UIS student to serve as the Student Representative on the Illinois Board of Higher Education

Mackenzi Matthews of Springfield, a senior political science major at the University of Illinois Springfield, has been chosen to serve as the Student Representative on the Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) for the 2020-2021 academic year.

Matthews was elected by her peers, after having successfully served on the IBHE Student Advisory Committee articulating policy and student issues on their behalf. The Illinois Board of Higher Education is made up of 14 members, one student representative and one non-traditional student representative.

“Mackenzi has personified Leadership lived in her extracurricular involvement, academic diligence, and active interest in student leadership and policy development,” said Ginger Ostro, IBHE executive director.

At UIS, Matthews currently serves as the parliamentarian for the Student Government Association (SGA). Last year, she worked to rewrite parts of the SGA constitution and bylaws as chair of the Constitution and Rules Committee. As a member of Model Illinois Government, she was elected as Majority Leader and was awarded Outstanding Member of the House in 2020.  Matthews currently works as a committee clerk in the Office of the Clerk for the Illinois House of Representatives.

Matthews plans to earn a master’s degree and pursue a career in politics. She hopes to one day become a United States Senator.

Newest Prairie Stars meet through virtual KickStart

KickStart Orientation is a UIS staple in preparing new Prairie Stars for a transition from home to campus. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this year's orientation transitioned to an all-online format, and according Lisa McGuire, director of New Student Orientation and Parent Relations, it has been successful. 

Behind the scenes, McGuire and her team of experienced orientation leaders worked fast to attend webinars and trainings on how to take their programming online. They were guided by schools who had years of experience in online orientations.

“The National Orientation Directors’ Association was a great place for sharing ideas on how larger schools do online orientation or have components of it online. It was like having 3000 colleagues sharing resources to help with online development,” McGuire said.

McGuire used the university’s new learning management system, Canvas, to build orientation modules introducing new Prairie Stars to academic advising and expectations, financial information, student success, living on campus and technology. An optional module on student life and opportunity fairs was also available. KickStart attendees begin with a 90-minute online Zoom that includes an introduction to McGuire and her team; they then are placed in breakout rooms with other students and orientation leaders like UIS senior Libby Price.

“The whole point of summer orientation is to get to know each other, which is a little harder on Zoom, but we’re getting there,” Price said. “We have several ice breakers that help students get comfortable in a group and we allow them to share their thoughts and feelings anonymously on going to college.”

McGuire said with the change to online format, she was not able to hire all of her orientation leaders back, but those who are working, like Price, have gone above and beyond making the experience special for incoming freshmen.

“It is our job to create that first sense of community, engagement and relationship building,” said McGuire. "We are missing the in-person component, especially the evenings -- that’s where relationships develop -- but our orientation leaders are going above and beyond to keep these new students in contact with each other. They are hosting extra activities like trivia nights each week where new students can log in, trying to create those experiences and maintain those interactions.”

McGuire admits it was a lot of work to transition KickStart to an online format, but it was worth the effort.

“An online version of KickStart had been on our back-burner for a while,” McGuire said. “This year it became a front burner project.”

McGuire also credits the many faculty and staff who helped in the success of the transition and created content through videos and Google slides to share information or experiences with new students. 

And even when things go back to normal, and KickStart can return to an in-person format, McGuire said she plans to maintain some of the online components she worked so hard to build. “There are more things we can look at, things we can do online to create a richer experience in a shorter time and be mindful of costs,” she said.

New students will have one final Kickstart module available to them closer to move-in day which will give them the latest information on plans for move-in and health checks.

UIS student designs African art video exhibit for masters thesis

University of Illinois Springfield graduate student Stephanie Birch started interning at the Illinois State Museum (ISM) last August with a goal in mind. She wanted to study the extensive African ethnographic collection. With the support of the museum and her master’s history thesis committee, she started to review the inventory of the collection, the goal being to improve the quality of information in the museum's database.

“I knew right away that the collection needed to be shared with the public,” said Birch. “Few people know of its existence, and even fewer know how vast and remarkable it is.” The collection has been featured in seven museum exhibitions, but is not currently on public display.

The Illinois State Museum has the largest collection of African objects of any state museum in the country. With approximately 2,500 pieces, the ISM African ethnographic collection is comparable to those at world-renowned institutions, such as the Field Museum and the National Museum of African Art of the Smithsonian Institution.

“I was able to learn about the collection on an intimate level. I really got to know the pieces individually and hear the story they have to tell,” said Birch.

As her study progressed, Birch worked with museum staff to develop a video exhibit highlighting several incredible pieces of the collection. The idea was to complete a master's thesis, as well as to promote awareness of the collection, educate the public about African history, and demonstrate the importance of preservation.

