Campus News: welcome, visitors

Asiel Langdon of Oak Park River Forest High School learns about Alpha Kappa Alpha with her mom, Pamela Langdon, and Alpha Kappa Alpha members Aerial Henderson and Jasmine Marshall at the 2013 UIC Open House. Photo: Julie Jaidinger

See the campus

UIC will host its second annual Open House Sept. 13 to welcome prospective students, their parents and members of the public to campus.

The event, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., features an information fair, campus tours, activities, demonstrations and opportunities to explore student life and housing.

Colleges, departments and units can participate in the Open House Exhibit Hall. Academic units can offer programming for the event.

More than 5,000 visitors attended last year’s open house.

Build professional skills

UIC staff members can sign up to be mentors and protégés for the 2014 Academic Professional Mentoring Program.

The program, open to all academic professional and civil service employees, helps staff members build professional and leadership skills. Civil service employees must have their supervisor’s approval to join the program.

A kick-off event will take place in September and the program runs through May.

Applications will be accepted through July 28.

The program is sponsored by the Office for Access and Equity and a volunteer committee with members from the Academic Professionals Advisory Council and the Chancellor’s Status Committees.

Pros, cons of bike lanes

Should campus walkways have bike lanes?

Join a pilot study on the pros and cons of adding bike lanes to select walkways on campus. Two hour-long focus groups will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. July 24 in 2650 University Hall for the study, sponsored by the Office of Sustainability and Facilities Management. To sign up, email kyoshi3@uic.edu

Urban neighborhoods

The 2014 Urban Forum will spotlight “The Return of the Neighborhood as an Urban Strategy.”

The event, which takes place Sept. 18 at the UIC Forum, examines the complexities of metropolitan regions. Co-chairs for the forum include UIC Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Susana Vasquez, executive director, LISC/Chicago. For more information, call 312-413-2194.

Looking for a lunch spot?

Employees who have parking assignments can park for free on South Campus during the lunchtime hours.

Employees can use their valid UIC standard parking assignment to park for free at the Maxwell Street Parking garage for free from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Support for researchers

Investigators can apply for support from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research’s Bridge Funding program.

The program provides short-term financial support to sustain research programs and laboratories during funding gaps. The awards are given to investigators with established projects that have a high probability of continued support from extramural sources.

Run for a good cause

Sign up to run the Chicago Marathon and raise money for diabetes research with UIC’s Cellmates on the Run team. The team, organized by José Oberholzer, chief of transplantation surgery, raises money for the Chicago Diabetes Project. Last year’s marathon team raised about $200,000 for diabetes research.

The 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, a 26.2-mile race through 26 Chicago neighborhoods, is scheduled for Oct. 12.

What’s the latest WoRD?

The WoRD (Women’s Reading and Discussion) book club meets July 23 to discuss its latest selection, The Wisdom of Whores: Bureaucrats, Brothels, and the Business of AIDS, by Elizabeth Pisani. The book is available for purchase at a 20 percent discount at the UIC Bookstores or can be checked out of the UIC Library.

The group, which is open to all employees and students, will meet from noon to 1 p.m. in 507 Disability, Health and Social Policy building, 1640 W. Roosevelt Road.

The book club was started by members of the Chancellor’s Committee on the Status of Women and meetings are approved as official events for employee participation. For more information, contact Kris Zimmermann at kzimme3@uic.edu