UIUC and Parkland Updates

 

On public safety and law enforcement issues on campus and in the area, see the Area Gun Violence Updates Cheat Sheet post on our County page. The UIPD's preparation for arriving students was also mentioned in coverage by WCIA.  

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:

The Daily Illini is reporting that there has been a tentative agreement with the University on the contracts for food and building workers on campus. The union's members are currently voting on whether or not to approve the agreement according to its website. The News-Gazette had additional coverage and details here as well as commentary piece from the union side here.

Last month the News-Gazette reported that the "University of Illinois System has pledged to hire 300 new faculty in the next three years." It included some Urbana-Champaign campus specifics:

Meanwhile, UIUC’s student-faculty ratio has climbed. In the fall, instructor-student ratio ticked up to 21 to 1, highest in the Big Ten, according to the universities’ Common Data Sets.

In fall 2011, the UIUC’s faculty-student ratio was 18 to 1. The Illinois budget impasse from July 2015 to August 2017 cost the UI system several hundred million dollars, and faculty hiring lagged. Back in the March 2019 UI trustees meeting, the UI System announced plans to hire 916 tenure-system faculty over the next five years, including 448 new positions. But that was put on hold once the pandemic hit.

Student applications for next fall are moving “steadily in a positive direction,” Killeen said, and officials anticipate enrollment being on par with last year. The Urbana campus received a record 47,593 freshman applications last year.

That full article here.

The News-Gazette also had coverage on the process of replacing the outgoing Provost:

The UI is seeking faculty nominations for the provost search committee that is advising Chancellor Robert Jones. Seven to eight faculty members will consult with Jones as he picks the successor for Andreas Cangellaris, four-year provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs...

After 25 years at the UI, Cangellaris is moving to northwestern Saudi Arabia, where he’ll begin his term as founding president of NEOM U: the flagship university of the country’s $500 billion developing megacity, Neom.

More at the full article here along with some preliminary updates on COVID guidelines. The interim provost was Bill Bernhard according to reporting earlier this month. Quick answers on "what is a provost" available from the Provost's Office website here.

More on COVID guideline updates from WCIA here. WCIA also had some recent campus COVID and Monkeypox updates. As of this article there were no student Monkeypox cases, although there is a high risk level with close quarters living and activities.

Other UIUC Updates:

• Some brief Board of Trustees meeting highlights from the News-Gazette's 7/22 "Meeting Minutes."
• Updates on new deans in the 7/8 "Meeting Minutes" and another article on the retirement of the law school dean of students here.
• The News-Gazette reported earlier this month that "a Pakistani politician and University of Illinois business instructor was arrested last week in his home country on charges of sedition." 
• The 9/22/2022 Board of Trustees meeting here will have information on the "new tenure and promotion process" according to the News-Gazette.
• The News-Gazette also had the UIUC Chancellor's updates on the Health Innovation and Visioning Committee.
• WCIA highlighted the new Illinois Neurodiversity Initiative Pilot Program. More news and links for that program from the University's website here.
• Parking meters will be removed from campus, according to WCIA, in favor of mobile apps and other alternatives.
• A former UIPD officer was sentenced for misconduct related to using police resources to track women he was interested in. The News-Gazette had coverage on that and other allegations of sexual assault earlier this month here.

Parkland College Updates:

The News-Gazette was reporting an increase in enrollment at Parkland after a previous decline last month:

At least part of an enrollment boost may be the result of more finely-tuned marketing Parkland has undertaken to reach prospective students with an interest in Parkland and to communicate better with those students, he said.

Parkland also this past spring continued a freeze on its tuition rate for the 2022-2023 school year starting with the summer semester, which may also have had some effect, according to Ramage.

On top of all that, a struggling economy tends to have a positive impact on enrollment, he said.

That full article here. 

Parkland also distanced itself from a referendum question the Urbana City Council had put on the upcoming ballot. More on that at the Urbana City Council cheat sheet post this month here.

More Parkland Updates:

• The News-Gazette had an interview with Parkland's President who will be retiring at the end of the year.
• WCIA has recently highlighted training and education programs in highway construction, electric vehicles / automotive, and aviation.
• WCCU featured Parkland College as it relates to new state legislation on mental health services on campus.
• More opposition to former Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney teaching community policing at Parkland college came from President Minnie Pearson of the local Champaign County branch of the NAACP. Recent defenses of Finney came from his wife in a letter to the editor and an interview with the News-Gazette's Jim Dey. There were protests against retaining Finney at Parkland earlier this summer. WCCU's coverage included a general response from Parkland after that protest here.

City of Champaign Summer Updates

Whether or not varsity football games may be played on McKinley Field  appeared to dominate the attention on local government this past month. A lot of the controversy stems from the fact that during the referendum to "keep Central central," promises were made to the neighborhood that the improvements to Central High School wouldn't include such events. The News-Gazette had a lengthy overview of the situation here and some of the arguments being made here.

Gun Violence

There were also some important updates on gun violence and efforts to reduce the problem locally. In the 8/12/2022 News-Gazette "Meeting Minutes" feature, there were updates on new City hires in the Department of Equity and Engagement as well as an update on local gun violence statistics from the Champaign Police Department (subscription eEdition).

More updates on local gun violence can be found with the monthly Champaign County Community Coalition meeting (latest Police Chief Updates just after the 28 minute mark in the video here, with CPD updates leading them off). The News-Gazette covered the topic of unruly late night gatherings raised in the update here. The News-Gazette had an overview of the July meeting updates here, that got into the details of the recent decreases in gun violence from the high spikes in recent years.

