “Inside Illinois” on new online labor studies courses launched this spring by the university’s Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations. Online math courses for UI undergraduates have been available since 1991 through the mathematics department’s NetMath program and the university’s Guided Individual Study, which has offered online courses on subjects ranging from history and literature to psychology and political science for more than a decade.

Strategic Plan is a road map toward NCA accreditation

The Urbana campus is preparing for its next accreditation review in 2009, and the goals in Chancellor Richard Herman’s Strategic Plan for the Urbana campus are providing the basis for the comprehensive self-evaluation that is the foundational component of the accreditation process. Full story

U.S. economy teetering, but could still avert recession, UI experts say

The U.S. economy is sputtering amid a lingering housing slump and growing jitters on Wall Street, but whether a recession lies ahead is still anyone’s guess, a trio of UI economic experts say. Full story

New kind of transistor radios show capability of nanotube technology

Carbon nanotubes have a sound future in the electronics industry, say researchers who built the world’s first all-nanotube transistor radios to prove it. Full story

New process makes nanofibers in complex shapes and unlimited lengths

The continuous fabrication of complex, three-dimensional nanoscale structures and the ability to grow individual nanowires of unlimited length are now possible with a process developed by researchers at the University of Illinois. Full story

Team finds an economical way to boost the vitamin A content of maize

A team of plant geneticists and crop scientists has pioneered an economical approach to the selective breeding of maize that can boost levels of provitamin A, the precursors that are converted to vitamin A upon consumption. This innovation could help to enhance the nutritional status of millions of people in the developing world. Full story

UI librarian launches comprehensive Web database of field guides

Journeying to Johannesburg to survey bat colonies? To Kenya to count monkeys? No worries, there’s a field guide for you, in fact, an entire digital database. Diane Schmidt, the biology librarian at the UI LIbrary, has built and launched the most complete database of field guides to date. Full story

Herons persist in Chicago wetlands despite exposure to banned chemicals

Herons nesting in the wetlands of southeast Chicago are still being exposed to chemicals banned in the U.S. in the 1970s, a research team reports. The chemicals do not appear to be affecting the birds’ reproductive success, however. Full story

Harvest time

Giant miscanthus, a hybrid perennial grass that is being studied as a potential source of biofuels, is harvested on the 12-acre research plot on the South Farms. Larger photo

Global Campus, campus projects discussed by trustees

The UI Board of Trustees approved extending in-state Global Campus tuition rates to any UI graduates who contribute to the UI Alumni Association. Full story

Ikenberry’s long service recognized with ‘living legacy’

A student housing area and new dining hall will be named after former university president Stanley O. Ikenberry in recognition of Ikenberry’s years of service to the UI. Full story

Faculty retreat aims to enhance teaching and learning

More than 250 faculty members and instructors met at the Illini Union on Jan. 31 for the 14th annual Faculty Retreat, titled “Using the Science of Instruction to Foster Learning.” The annual retreats aim to help participants become more knowledgeable about enhancing teaching and learning by sharing techniques and information and by inspiring new initiatives among teachers on campus. Full story

Units, campus develop, fine-tune emergency plans

The Office of Campus Emergency Planning is requesting that facility managers from units across the Urbana campus collaborate with the office in developing and testing unit-level and campuswide emergency preparedness plans. Full story

National study: UI ranks high for young professors

The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) surveyed almost 7,000 junior faculty members – those who have not yet received tenure – across the nation and found that the UI is one of the best at rolling out the red – or orange, perhaps – carpet for its professors. In several categories, junior faculty members at the UI ranked among the most satisfied in the country. Full story

New UI advisory council focusing on international issues

Although the university may, on the surface, appear isolated by its geographical location – and feel even more so when February snows keep people in place – it’s no secret that the UI’s reach extends far beyond the borders of the campus. In recent years, “internationalization” has become a major goal for many universities, Illinois notwithstanding. Full story

