The Buzz on Campus

There’s a buzz on campus, and I mean literally a “buzzzz”. A few people have noticed outside the PAC second level near the north entrance (and near the Electronic Media Office side entrance), there is a neatly tucked box that is getting a “bee”leaguered look. Building engineers noticed the swarm of honey bees a few days ago, and UIS’ very own Randy Moss with Building Maintenance contacted the Sangamon County U of I Extension Office. They keep a list of bee keepers in the area, and had one come out. The plan is now to attract the Queen Bee into the box, so the others will follow. Then the bees will be safely relocated. So “bee” very careful when walking around that area for a little while longer. (Of course, I had to get one more play on words!)

Campin' out at UIS

Summertime means summer camp for many school-aged children and I'm glad that UIS is the home of many of those camps for kids from in and around Springfield, Illinois. The presence of these young folks attending various athletic camps and other events adds a new level of energy to our campus during the summer months and members of the campus community enjoy seeing how excited these students are to be on a college campus for a a few days. One of UIS's most interesting camp experiences is "Girl Tech," a program offered by our Computer Science department that provides hands-on opportunities for middle school girls to get engaged in technology. Activities include geo-catching with an iPad, scratch programming and molecular gastronomy – among many. Summer camps are another great way that UIS serves the Springfield community at the same time it provides prospective students an opportunity to become familiar with the idea of going to college. I'd love to see those campers back with us in a few years pursuing a University of Illinois undergraduate degree!

The City of Big Shoulders

I'm in Chicago this week participating in the University of Illinois Foundation Board of Directors meetings. Poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago "The City of Big Shoulders" in his poem Chicago and I love that name. All Great Lakes cities are very special, with their dramatic shorelines and lake-effect weather, but there is something uniquely burly and strong about this city. One of the things I like best about the UIS student body is that so many  of our students come from Chicago. It's an adventure for these urbanites to go "downstate" to school and most tell me that, though they enjoy the slower pace of Springfield for a while, they plan to pursue their careers back home in the Windy City – another great nickname for their hometown. We have several thousand UIS alums living in Chicago already and I know there will be many more given the many opportunities here. I can see I'll be spending more time with all those Chicago alums in the future!!

Hurrah! Blog post 100!

After several months of planning, (and cartooning) my Chancellor’s Blog debut was January 17, 2012, the beginning of my second semester as Chancellor at the Springfield campus of the University of Illinois. It's  been fun providing a little slice of my thoughts and experiences serving in this leadership role.

This post is my 100th and, during the past year and a half, the blog has had nearly 20,000 views. Thank you so much for taking the time to read the Chancellor's Blog. I hope you continue to find it both informative and enjoyable. I look forward to sharing more thoughts and news with you in the future. Below are links to a few of the most read posts in the first 100. Now..what will be the topic for #101??

Most popular posts:

Good Morning, It's a Beautiful Winter Day (first blog post), French Braiding – Another important skill in the Chancellor's toolbox (This took place on freshmen move in day), You can put it on the board! (On my love for the White Sox), UIS is global!, Remembering Sandy Hook,  Chancellor opens international market for UIS alum's product, New student union vision is taking shape