The News-Gazette had a detailed overview of their new Equity and Engagement Department here. WCIA had some updates on the organizations working together locally to reduce gun violence here. CU-CitizenAccess also had an overview of the City's gun violence reduction blueprint here. They also had a breakdown of the impact of gun violence especially on African American youth.

The University of Illinois Police Department is taking over some of the patrol duties in the Champaign areas of campus town to help alleviate the stress on the CPD's staffing shortage. Illinois Newsroom had more details about that agreement here. Excerpt:

Faced with a shortage of officers, the city of Champaign will pay $840,000 per year to the U of I  for the patrol services. 

U of I Assistant Police Chief Tim Hetrick said the new patrols will operate from Neil Street to the city’s eastern border at Wright Street, and south from Springfield Avenue to Windsor Road. He said two officers will be on duty for each shift...

The Champaign City Council voted last April to approve an intergovernmental agreement with the university to provide the patrol services for two years (with an option for a third).

WCIA also had additional coverage of the agencies assisting Champaign with downtown police coverage. More updates on gun violence and policing will be at this link on the Champaign County Cheat Sheet soon.

Homeless Shelter

There were City of Township updates on a year-round and less restrictive homeless shelter. The News-Gazette's "Meeting Minutes" feature on Friday 8/19/2022 had details of the approved plan, location, costs, and potential timeline. The paper had additional articles on some community opposition here and earlier proposal details here. Smile Politely had an editorial in support here. WCIA had a blurb on the Council voting to approve the measure here.

More

Back in July there was an update on some of the City Council drama as the News-Gazette reported the return of councilwoman Alicia Beck to City Council meetings after an extended absence. From their 7/29 "Meeting Minutes" reporting:

Beck said her extended absence was due to having to attend to “some personal family issues” related to her dad’s death earlier this year and she appreciated those who checked in on her.

Beck didn’t respond to multiple inquiries from The News-Gazette during her time away, which included five council meetings. Nor, apparently, did she read a July 13 story in which councilman Tom Bruno called the subject “kind of an awkward interpersonal hot potato.”

That full article here, which also highlighted the planned increase in traffic code enforcement in the area. There was additional criticism and coverage the following week in the 8/5 "Meeting Minutes" feature on the same issues.

Council member Beck denied following local news coverage and claimed she was going to donate half of her annual City Council member stipend in lieu of the absences. The long absence occurred after she admonished a victim of gun violence who made public comments at a City Council meeting. Given the News-Gazette's coverage and amplification of the public outcry before the municipal elections, I leave it to the reader to decide if she was just avoiding reporters questions. A previous Cheat Sheet post got into the context, details, and coverage of that incident.

WCIA also had some coverage of the meeting here and Beck's return to meetings here. 

Other July Updates:

• Champaign Public Library board meeting and re-elected board officers. From the News-Gazette eEdition here. The meeting documents are here, with the Directors Report being a good place to start for a general overview of Library updates.
• The Champaign Park District's Martens Center opening has been delayed.
• WCIA had coverage on the approval of a new building in downtown Champaign.

Other August Updates:

• That same "Meeting Minutes" feature had coverage of the City of Champaign City Council meeting that week, including approval for funding of the Champaign County African American Heritage Trail project.
• There were updates on the City Council's approval of honorary street signs for Bishop King James Underwood and Dawson Banks Sr. (click the names for additional information from previous News-Gazette articles). A brief overview was in the eEdition "Meeting Minutes on 8/12 here.
• This week's "Meeting Minutes" feature highlighted additional funding for 40 North (local arts) and the Mayor's experience with a CPD ride-along.

 

UIUC Updates

The News-Gazette had some of the latest updates on COVID protocols on campus:

On the University of Illinois campus, you couldn’t have scripted a better day to partially lift the state’s indoor mask mandate.

The weather had bounced to a crisp 50 degrees, and a couple days previous, there was a welcome COVID-19 testing landmark: 0 new cases of the virus detected on campus for the first time in four months...

The UI campus is easing into this new shift in the pandemic. While plenty of K-12 school districts, like Champaign, went mask-optional this week, the UI is keeping face coverings required in its classrooms...

Masks are still required in health care facilities, like McKinley Health Center, campus counseling services and COVID-19 testing sites. Transportation areas like C-U Mass Transit District bus stops and Willard Airport are federally obligated to require masks.

That full article here. The University has its latest guidelines, including its guidelines on returning from spring break here.

This past month saw a lot of coverage of antisemitic messages and response from the campus and community. From WCIA last month:

Illini Hillel is responding to reports of anti-Semitic flyers placed across campus Sunday.

Executive Director Erez Cohen said dozens of students found bags with hateful messages Sunday. Some of those students are concerned for their safety...

“I think it’s important to know regardless of this intimidation tactic, our Jewish community is very strong and very welcoming,” Cohen said. “And if there’s anyone that is curious about what Jewish history is all about – what Jewish culture is all about – we would always welcome people at Hillel.”

That full article here. More response coverage from local Jewish students is available here from WCCU. More coverage from the News-Gazette here and here. WCIA also had a portion of the Chancellor's response here:

These messages are offensive, outrageous and they represent unacceptable attacks on members of our Jewish community. They are antithetical to our university values of inclusion and tolerance, and they are another disheartening example of the kind of anti-Semitic acts and expressions that are too common in our nation and right here in the community where we all live, learn and work… Sneaking around and delivering hateful, hurtful and racist messages in little plastic sandwich bags filled with gravel is a cowardly and craven way to spew hate and division in our community.

The full email is available here from the UIUC massmail system. The incident and the police investigation into it made news in regional and national news (e.g. this blurb in the Chicago Tribune and another in US News, also via the Associated Press).

