Back-To-School Round-Up

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Welcome back, everyone! Your first Weekly Round-Up of the semester contains reminders about important dates and deadlines, links to resources, and an overview of our advising protocols. Remember that we use this as a virtual notice board and will be posting information about all kinds of opportunities and events as the semester goes on, so be sure to read it regularly!

Important Dates and Deadlines

ICT/Curriculum Changes: August 19 to September 6
Deadline to Cancel Registration if Stopping Out in FA24: Sunday, August 25
First Day of Classes: Monday, August 26
LAS Career Services Open House: Thursday, August 29
Labor Day Holiday: Monday, September 2
ESA Welcome Event: Wednesday, September 4
Deadline to Add a Full-Semester Course: Monday, September 9

If you have yet to register for classes and need help, please let us know. You can call the office at 217-333-4346 to schedule an appointment. Make sure you’re using both Course Explorer (to browse available courses) and the Course Planning Page (for resources to help you navigate major requirements, including the FA24 Cheat Sheet).

Students in certain cohorts (new students, students on academic probation, re-entering students) are required to touch base with an advisor before Monday, September 9. Look out for individual emails regarding this requirement, and be sure to follow the instructions in that email to avoid having an advising hold placed on your account later on.

As always, see our advising website for contact information and instructions for scheduling appointments.

If you are expecting to graduate at the end of this semester, remember to add yourself to the degree list. You can do this online in Self Service, and must do so no later than September 9 (but preferably as soon as possible, to give the records office time to do an official degree audit and let you know if you’re missing anything in your spring schedule).

Events for New and Continuing Students

Connect with English Student Association (ESA) at one or more of the following events. The Welcome Event on September 4th is a great opportunity for continuing students to welcome our new English and creative writing majors and we hope to see many of you there!

LAS Career Services Open House

Thursday, August 29
Greg Hall, Room 105
1:00 – 4:00 pm

Swing by to chat with the LAS Career Services team! All are welcome, so bring a friend or two and enjoy special giveaways, useful resources, snacks, and coffee.

Help Us Reward Excellent Teaching

If you took an English department course last year with an instructor you found to be especially skilled, knowledgeable, inspiring, and/or responsive to your needs as a student, please nominate them for an English department teaching award.

You can nominate any professor, lecturer, or instructor who has taught any English department course (BTW, CW, ENGL, RHET) on any topic. You can nominate more than one person. All you have to do is fill out the online form available here.

We rely heavily on student nominations in selecting candidates for these awards, so thanks in advance for taking the time to help us out.

ATLAS Internships (Deadline Extended)

Applied Technologies for Learning in the Arts & Sciences (aka ATLAS) is still seeking student interns for Fall 2024, and they are particularly interested in finding students for the communications internships, positions for which ENGL and CW majors are particularly well suited! Note that although the application form asks about existing technical skills, NO special technical background is required for these internships, and you are welcome to apply as a tech novice who is seeking to gain experience.

If you’re interested, please apply by August 30 (an extension of the original deadline). Find out more and access the internship application at: https://atlas.illinois.edu/students/atlas-internship-program.

Student Assistantship in the Library

The Illinois History and Lincoln Collections (IHLC), a unit of the Special Collections Division in the Main Library, is hiring for an undergraduate assistant position to start in fall 2024. The IHLC is a small unit in the library, and undergraduate assistants play a vital role in supporting unit operations and making collection materials available for research. Those conducting research with the library and archives materials include students looking for primary sources, genealogists investigating family history, scholars in various fields, and community members and professionals researching people, the land, architecture, and more.

Click here to find out more about the position and how to apply. Even though the description says that geography majors will be given preference, the IHLC reached out to us specifically because they have hired English department students in the past and are eager to do so in the future, so it’s definitely worth checking out this opportunity!

Volunteer Opportunity

The Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative (INI) is looking for students to mentor and learn from their neurodivergent peers. Undergraduate students from all majors will connect INI students with organizations/clubs and build social networks on campus and train to be inclusive peers. Mentors must be available 6:30-7:30pm on Wednesday evenings during the Fall ’24 semester as well as have time for an additional 1-hour meeting per week. Applications can be found at: https://go.illinois.edu/INIFall2024MentorApp or by using the QR code below.

Join the Skeuomorphics!

The Skeuomorph Press and Book Lab is housed in the FabLab, where they have a variety of resources relating to the history and art of the book (think letterpress printing, book binding, zine making, risograph, typewriters, word processing, and early home computing). The associated student organization, Skeuomorphics, is headed by one of our own English majors, Aaron Mukhopadhyay! For more info or to get involved, email skeuomorph-press@illinois.edu.

Join GLOBE in FA24 & Make Friends!

GLOBE, sponsored by International Education (Student Affairs) stands for Global Leaders Orange and Blue Engagement. The goal of GLOBE is to provide opportunities for all students to enhance intercultural communication skills, leadership experience, and build lifelong friendships. This program is open to all current students and can be repeated multiple times.