“The experience was wonderful,” said Birch. “Everyone was helpful and excited about the work I was doing. While I did most of the work independently, I gained a better understanding of how to collaborate with other professionals within a museum, as well as with volunteers contributing to the project.”

The video exhibit, “FolkFusion: Functional African Art at the Illinois State Museum,” developed for her masters thesis will be reviewed for potential inclusion on the museum's website. The project gave Birch invaluable experience.

"For a public historian, it is important to find the balance between scholarship and public interest; developing this video exhibition gave me first-hand experience in harmonizing the two elements,” said Birch.

A native of Mason City, Ill., Birch graduated from Springfield High School in 2006. She attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she earned a BFA in Art History in 2010. During her undergraduate career, she studied art of Africa and the global Black Diaspora, with a particular emphasis on religious art. It was at UIUC where she first discovered the existence of the state museum’s African ethnographic collection.

In addition to her work at the Illinois State Museum, Birch is currently working for the Illinois Supreme Court Historical Preservation Commission. Following her graduation from UIS, in May, Birch plans to pursue a history related career and possibly earn a doctorate in Anthropology.

Hanson gift supports new Faculty Scholar at UIS

The University of Illinois Springfield is proud to announce the addition of the Hanson Professional Services Faculty Scholar in the College of Business and Management. The position is made possible by a generous gift from Hanson Professional Services Inc., headquartered in Springfield.

“We believe that our work with UIS’ College of Business and Management is an investment in our future capability in Geographic Information Systems, providing a continuum between academia and private practice,” said Sergio Pecori, President & CEO of Hanson.

Dr. James Hall, associate professor in the Department of Management Information Systems, has been selected as the new Hanson Faculty Scholar. Hall earned his MBA from UIS in 1983 and his doctoral degree in civil and environmental engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He joined the MIS department at UIS in 2000.

Hall has extensive experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), a focus for the new Hanson Professional Services. GIS makes information visual by organizing data, usually in a map or chart.

Approximately 80 percent of all databases can be displayed visually. Using GIS, practitioners can access, acquire, analyze, and display information in the forms of Maps, 3 Dimension Simulation, Tables, and Figures.

Dr. Rassule Hadidi, the first Hanson Faculty Scholar, was a pioneer in management information systems who helped take UIS’ MIS program online. With support now for a faculty scholar who teaches GIS, Hanson Professional Services Inc. is providing a valuable service to the many businesses, government and relief agencies, and other organizations that rely on this versatile and increasingly useful technique.

Specializing in engineering, architecture, planning, and range of allied services, Hanson has been a trusted partner to clients since 1954, with completed projects in more than 40 foreign countries, serving North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Antarctica. The company has provided numerous internships for UIS business students over the years, with many UIS graduates working at Hanson.

For more information, contact Sarah Jennings, UIS Director of Development for Corporations and Foundations at 217/206-6058 or email sjenn02s@uis.edu.

Ray Schroeder testifies before Durbin forum on online learning and the military

Ray Schroeder, associate vice chancellor for online learning at the University of Illinois Springfield recently testified before a forum called by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.

The purpose of the forum was to examine aggressive recruiting and marketing tactics practiced by some members of the for-profit college industry to target service members and veterans. Schroeder provided perspective on the positive ways public universities, such as UIS, are serving members of the military though online learning.

“I teach online every semester and most summers. I have had many students over the past decade taking classes while deployed in combat zones,” Schroeder testified. “As is the case with all of my colleagues, I accommodate students’ schedules, which can be unpredictable at times in military service.”

Schroeder noted that a number of National Guard men and women who have begun classes at UIS, while residing in central Illinois, have completed their semester while stationed abroad.

“UIS has a veteran and military coordinator who is a veteran herself,” said Schroeder. “We have a military benefits specialist in our registration and financial aid office. All of the program coordinators work closely with these specialists to assure that their students receive all of the benefits to which they are entitled.”

UIS currently offer nine master’s degree programs, eight baccalaureate degree completion programs, and a number of professional certificate programs online. This past fall semester UIS served 1,425 online degree and certificate seeking students through online programs.

“Our online programs are noted nationally for excellence in online teaching and learning, student engagement and success in degree completion,” said Schroeder.

During the forum, Senator Durbin discussed legislation he intends to introduce when he returns to Washington that will reduce incentives for for-profit colleges to target and aggressively recruit service members and veterans.

UIS Democrat and Republican leaders live together... again!

Bipartisanship can be hard to find, but at the University of Illinois Springfield all you have to do is look under the same roof!