WCIA also reported Illinois lawmakers speaking out against the messages and the Chancellor warning of increasing antisemitism:

The Anti-Defamation League reported antisemitic incidents increased in the Midwest by 84% between 2016 and 2020...

“What you see playing out in Urbana-Champaign, in Chicago, is kind of a microcosm of what’s going on across this nation of ours in this climate of intolerance where it just seems to be growing exponentially,” [U of I Chancellor Robert Jones] said.

The Anti-Defamation League notes college campuses are hotbeds for antisemitism because hatemongers are skilled in using academic language to express bigoted ideas to intellectually curious students.

That full article here.

The University's Chancellor has been highlighted in the news and interviews in the last month. The most detailed might be his interview with WGN that goes into his personal history, background, and what drives him to make the University equitable. Excerpt:

Jones’ high school was still segregated. Fort Valley is a historically black college. As a postgraduate, he experienced a defining part of his life. 

“Blatant issues and challenges around race. I won’t get into any details, but it was one of the most challenging periods of my academic career and I had to say to myself that I’m not going to let anybody define my future,” Jones said. 

That future took shape with its first step toward administration and away from science after becoming tenured at Minnesota as a research professor. 

That full article with video clip here. Illinois newsroom had an interview with Chancellor Jones earlier in February (with audio segment links) here.

Tom Kacich had coverage of UI President Tim Killeen's presentation on University enrollment and other topics a couple weeks back in the News-Gazette. Excerpts:

Killeen, Jones and other UI execs last week had their annual appearance before the House committee that oversees the UI appropriation — held remotely instead of in a crowded room in the Stratton Building across from the State Capitol — and it lacked some of the drama of past hearings...

In particular, Killeen asked for more money for student mental-health services, more faculty members and increased student aid...

There was a particular focus last week on the UI’s dismal numbers in attracting African American students. Last fall, there were 3,833 Black students on campus, just 6.8 percent of total enrollment. That was far less than the 17.6 percent of students who identified as Asian or the 11.2 percent who identified as Hispanic.

That full article here.

Updates on the University related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine:

• The University is working with students affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The News-Gazette had coverage of their efforts here. 
• The college of medicine is organizing relief efforts, according to their website.
• There was a rally in support of Ukraine by students and others on campus. The Department of Slavic Languages & Literatures had a brief summary and links to local news coverage here. More from WCIA here.

Other University Updates:

• Student elections coverage from WPGU (audio segment) here. The Daily Illini had some recent criticisms and shared some campus perspectives on Illinois Student Government here.
• Three faculty members in engineering were recognized by the National Academy of Engineering according to Illinois Newsroom.
• The University's new emergency management director was highlighted in the News-Gazette with a lot of information on his background here.
• Background on the new interim dean of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine here at UIUC from the News-Gazette.
• More on the new permanent dean of the Carle medical school coming in May, also from the News-Gazette.
• The last charges were dismissed against Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, who initially was in the news due to a University sexual harassment case, but then got involved in a number of bizarre incidents over data.
• In an article missed in last month's UIUC update on the Cheat Sheet, there was an apology and some reconciliation between some of the campus Jewish community and an athlete who had apologized over slurs during a recorded video gaming session.
• A local University professor participated in the television gameshow Jeopardy. That blurb from WCIA. The Daily Illini had more here.
• At the state level, the governor is supporting increases to financial aid such as the MAP grant, according to Illinois Newsroom. Our local State representative made an appearance with the governor locally at an event on the subject.

UIUC Updates

 

This post includes some recent updates from last month's U of I Trustees meeting, pandemic updates, winter storm updates, and more. WCIA had an overview of the latest U of I Trustees meeting here, with updates afterward. Excerpt:

University of Illinois trustees at their main meeting Thursday gave final approval to tuition, fee, and housing rates for the 2022-2023 school year.

Trustees heard comments from Interim Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs Avijit Ghosh, repeating much of what he told a committee meeting Wednesday about why the hike is necessary...

U of I President Tim Killeen at Wednesday’s meeting said the decision came after “extensive conversations” and was “not taken lightly” by top school officials. Trustees did not shoot down the proposal on Wednesday, but some urged the administration to continue to explore financial aid opportunities.

That full article here with links to the proposed tuition, fee and housing rates. WCIA also had an additional blurb on the U of I trustees' approval for the library renovations. Excerpt:

The Undergraduate Library will be completely gutted soon. They’ll start construction to turn it into a new facility. The archives, special collections, and rare books will be moved there.

Some of the university’s oldest documents need to be stored in climate-controlled rooms. so the updated building will help preserve them and open up new teaching spaces...

The main library on campus will also be redesigned. The money will primarily come from donors, endowments, and a deferred maintenance fund.

Full blurb with video segment here. There was a similar blurb by WCIA here.

The Daily Illini had coverage of the University's recommendation and distribution of KN95 and N95 masks with the new Omicron variant:

The University began handing out one N95 mask per person for free at the start of the spring semester. 

These masks are being recommended and provided now because the Omicron variant is more infectious and N95’s are available...

The masks were reserved for the health care system, but now they are available to everyone. 

That full article here. University staff were also in the news over their vocal concerns about pandemic safety measures with University guests and students. More on that from Illinois Newsroom here.

Illinois Newsroom had an overview of the mental health access issues on campus, including shortages of mental health workers. Excerpt:

Despite a growing need for mental health services in the community, the director of the Counseling Center at the University of Illinois says the resources remain underfunded and understaffed.