You will want to participate if you:

Are a student at U of I (domestic or international)
Have a sincere interest in sharing your culture and building relationships
Have an interest in getting involved in campus life
Want to develop intercultural communication and leadership skills

More information found here: https://go.illinois.edu/GLOBE
Submit your interest via this link: https://go.illinois.edu/GLOBEInterestForm

Undergraduate Research Workshops

Check these workshops (including one specifically for new incoming students). Click here to find out more and to register (space is limited)!

Planning Your Research Journey
Designed specifically for incoming freshman students (and first-year transfer students), this session introduces students to the research enterprise at the University of Illinois. We aim to: address any concerns students may have about getting involved in research; explore potential research interests and how those interests align with research happening on campus; and help develop a timeline and actionable steps for both short-term and long-term goals to advance their research journey.

Getting Started in Research Workshop
This workshop will introduce students to the various forms of undergraduate research available on our campus. It will guide them in developing a plan of action to locate research opportunities and provide strategies for contacting faculty research mentors. Students will leave with a clearer understanding of undergraduate research, increased confidence in reaching out to faculty, and a list of potential mentors.

OUR is hiring!

The Office of Undergraduate Research is hiring a Social Media & Communications Intern, and you might be just the person for the job! Click the link above to learn more about the primary responsibilities and desired qualifications.

This intern will be responsible for crafting engaging textual and visual content to enhance OUR’s online communication efforts. The Social Media and Communications Intern will work, on average, 10 hours per week. This position will start in Fall 2024 and will be extended into Spring 2025 based on performance and availability of funding. This is a paid internship at $16.00/hour for undergraduate students. Federal Work Study designation is preferred. For questions about Federal Work-Study status, please contact Financial Aid.

Applications must be submitted by 5:00 p.m. on August 29, 2024 to https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/290260595

Incomplete applications will not be considered. Any questions should be addressed to ugresearch@illinois.edu.

A Message from the Provost’s Office

Dear Students,

Are you looking for opportunities to get involved and work together with peers and campus leadership to strengthen our community? If so, we have the perfect opportunity for you!

The Office of the Provost is now accepting applications for appointment to the 2024-2025 Student Success Undergraduate Advisory Board.

The board is a group of diverse undergraduate students who volunteer to serve as advisors to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs & Provost and Student Success @ Illinois. They aim to accurately portray the current realities of the undergraduate experience by articulating the highlights and challenges of being a student at the university. As representatives of the undergraduate population at Illinois, their objective is to convey what could make a successful undergraduate student experience.

The application can be accessed here: https://publish.illinois.edu/studentsuccessboard/apply/.

If you’re selected to participate as a Board member, appointments will be for one full academic year. All applications are due Friday, September 6, 2024, at 11:59 PM CDT.

We hope you will consider applying because your voice is a critical part of the work that we do to ensure your success while at Illinois and beyond graduation!

For Pre-Health Students

Yes, pre-med (and pre-nursing, pre-dental, pre-pharmacy, etc.) students can major in English or creative writing! If this describes you, it pays to connect with the folks in Health Professions Advising!

Courses of Interest

The following IS courses would be great electives for any student interested in library and information science. The I-School reached out to us specifically to let us know that there were seats available and that they thought these might be of interest to our majors, so we know you’ll be welcome!

IS 236: User Research & Evaluation – This course will teach students about user research and evaluation. They will learn to apply various user research methods, gather and understand user requirements and needs for a wide range of user populations, especially those that are under-served (e.g., children, older adults, people with disabilities), conduct user evaluations of prototypes and interactive systems, and communicate effectively about the research insights and make actionable design suggestions.

IS 309: Computers and Culture – This course explores cultural ideas about computers, including hopes and fears about the effects of computers on our lives. We will analyze images of computers in fiction and movies. The course will also discuss hackers, online subcultures, and other computer-related subcultures, and the integration of computers into various cultural practices. The course will also explore the different uses of digital media.

IS 381: Literacies for Youth – An overview of youth literacies covering: popular literacy myths, censorship, cognitive processes behind reading, visual and digital literacies, contemporary youth practices, government policies, and literacy education in schools. Course readings include fictional works and scholarship from the fields of education, library science, history, media studies, critical race studies, and literary and cultural studies. Students learn the history of marginalized youth in America in order to understand how literacies are defined, promoted, or stigmatized today.

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If you’ve ever taken (or thought about taking) one of the EPSY 203 courses (Social Issues Group Dialogues) you might also be interested in this course, which is open to students in all majors and at all levels):

PSYC 496: Introduction to Facilitating Intergroup Dialogue Processes
This course is designed to give students a general overview of the skills and knowledge needed to facilitate culturally diverse group interactions. Students will explore the impact of gender, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, disability and physical appearance on group dynamics and relationships. This course is open to undergraduate students.

Business Opportunities Open to All

New Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Academy exists to create a community of Mexican-American/Latino students where they feel supported and empowered to reach their full potential. The program seeks to inspire future generations of Latino leaders who are prepared to make significant contributions to the community and to provide additional professional support for Mexican and Mexican–American/Latino students.

The program is scheduled to run from September 4th to November 20th, 2024, from 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm. Sessions will be held in person at the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, located at 614 E Daniel St., Third Floor, Champaign, IL 61820, and will also be available remotely via Zoom for University of Illinois Springfield students. Click the link above to find out more.