For the second year in a row, the chairman of the College Republicans and president of the College Democrats live in the same townhouse, but that’s not all. The secretaries of both organizations are also roommates. They live only feet away from each other in Lincoln Residence Hall.

For Zach Watkins, the Republican chairman and Sean Miller, the Democratic president it seems like fate brought them together.

“Housing magically put us both together and put Sean and I upstairs together and I think it was in the first week we found out we were both into politics and on the opposite sides,” said Watkins.

“We came home after our meetings to elect new officers and I say I’m the president of the College Democrats and he says I’m the chairman of the College Republicans. So that was an interesting night,” said Miller.

While they try and avoid talking about politics at home, they admit it comes up. That has led to a few interesting living room debates.

“Last year during the governor’s race there was a (Bill) Brady commercial that came on and I said a couple of comments and Zach had a few comments to say too, so after about 5 minutes worth of debate we were just like, ok well time to do the dishes,” said Miller.

“Politics is very polarizing, but I think something that’s caused problems in America is that the politics are so polarizing and both sides refuse to find a common ground, so living together you kind of have to do the opposite and find the common ground to move forward,” said Watkins.

The two secretaries also admit to talking politics, but they would not have any other way. They actually chose to live together after meeting at freshmen orientation.

“We talk about all sorts of things and I think it’s because we’re very passionate about what we believe and at least once a day something comes up and we’ll talk about it whether it may be something congress just legislated on or something in the Illinois community,” said Andrea Carlson, the College Republicans secretary.

“I wouldn’t want somebody who agrees with me all the time and it makes for a more interesting living arrangement. A lot of our classes even make it applicable to life, so when we talk about certain assignments sometimes it comes up,” said Michelle Tuma, the College Democrats secretary.

While it might not always be easy to live in a dorm room divided, it does have its advantages. The groups have been able to cross party lines to co-sponsor events.

“We’ve done a volleyball match. Republicans won, by the way. We did a spaghetti dinner that some of the democrats came with us,” said Watkins.

“I can just lean out my door and say ‘Hey Zach you want to do this,’ rather than having to send him an email,” said Miller.

So why is there so much bipartisanship at UIS? That’s an easy question for both parties.

“I think because of the fact that we are in Springfield and a lot of people do come here because of the political science program… you’ll probably have higher instances of that happening here,” said Carlson.

“I feel like a lot of the kids who are involved in politics here at UIS, we all get along and we’re all in model Illinois government a lot of us, so we all hang out and it’s just really nice,” said Tuma.

All four agree that professional politicians could learn a few things from their living arrangement, but doubt it would go as smoothly.

“It’s definitely a lesson that you can learn. If you see that you’re working to a common goal. All of us are working towards a common goal, which is our education. You can look past our petty differences and things that have happened in the past to forward that one goal,” said Miller.

Last year, the previous College Republican President Ryan Melchin and Democratic President Matt Van Vossen also lived together in a townhouse on campus. Watch our past coverage of their story!

UIS leader co-authors biography on former Illinois senate president Philip J. Rock

Ed Wojcicki, associate chancellor for constituent relations at the University of Illinois Springfield, has co-authored the political memoirs of former Illinois senate president Philip J. Rock.

The biography, Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello: Reflections on Twenty-Two Years in the Illinois Senate, was released on November 28 and published by Southern Illinois University Press.

The book draws on dozens of interviews conducted by Wojcicki to present Rock’s story in his own words. It takes readers through his legislative successes, bipartisan efforts, and political defeats, giving a rare insider's perspective on Illinois politics over the last three decades of the twentieth century.

A native of Chicago's West Side, Rock became one of the most influential politicians in Illinois during the 1970s and 1980s, serving twenty-two years in the Illinois Senate. Fourteen of those years were spent as senate president, the longest tenure anyone has served in that position.

Nobody Calls Just to Say Hello takes its title from the volume of calls and visits to elected officials from constituents in need of help. According to the publisher, the book “perfectly captures Rock's profound reverence for the institutions of government, his respect for other government offices, and his reputation as a problem solver who, despite his ardent Democratic beliefs, disavowed political self-preservation to cross party lines and make government work for the people.”

In addition to his administrative duties, Wojcicki teaches in the Public Administration program at UIS. He is the former publisher of Illinois Issues and had been a staff writer and columnist for several magazines and newspapers. He is also the author of A Crisis of Hope in the Modern World, which was published in 1991.

The new book is available in local stores and online. Additional information on the book can be found here.

Chancellor Koch kicks off Access Illinois scholarship initiative at UIS with $25,000 donation

Susan J. Koch, University of Illinois vice president and UIS chancellor is helping to kick off Access Illinois: The Presidential Scholarship Initiative on the Springfield campus with a $25,000 personal donation.