The University offers numerous services for mental health and counseling, but many students have complained that they’re ineffective and inaccessible, and with the rise of COVID-19 the Counseling Center has been left with not enough licensed counselors to match the needs of the students on campus. 

[Director Carla McCowan] hopes to hire more counselors to help meet the demand from students. According to the International Accreditation of Counseling Services, the nationally accepted ratio of students to counselors is 1,000-1,500:1, excluding trainees and interns, in order to best meet needs.

That full article is available here with a lot of additional information.

Other University news:

• WCIA had coverage on the passing of former UIUC dean Clarence Shelley.
• The recent severe winter weather caused classes to go remote again according to the Daily Illini. More recent Cheat Sheet winter weather updates here.
• The Illinois Student Government condemned a recent visit by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to campus on the first day of Black History Month, put together by college Republicans. From the Daily Illini.

Winter Weather News

There were numerous closings and cancellations in the area. More information on recent closings from Illinois Newsroom here. For the latest local weather updates during this storm, check out the WCIA Winter Storm LIVE Blog or the Champaign County Emergency Management Agency twitter feed.

The severe weather also caused the University of Illinois to move to remote classes. From the Daily Illini:

The National Weather Service issued a notice that Champaign County will experience a winter storm with winds of up to 35 mph and an expected total snowpack of 5 to 15 inches from 9 p.m. Wednesday to 6 p.m Thursday. 

While the University will not be closed and classes will not be canceled, the University will shift classes and essential services online from Wednesday through Friday due to the snowstorm.

“Our goal is to reduce the number of people on the campus to allow limited staff to provide essential support services to our students and to let F&S safely clear sidewalks, streets and parking lots,”said Chancellor Robert Jones in a Massmail.

That full article here. More recent University updates on the Cheat Sheet here.

C-U at Home is adjusting its One Winter Night event for the recent severe winter weather according to WCIA:

Despite the winter weather, C-U at Home is still having its One Winter Night event on Friday, but with changes.

The event is a homeless simulation and sleeping outside in cold temperatures is a reality of our friends without an address, which is why C-U at Home will be continuing with their event. 

With heavy snowfall on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by extremely cold temperatures on Friday and Saturday, the downtown area will be limited to the parking lot north of The Venue CU, which will serve as the event headquarters. C-U at Home said this adjustment will allow them to check on participants more often and give participants better access to warming and the night’s other activities.

Full article here.

During this current storm there was an expansion of warming center hours. CU at Home had also temporarily expanded its warming center hours due to colder temperatures a couple weeks ago as well.

The addition of low barrier shelter service was also in the news this past month. From WCIA:

Advocates for people without an address in Champaign-Urbana hoped the launch of low-barrier shelters this week will allow officials to hone-in on how to best serve people who are struggling and aren’t quite ready to make a change.

C-U at Home and five other local agencies (City of Champaign, the City of Urbana, Cunningham Township, the Champaign County Board, and the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission) have chipped in time and money to establish the shelters – one for men and one for women – at New Covenant Fellowship Church and First Presbyterian Church in Downtown Champaign. The churches will serve up to 25 men and 10 women.

The “low-barrier” moniker means people cannot use drugs or alcohol on-site. However, they will not be turned away if they are dealing with something like alcohol or drug abuse or a mental health problem. C-U at Home earlier had problems with that group causing problems at its main shelter on East Washington Street, leading to the need for this new church-based project.

That full article here.

University Updates

This post just has a few University of Illinois related news items. Some quick updates, right off the bat:

• The University will be having online courses during the first week of this Spring semester according to WCIA. More information at the COVID updates post this week.
• The University Police announced that the campus "Safe Walks" program will be available over winter break. Other safety tips.

UIUC Chancellor Robert Jones' "State of the University" speech last month highlighted the school's pandemic strategy heading into the new year. The address also touched on local gun violence and addressing issues with inequality. From Illinois Newsroom:

Last year, everyone on campus was required to test for the virus twice a week. Now, with vaccines available, Jones said they’re testing students, faculty and staff on a targeted basis.

“If there’s more than a couple of cases in a day or two or three cases in a week, we do what we call targeted surveillance testing where everybody in that facility does have to test every other day. And that, according to our public health officials, combined with our very high level of vaccination, is the best mitigation step to take at the moment,” Jones said.

Around 94 percent of the University of Illinois students and staff are fully vaccinated. That’s compared to 74 percent of people 18 and over statewide.

Full article here. Text of the address here, video link here (jump to link on COVID section of the address here). More on the University's collaboration with Champaign-Urbana on gun violence from the News-Gazette here.

The famous Blue Waters supercomputer is being decommissioned and replaced with newer technology. Tom Kacich got some answers on what comes next for the supercomputer and its home in a Tom's Mailbag column last month:

"Most of the hardware will be recycled as there are few systems of this age still in operation," said Dina Meek, assistant director of marketing and communications at NCSA. "We are at that point now, with Blue Waters not being a cost-effective option for the university. Although Blue Waters is a uniquely well-designed, productive, general purpose, and high-capacity machine, supercomputing technology has evolved.

"NCSA and UIUC will continue to develop new computing technologies that take advantage of advances in computing algorithms, hardware and software. These large-scale projects require collaboration with federal funding agencies, and industry and academic partners; we will continue to pursue such opportunities."

She said that the National Petascale Computing Facility at 1725 S. Oak St., Champaign, will continue to house other NCSA systems, "and we are considering additional options to house computing and data resources. We plan to upgrade the building’s infrastructure with more efficient power and cooling for the machine room, modernizing the facility to keep pace with current trends."

Full Mailbag article here. WCIA had brief coverage of the Blue Waters shut down here.

