UIUC Plans and Updates

There has been a lot of information on the future of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus lately. The recent UI Trustees meeting had updates on tuition increases, programs, staffing, etc covered in a recent Cheat Sheet post here. But since then the University presented its master plan to the Urbana City Council and the Chancellor had his State of the University address.

Other news updates below (jump to link) include ongoing litigation by Yingying Zhang's family, a free tax help course for low income and elderly members of the community, and an update on international enrollment numbers. Latest updates on local preparations to the Wuhan coronavirus here.

The presentation of the U of I Campus Master Plan (related to land use and planning) to the City of Urbana is available here on the City of Urbana's website. The 2017 Campus Master Plan information is available here and more information on planning with the University is available at the Facilities and Services website here. A student senate document here helps explain the master planning process and what it is.

There was a recent update in the Daily Illini about ongoing MCORE improvements here. There's also a more broad University strategic plan, "The Next 150," available here.

The Chancellor's "State of the University" address had an overview by Illinois Newsroom last week:

In his annual “State of the University” address Friday, University of Illinois Chancellor Robert Jones applauded the Illinois government for a recent revenue increase, discussed campus strategies to recruit and retain top-notch faculty and announced new efforts to increase outreach to the local community.

Jones also explained what U of I officials are doing to address the Urbana campus’ most critical challenges, which include handling of sexual misconduct cases, creating a campus climate of tolerance, dialogue and open expression, and addressing the issue of Chief Illiniwek–the campus mascot retired more than a decade ago that continues to be a “point of contention” among students and alumni.

That full article here. The Daily Illini had a more comprehensive breakdown here.


Other UIUC News:

The latest update on the Zhang family's litigation against the University over their potential liability after the murder of Yingying Zhang by a former University graduate student. From this morning's News-Gazette:

After a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by the estate of Yingying Zhang against two social workers at the University of Illinois Counseling Center, her family is trying again in state court...

The family of the slain visiting Chinese scholar had argued that the social workers should have done more when Brendt Christensen, who was later convicted of murdering Ms. Zhang, told them three months before her death about his fascination with serial killers and that he’d purchased and returned items to move and dispose of a body. But U.S. Judge Colin S. Bruce ruled last month that Ms. Zhang’s death “was simply too remote a consequence of Defendants’ alleged actions to hold them responsible under the federal civil rights law.”

More at that full article at the News-Gazette eEdition here (subscription). Previously a judge had dismissed the family's federal lawsuit. More on that at the News-Gazette from December here.


A free tax help program will be available to some members of the community from UIUC students this tax season. From WCCU yesterday:

The students are currently enrolled in a 6-week course to prepare them to file taxes.

Then, They'll be running a free tax help program for low-income residents and the elderly...

The students will be preparing taxes from February 18th through April 9th.

That full article with video segment here.


On international enrollment, the News-Gazette highlighted data from a recent report comparing the University to national trends:

Freshman international enrollment at the University of Illinois has been trending downward since 2015, though it held steady this fall at 569 students.

But the UI rose a spot, to No. 5, among American universities for total international enrollment in the latest “Open Doors” report from the Institute for International Education, commissioned by the U.S. State Department...

The UI was tops among U.S. public universities with 13,497 international students, up just slightly from 13,445 in 2017-18. Arizona State, which had been in the No. 5 spot, saw its enrollment drop to 13,324, from 13,459 in 2017-18.

More at the full article at the News-Gazette eEdition here (subscription).