In establishing the Dennis D. and Susan J. Koch Scholarship Fund, Koch said she plans to lead by example and won’t be shy about asking for private support from friends of the University to fund badly needed student scholarships at UIS.

“Providing access for students is a personal matter for me and for my husband, Dennis,” said Chancellor Koch. “We’re looking forward to watching the progress of the UIS students who receive this scholarship.”

The fund was established in honor of both Koch and her husband’s parents and grandparents, who made it possible for each of them to seek a higher education.

“When my father, the son of an electrician and the grandson of an Illinois miner, was given the opportunity to attend a public university here in Illinois, it changed his life and the lives of our entire family forever,” said Chancellor Koch. “My husband’s grandmother, a pioneer farm wife on the plains of South Dakota, provided my husband and his brother the financial means to attend college.”

University of Illinois President Michael Hogan launched the Access Illinois initiative in June. The goal is to raise $100 million or more over the next three years to fund scholarships on the Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield campuses. The fund will increase financial aid to help students and their families offset tuition costs that have risen sharply as state funding for the University has declined over the last decade.

The initiative will solicit donations from the University’s more than 600,000 alumni from all three campuses and other supporters, seeking general-use gifts that can be used to meet current needs as well as endowed scholarships that provide financial aid in perpetuity.

For more information on the Access Illinois initiative at UIS, visit www.uis.edu/accessillinois or contact Vicki Megginson, associate chancellor for development, UIS, and senior vice president, University of Illinois Foundation at 217/206-6058 or email vhens1@uis.edu.

Two UIS students awarded scholarships from Latino organization

Two University of Illinois Springfield students have been awarded Victor A. and Daisy A. Juarez Latino scholarships from the Culturally Integrated Education for Latinos Organization (CIELO) in Springfield.

Linda Hernandez, a senior Criminal Justice major from Melrose Park, Ill. was awarded a $1,000 scholarship. Jessica Avendano, a junior Business Administration major from Beardstown, Ill. was awarded a $500 grant.

Hernandez is a member of the UIS Women’s Soccer team, Legacy Dance Team, and Organization of Latin American Students. She is a first-generation Mexican-American college student.

“This scholarship has been such a blessing and has reminded me there are great people out there who care about students, like me, and want them to succeed,” said Hernandez. “Opportunities like this are something you can’t forget.”

Each year, CIELO awards three scholarships and one grant to students who are accepted to attend an accredited university, college, or trade school that has its main campus located in Sangamon County. CIELO members who live within 60 miles of Springfield may also apply. The group’s mission is to mission is to help central Illinois Latinos pursue their educational goals.

“I feel very grateful and lucky for winning the grant! I truly appreciate CIELO and everything they do for the Hispanic community,” said Avendano.

Applicants are evaluated based on a personal essay, references, academic achievements and perceived financial need. A student’s commitment to community service is also a major consideration.

UIS students & alumni take over 200 dresses to Africa during summer trip

A group of University of Illinois Springfield students and alumni helped take over 200 handmade dresses to children in Africa this summer. The trip was organized by the non-profit group Jump for Joel, which was started at UIS in 2005.

The students traveled to Gathiga Children’s Hope Home in Nairobi, Kenya where they handed out the dresses, helped build a shower for the children and lived with a host family.

“Each team member had one suitcase for their personal belongings and one suitcase for donations and different things we needed to take over,” said Amanda Cummins, sophomore biology major. “We were able to fit all the dresses into two big 50 pound suitcases.”

Cummins’ mother came up with the idea to make the dresses and have her daughter take them on the trip. The Cummins family, along with a group of volunteers from her hometown of Cedarville, Ill., helped to sew and design the dresses. In total, they made 280 dresses and 50 pairs of shorts for the boys living at the home.

“Most of the kids (in Kenya) have a few changes of clothes and they share the clothes,” said Cummins. “Everyone just kind of fends for themselves once it goes through the wash. A lot of the clothes are falling apart.”

UIS alum David Lasley has made the trip to Africa with Jump for Joel three times before, but seeing the conditions the children face never gets easier.

“The kids can’t afford clothes. They don’t have parents, they don’t have anyone to pay for that stuff, so they need help with basic things,” said Lasley.

The students who went on the trip are each sponsoring a child and some, like Cummins, plan to make a second trip to Africa soon. In the meantime, she plans to continue to collect items and send them to the children.

UIS reflects on the 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001

Members of the University of Illinois Springfield community share their memories of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the 10^th anniversary of the tragedy.