During a visit by the U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm, she highlighted the potential for UIUC to become one of four hydrogen energy hubs under recent infrastructure plans. From Illinois Newsroom.

[Director of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Kevin O’Brien] is helping other researchers at the University of Illinois connect with companies interested in joining the potential Midwestern Hydrogen Hub. Engineering professor Petros Sofronis, who also directs the International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research, is one of the people leading the planning for the hub.

If the University of Illinois does succeed in creating the Midwestern Hydrogen Hub and winning federal support, it would mean roughly $2 billion for the region over the next four years.

Full article here.

Local College Updates

 

 

This post mainly has updates related to the University of Illinois governance this month. The UI Trustees were in the news regarding the budget. WCIA had an overview:

The University of Illinois Board of Trustees announced Thursday that it approved a plan to allocate more money to help students and faculty at all three U of I campuses in the state.

The board approved a request for more than $683 million in operating funds for the fiscal year 2023, which is 10 percent higher than the current year’s budget. The request is the first step in the annual budget process and will be submitted for consideration by the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the governor and the Illinois General Assembly...

The budget request also includes more than $673 million in capital funds that would pay for new buildings and renovations while also addressing deferred maintenance at the three system universities.

That full blurb here. A detailed look at the budget request from the Trustees meeting is available here. The Daily Illini had a recent overview of funding, salaries, and tuition issues with the University's budget here. Previous University news release and overview on the budget is available here.

The News-Gazette had an extensive and detailed look at the renovations coming to the former Undergraduate Library and the future plans for library space on campus here. Excerpt:

The last time the library checked in with staff and students, designs were still in the conceptual stage: the university was still exploring if all the elements would fit into the Undergrad Library space, Teper said.

Now the question isn’t an if, but how the collections will fit into the space and what the layout will look like aesthetically.

Officials have formulated preliminary plans on where the library’s student services and study locations will be distributed across campus by fall of 2022.

Full article here. The latest UIUC library news blurb is here with links to a page for updates here.

WCIA also had coverage on a local "student patrol" on campus hiring:

The Division of Public Safety at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is seeking to fill multiple positions on its Student Patrol unit.

Officials said the unit is made up of students who are interested in serving the campus community and keeping their peers safe.

According to officials, Student Patrol Officers will engage in several critical community safety services on campus, including SafeWalks, which provides free walking safety escorts to students who need to travel on campus at night.

More information and links at that full blurb here.

More local College and government related updates:

UIUC:

• The Old Feed Mill building was demolished. From WCIA.
• There was a protest last month for higher wages for University service workers covered by Illinois Newsroom.
• UIUC is not currently requiring proof of a booster shot for vaccine requirements according to WCIA.
• The Beckman Institute is looking for volunteers for a brain study with MRI scans. More at Smile Politely here.

Parkland:

• The Illinois Community College Board highlighted the need for its tech worker apprenticeship program. From WCCU.

Local Health Updates

This post covers availability of the COVID vaccine for children and other recent local health news. A recent uptick of COVID cases on campus is covered under the Campus News post on the local Cheat Sheet here.

COVID vaccines for children are becoming available locally. From the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District's facebook post on the subject:

Pfizer COVID-19 Vaccine Is Now Available for Children

Community vaccination clinics available by appointment for children aged 5-11

CHAMPAIGN, IL – The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District (CUPHD), in partnership with Carle Health, OSF HealthCare, Christie Clinic, Promise Healthcare, and the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign, are organizing community clinics for va Pfizer COVID-19 cunation for children aged 5-11 years.

According to a press release from the US Food and Drug Administration. U.S. (FDA), “In the USA. U.S. , COVID-19 cases in children aged 5 to 11 make up 39% of cases in people under 18 years old. According to the CDC, approximately 8,300 cases of COVID-19 in children aged 5 to 11 resulted in hospitalization. As of October 17, there have been 691 COVID-19 deaths reported in the U.S. U.S. in people under the age of 18, with 146 deaths in the age group of 5-11 years.

The Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for children aged 5 to 11 years old is administered as a two-dose series, 3 weeks apart, but is a lower dose (10 micrograms) than that used for people aged 12 or older. (30 micrograms).

iHotel & Conference Center – 111 St. Mary’s Road, Champaign

• No walk ins allowed; schedule online at: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B054CA8A82CA5F94-511

• Friday, November 5 from 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

• Saturday, November 6 from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Kohl’s Plaza – 1901 N. Market Street, Champaign

• Appointments will be available soon via MyCarle and Carle.org

 Carle community vaccination clinics will feature many of the care providers in the Carle Pediatric and Family Medicine areas or are especially trained to administer the vaccine to children.

• Starting this Saturday, weekends of November:

Saturdays, 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.

o Domingos, 8:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

• Vaccine appointments will be available at primary medical care locations at a later date.

...

OSF HealthCare:

• Appointments will be available at all primary medical care offices and can be scheduled via osfhealthcare.org/vaccine

 .

Pharmacies:

• Visit www.vaccinefinder.org

 for appointments available at local pharmacies.

Keep in mind that additional vaccination options may be available through the child's school(a).

You can find additional information about COVID-19 vaccines at: https://www.c-uphd.org/covid-vaccinations.html

Smile Politely had a quick list for vaccine for children here. More from the News-Gazette this week on the health department, schools, and others offering the vaccine:

Carle Health is also offering vaccine appointments for kids from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays and 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sundays this weekend and every weekend next month at its location at Kohl’s Plaza, 1901 N. Market St., C. Those can be made through the MyCarle patient portal and at Carle.org.

