This week the first steps towards "home rule" of the UI Research Park by the Urbana Campus (as opposed to the greater UI System) took place. This comes after plans for the Discovery Partners Institute emerged that included expanding the UI Research Park in addition to development of a Chicago campus. Initial UI Board of Trustees votes have also started to move that process along. From the News-Gazette last Tuesday:
UI's Urbana campus set to reassume control of Research ParkA lot more details at the full article here. There was also consideration of expanding the tobacco restrictions on campus. From last Thursday's News-Gazette:
Monday was a historic day for the University of Illinois Research Park, though people working there shouldn't notice much of a change.
The UI's Urbana campus will soon reassume control of the Research Park from the UI System, where it has been reporting since 2003.
"We're very delighted to re-assume responsibility for the vision and management of the Research Park," Urbana campus Chancellor Robert Jones said at Monday's meeting of the park's board. "This is a very, very exciting, historic day in the history of the University of Illinois."
The Research Park board will need to formally approve the change at its next meeting in February, and the move will also need approval from the UI Board of Trustees.
The UI Research Park was launched in 2000 as a project of the Urbana campus, but its scope was expanded to Chicago in 2003.
UI campus plans total tobacco ban in 2019More details, including some criticisms, at the full article here.
Starting next August, the campus no-smoking policy will be extended to include all smokeless tobacco products, from chewing tobacco to dissolvable tobacco "orbs" and strips.
Michele Guerra, director of the UI's Wellbeing Services Center, said it's a logical extension of the current smoke-free policy, which also bans "vaping," or the use of electronic cigarettes that emit nicotine vapor instead of smoke.
While the initial smoking ban resulted from a push by students, this time it comes from health experts and others on campus concerned about the risks of all forms of tobacco, Guerra said. It's been under consideration for almost a year...
Both Parkland College and Danville Area Community College are already tobacco free, as is the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Like the no-smoking policy, the tobacco ban would apply to students, faculty, other employees and visitors to campus, including fans at sporting events. It would cover all UI-owned property, indoors and outdoors, as well as private vehicles parked on campus property...
The campus will appoint a task force with faculty, students and staff members to work over the next 10 months to develop the "nuts and bolts" of the policy, examining best practices from other campuses. Campus Wellbeing Services will also conduct focus groups to get input from various constituencies and work with the task force to put together materials to answer questions or concerns, he said.
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