NIH funds new center for reproduction and infertility research at Illinois

The Advisory Council of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has approved funding to support a Center for Reproduction and Infertility Research at the UI. The center will support research aimed at expanding the science underlying the success or failure of human reproduction with the goal of improving human reproductive health. Full story

brief notes Report seeks to focus lawmakers on issues…IPRH Film series continues ‘Rupture’ theme…‘Community as Classroom’ exhibit … New season of ‘Prairie Fire’ announced … Citizen Police Academy teaches about law enforcement … Symposium focuses on grad education … Authors to discuss work Feb. 7, March 3 …UPS hosts informational meeting and open house … Small animal clinic offers dental exams … African films to be shown during festival … Annual insect film festival is Feb. 23 … Education lecture series begins Feb. 29 … Female artists work featured at I Space … WGGP offers multidisciplinary Award Opportunities … Costello leads off Carr Reading Series … UI Library’s hidden treasures highlighted … Friday Forum series continues … Know Your University lecture series … Monticello chocolate festival is Feb. 8-10 …More

book corner

Translation of book about gay life in Europe goes into second printing

Within only a few months of its release in English, a university press’s exposé of the hidden “queer world” of Europe in the 1920s is going into a second printing. Full story

Academic Human Resources maintains listings for academic professional and faculty positions

Prospective employees also may subscribe to the academic jobs listserve (look under Career Information) and receive e-mail notification of open positions.

Staff Human Resources maintains listings for staff openings.

deaths

James “Jim” Edward Bahls, 84, died Jan. 29 at the Country Health Nursing Home in Gifford. He was an instrument maker for the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from 1958 until his retirement in 1986. Memorials: Immanuel Lutheran Church.

Fredric “Rick” Leaworth Barbour II, 65, died Jan. 22. He was director of the Executive Development Center at the UI for four years until he resigned in 1993. Memorials: Malawi Shallow Well Fund, c/o First Presbyterian Church, 302 W. Church St., Champaign, IL 61820.

Gale Anthony Fella, 72, died Jan. 27. Fella was a sanitarian and instructor in health science at the UI for six years before resigning in 1970.

Norma J. Frick, 84, died Jan. 19 at Provena Covenant Medical Center in Urbana. She was employed at the College of Engineering and retired in 1980. Memorials: Sidney United Church of Christ, 501 E. Main St., Sidney, IL 61877.

Ralph J. Johnson II, 77, died Oct. 1. He taught radio and television courses in the College of Communications from 1972 to 1976, when he resigned.

Patrick A. Lewis, 39, died Jan. 26 at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. He was a project manager at the UI since 2007. Memorials: Juvenile Diabetes Association, American Cancer Society or an education fund for the Lewis children in care of the Catlin Bank.

William Walter Munter, 95, died Jan. 24 at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana. He had worked for 31 years as a building service worker for housing and retired in 1978. Memorials: Champaign County Nursing Home.

Reginald Scott Tillman, 49, died Jan. 12 at Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana. He was an attendant learner at Assembly Hall and resigned in 2007.

Frances O. Van Duyne, 95, died Jan. 12 at the Claremont Care Center, Point Pleasant, N.J. Van Duyne taught in the UI’s College of Agriculture (now the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences) for 38 years, retiring in 1978. In 1958, she was appointed to serve as the head of the Foods and Nutrition Division in the college, a position she held until her retirement. Memorials: UI Foundation, 1305 W. Green St., Urbana, MC-386, in memory of Van Duyne for the department of food science and human nutrition.

Lorraine Wilson Bays Weber, 90, died Jan. 17 at the Champaign County Nursing Home in Urbana. She was the original director of the Audio Center in the UI Undergraduate Library, retiring in 1981. Memorials: Provena Covenant Hospice, 1501 Interstate Drive, Suite C, Champaign, IL 61822; Friends of WILL, Campbell Hall for Public Telecommunication, 300 N. Goodwin Ave., Champaign, MC-252; or Friends of the Urbana Free Library, 210 W. Green St., Urbana, IL 61801.

George G. Woods Jr., 84, died Jan. 26 at his Champaign home. He retired in 1978 from the UI Physical Plant (now Facilities and Services), where he was a refrigeration and air conditioning mechanic. Memorials: Grace United Methodist Church, 2004 Philo Road, Urbana, IL 61802 or Carle Hospice, 206A W. Anthony Drive, Champaign, IL 61822.

death archives