Carle’s clinic will be staffed by pediatric and family-medicine providers trained to administer vaccines to children. It will also be offering appointments to get kids vaccinated at primary-care locations at a later date.

OSF HealthCare is also offering vaccine appointments through primary-care offices at osfhealthcare.org/vaccine.

More at that full article here. Illinois Newsroom had an article previewing the children's vaccine news earlier in October here.

Illinois Newsroom had coverage of absences during the pandemic with links to the latest State "report cards" that allows folks to look up individual schools and district information. Excerpt:

Learning did slow last year during pandemic school – especially for the state’s most vulnerable students...

“We need to recognize that for our Black and Hispanic children, remote learning was not very effective, particularly for English learners. When they are in their community environment, or they’re in their home, they may or may not be utilizing English as much as they would have if they were in a school setting,” says State Superintendent of Education Carmen Ayala.

English and math proficiency rates did decrease across all grade levels for Illinois students as a whole, according to preliminary testing data from the spring.

The differences between 2019 and 2021 were starkest among young English learners. For third through fifth grade English learners, sometimes half as many students were at grade level as before the pandemic.

Full article here. The State's annual report card website link is here.

Carle is splitting from Aetna's Medicare insurance coverage. From Illinois Newsroom:

Medicare is a federal insurance program for those ages 65 and up or who have certain disabilities. Many Medicare recipients choose to supplement with private insurance, like Aetna, to cover prescription drugs or lower their out-of-pocket cost.

[Bridget McGill, an Urbana resident,] received a letter in the mail from Aetna about two weeks ago informing her that the company’s Medicare Advantage will no longer be accepted at Carle Foundation Hospital. This means that the hospital will go out of the company’s network and her costs for hospital and doctor’s visits will go up.

That full article here. Carle was also in the news for its collaboration with the University on cognitive research with new MRI technology. More on that from the Daily Illini here.

Champaign City Council and Gun Violence Programs

There is no Champaign City Council meeting this week due to it falling on election day for the Consolidated Primary Election. Early voting has already begun (News-Gazette coverage, County Clerk early voting information) and there is more candidate information on the Cheat Sheet here.

Last week's Champaign City Council meeting (agenda, video) included a Study Session (report, video) focused on local programs attempting to address gun violence and the equity issues in Champaign neighborhoods. WCIA had an overview of the meeting afterward:

City and community leaders met Tuesday night to address a rise in gun violence in Champaign.

Officials reported in 2020, there were 189 confirmed shooting incidents, up from 100 in 2019. There were 57 shooting victims in 2020, compared to 34 in 2019. There were 9 gun-related homicides in 2020, up from 2 in 2019.

The cities of Decatur, Peoria and Urbana also shared their shooting data with Champaign. All of them also saw an increase in shootings and shooting victims.

That full article here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage the next day:

In addition to various efforts with community organizations, [Community Relations Manager Tracy Parsons] said the Community Coalition has also partnered with the Community Data Clinic at the University of Illinois to collect data and evaluate the various initiatives in place...

“Whatever we’re doing, we need to be doing something else, because it’s not working,” said council member Clarissa Fourman, who suggested a gunshot-detection system and encouraged more engagement with the First Followers prisoner re-entry program and more community-developed programs. “We need something new.”

That full article here. The full Study Session report is available here and goes into detail about local responses to gun violence, beginning with a brief summary on the first page going through recent years. On pages 3-5 there is breakdown of local gun violence data and comparisons. Following that is a deep dive into current programs, updates, and work going forward. There was a correction on one graph in the Study Session report versus the presentation given at the Study Session. The "Confirmed Shooting Incidents" were higher in Peoria (Council Member confirmed this in the Q&A time with the Deputy Chief). Here is the corrected graph from the presentation: 

Meeting Writeups:

The regular City Council meeting (agenda, video) began on time. The Council Bills on the agenda were all quickly approved and without controversy. Public participation included a University student proposing game day liquor changes to encourage tailgating and alcoholic beverages at Grange Grove. He proposed setting age limits at the bars from 19 to 21 for those days. He also suggested offsetting bar owner concerns by allowing space for them to serve drinks at Grange Grove as well. The Mayor is also the City's liquor commissioner. Council member Fourman encouraged her to look into the proposal towards the end of the meeting.

Other public comments raised concerns about continued water shutoffs in the area and wanting action from the city to put an end to it. Two other comments revolved around police reform. One highlighting the intimidation and attacks suffered by reformers relative to the safety of speaking out in support of police. Anthony Tassone of pitched a pilot police reform program with his company GreenKey and Amazon for body camera analysis that would also help offset some costs.

There was general support for all the hard work that went into clearing snow by city staff with some extra praise from MTD relayed by the Mayor. The City Manager noted that next Tuesday is an election day and there will not be a City Council meeting scheduled.

Study Session:

Tracy Parsons, a Community Relations Manager for the City of Champaign and also the facilitator for the Champaign County Community Coalition led the presentation on local gun violence and community response along with Champaign Police Deputy Chief Matthew Henson and Mary Catherine Roberson, a City Community Relations Specialist (report, video). As noted earlier in this post, there was a correction on one of the graphs from the report in the video presentation itself (confirmed in the Q&A section).

Discussions noted the difficulty in addressing gun violence, especially watching the increase locally and across cities in Illinois and the country again. There were many technical questions about what we can truly know about a shooting, from the suspected shooter(s) or why the shooting happened in Champaign as opposed to somewhere else. Council members Brix, Kyles and Fourman encouraged more collaboration with First Followers.

Jamar Brown introduced himself during the public comments as the new chair of the Countywide Coordinating Committee. He has been part of the CU Fresh Start program to interrupt gun violence locally. He pointed to a need from community members for a commitment of time, manpower and energy to deal with these problems.

Local activist Haki Shabbazz (who sometimes also introduces himself as Drake Materre) chastised the City Council for failing to listen to community members and activists that have been pushing to dismantle structural racism. He raised concerns about adding investment and manpower into a system of policing and surveillance that he believes only ensures the disparities in our system.

Mike Emery, Law Enforcement Coordinator for the US Attorney in Central Illinois praised the Community Coalition and its adaptability in programs and in comparison to his work across the State and in other counties. 

Local municipal candidates also made public comments. Rita Conerly, on the Democratic ballot for the Supervisor's race in the current primary election talked about her experience and work in Garden Hills. She raised concerns about the way policing is done by outsiders to the neighborhood and called for more radical and intentional changes. She also called for the Council to be more inclusive of radical voices and voices of the impacted communities.

Of all the Council Comments, Council Member Clarissa Nickerson Fourman were the most direct and urgent. She explained how she lives in the middle of these gun incidents. She hears the gun shots and her constituents call her from the floor during shootings. She called for more dramatic action, gunshot detection systems, and the end of gatekeeping important voices out of the discussion and collaboration.

The Council gave unanimous direction to the city staff to continue supporting the Community Coalition and its programs on gun violence.

UIUC Updates

This post covers numerous recent news items and updates on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign related to policy and government. There's a separate Cheat Sheet post on recent news and updates on the University of Illinois Police Department and public safety here.

At the recent Board of Trustees meeting, a tuition freeze was approved. From Smile Politely:

The Board of Trustees announced last week they would be freezing tuition rates for incoming in-state freshmen and non-resident undergraduates for the 2021-22 academic year...

The board also approved small increases in room and board fees.

Full blurb here. Full news release from the Board of Trustees meeting here. President Tim Killeen reiterated the need for additional aid last week, noting that the pandemic may end up costing the University system half of a billion dollars altogether:

Killeen and other university presidents in Illinois sent a letter last week to federal legislators seeking more aid as a new COVID-19 relief package is being debated...

In the first relief bill passed in March, the UI got about $66 million, about half of which went to emergency financial aid for students.

In the second bill passed in December, the UI got about $95 million, with a third of that going to emergency financial aid, Killeen said.

Full article at the News-Gazette here. Presidents of other universities have also joined in calls asking for debt relief.

There were a couple updates on renewable energy on campus. The new solar farm on campus is up and running. From the News-Gazette last week:

The new 20,000-megawatt-hour solar farm at the northwest corner of First Street and Curtis Road went online last week...

In addition to the 7,000 megawatt hours generated by the first solar farm on Windsor Road, the new one will help the UI meet the 25,000-megawatt-hour goal set in its Climate Action Plan.

Solar Farm 2.0 features “bifacial” panels, which take in energy from both sides and rotate with the sun to maximize output.

Full article here. Tom's Mailbag also had some additional information on the embedded solar panels on the new Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building on campus and answered other questions on the University's various renewable energy projects here.

There were some updates on future education opportunities to prisoners. From WCIA:

Federal financial aid to prisoners has been restored. The U.S. Department of Education now has until 2023 to reinstate Pell Grant access to people who are incarcerated.

The grants were previously banned in 1994. Pell grants are typically awarded to low-income undergraduate students.

“We would like to see a lot more universities and colleges across the state, both public and private involved in providing higher education in prison, and Pell Grants can make that much more feasible for those institutions,” UIUC Criminal Justice Rebecca Ginsburg said.

Full blurb here. Illinois Newsroom had more coverage on the issue nationwide here. The pandemic is still limiting UIUC's education outreach to incarcerated individuals. From the Education Justice Project main page: 

We have suspended programming at Danville Correctional Center, and all events and activities on campus and in the community. The suspensions are indefinite, but will almost certainly be in place throughout 2020. Please stay posted.

EJP students completed the Spring 2020 semester via correspondence. They received grades, course credit, and “good time” credit as normal. We plan to offer correspondence courses again in Spring 2021.

In a recent Cheat Sheet update on local libraries, we highlighted a couple events with UC Books to Prisoners as well.

WAND had coverage of a recent winter firefighting training event at the University's Illinois Fire Service Institute:

The 26th Annual Winter Fire Training Event brought in first responders from around the Midwest to better their skills. Most of the participants are Volunteer Firefighters from smaller counties...

First responders take in classroom courses throughout the event and then apply that knowledge into their hands-on training. Classes such as saving a family from a burning home or forcing their way inside a locked door. "They can utilize their skills and hone their skills in that environment the same environment that they'll respond to, in their community,” [Director, Tom Shubert] says...

Each year, IFSI trains over 60 thousand first responders. In 2020, the number dropped to 52 thousand because of COVID-19. But IFSI is hoping the numbers increase in 2021. 

Full article here.

There was also some new doppler weather equipment for . From WCIA:

Some students at the U of I will now have the opportunity for hands-on field training. The Department of Atmospheric Sciences is getting a multi-million dollar mobile radar.

The Doppler on Wheels will allow students to collect data on rain and wind systems. The doppler is basically a radar on a truck. This then allows students to research tornadoes, hurricanes, and winter weather.

The contract also comes with three other vehicles, which includes three weather balloon launch systems and several other features.

Full article from WCIA here. Additional coverage from the News-Gazette yesterday here.

The University's plan to handle Native American imagery released last December was discussed in the local Smile Politely editorial section:

Nevertheless, it’s important that the U of I has a blueprint, even a flawed one, to move toward that more inclusive future. Though some of the components of this report genuinely induce eye-rolls, there are plenty of promising proposed changes. You can find a link to the entire report here. There are many points of discussion in the document, but we’ve narrowed down three main ideas worth highlighting below.

More at the editorial here. Full University Native American imagery implementation plan here.

UIUC Public Safety and UIPD Updates

[UPDATE: An additional news item from today honoring a former officer with the CSSO and UIPD  via WAND:

University of Illinois police honored an officer's memory Friday after his death. 

Officer Anthony Carpenter, 59, served with the Champaign County Sheriff's Office and U of I police for 26 years in total, according to an obituary posted in The News-Gazette. He passed away suddenly on Feb. 7 at his home. 

Full article here. 

There have been numerous public safety related news items and updates for the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the last few weeks. This post covers updates on the University police department, university police reform demands (locally and nationally), some various legal issues and efforts to combat cyberstalking and pandemic party violations. 

The University of Illinois Police Department received one of the top accreditations for a police department. From WCIA:

The accreditation means that the department has reached top industry standards. The Tier Two accreditation comes from the Illinois Law Enforcement Accreditation Program.

A committee reviews 180 pieces of criteria. This includes four areas: administration, training, operations, and personnel. Professional assessors are brought in to monitor them. U of I police chief Alice Cary says the process takes months...

The department was awarded a plaque for their accomplishment. This is their third time receiving this since 2012. They were actually the first university police department in the state to do so.

Full blurb and video segment here. WAND had additional coverage and information here. The UIPD was also in the news over staffing changes and an Illinois Newsroom series on university police departments and the current push for police reforms. 

• Part 1: A Debate Over Defunding The Campus Police Takes Root At The University Of Illinois
• Part 2: Finding Common Ground Between Abolitionists And U Of I Campus Police
• Panel Discussion: Campus Safety and the Role of the Police at the University of Illinois

There is a lot of additional information, audio segments, and data available at both links. WICS had coverage on the UIPD's new crisis outreach coordinator and related programs:

During her time at the U of I, [University of Illinois Police Chief Alice Cary] has introduced several different services under C.O.A.S.T., including a Behavioral Health Unit called R.E.A.C.H., which stands for Response, Evaluation, And Crisis Help.

They've hired a mental health specialist to team up with officers to assist with mental health calls.

"The officers go and defuse the situation with the social worker to assess the situation for that individual and be the conduit so to speak to get the individual the right care," Cary said.

Megan Cambron is the new crisis outreach coordinator going to those calls, and Tuesday was her first day in the office.

Full article here. More on C.O.A.S.T. and R.E.A.C.H. at the UIPD website here. The News-Gazette had additional coverage on the program and on therapy dogs working for the department and how they can assist in mental health crisis situations here.

There was also some local news coverage on UIUC's "party patrols" to help limit pandemic guidance violations as students returned to campus. From WCIA:

The University of Illinois is re-instating their Party Patrol for the spring semester. Student officers and campus police will focus on shutting down parties overstepping Covid-19 guidelines.

The Party Patrol waits for a noise complaint or party tip. Then student patrol officers are sent as the first warning.

Patrick Wade with the university says usually that’s enough, but in some cases, if the party host doesn’t shut down the party, then the police will come to break it up. The party thrower can then get three different tickets.

Full article here. With the pandemic and the overall dwindling of the Unofficial St. Patrick's Day celebration in previous years, officials are currently not expecting much activity relative to previous years. The News-Gazette had coverage and the reasons for those predictions here.

The ongoing cases related to accusations against a former University Professor Joseph Petry have had updates. The University failed to stop Petry's lawsuit against them:

Petry filed a lawsuit in June in the Illinois Court of Claims accusing the UI of violating his resignation agreement, in which he agreed to step down and the UI agreed to stop investigating him.

But after he resigned, the UI hired a lawyer to complete a confidential investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct against Petry.

That full article here. There was also more strange developments relating to the accuser that has been enveloped in her own legal issues and drama:

A former University of Illinois student at the heart of a dismissed sexual-harassment complaint against a former professor has been criminally charged with filing false police reports related to separate incidents involving a former boyfriend.

The charges against Sundas “Sunny” Naqvi, 23, of Skokie were filed in mid-December, just a couple of weeks after Judge Roger Webber acquitted her of intimidation and aggravated unlawful restraint involving the same former boyfriend, who had been investigated by police based on her accusations...

“I would say it’s very, very clear there’s a lot of lying, criminality, obfuscation and digging deeper and deeper into a hole,” Champaign Detective David Monahan said at Farrell’s sentencing hearing in December...

Farrell was sentenced in two different cases to three months in jail and 30 months of probation for intimidation and criminal damage to property, which he admitted committing against two of Naqvi’s ex-boyfriends.

That full article here. It's difficult to excerpt and capture how fully bizarre the situation is.

The University also received a grant for responding to sexual misconduct issues. From The Daily Illini:

A grant awarded to the University’s Women’s Resources Center will be used to create a campus response team for sexual misconduct and to focus on cyberstalking, a growing concern of the COVID-19 pandemic...

The funding will be used to support the center in hiring a leader for this project for the next three years. The person hired will establish the University’s first Community Coordinated Response Team against sexual misconduct, composed of a number of strategic partners both on and off campus, Colomé said. 

Some of these services and respondents include the Women’s Resources Center, Carle Foundation Hospital, Title IX coordinators, and law enforcement, if the victim chooses to involve them. Colomé said this will allow respondents to have an increased knowledge as to which services are available to survivors. 

Full article here.