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University of Illinois System News
Read the latest University of Illinois System news from the Office of External Relations and Communications.

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  • U of I and FIT Ltd officials

    $100 million center to drive smart, reconfigurable technologies

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Grainger College of Engineering and Foxconn Interconnect Technology (FIT) are partnering on a new $100 million Center for Networked Intelligent Components and Environments (C-NICE). 

  • Staff meeting

    2018-2019 Salary Program

    Today, President Killeen announced  a 2 percent, merit-based salary program for the 2018-19 academic year.

  • Tim Killeen

    2019-20 Salary Program

    Today President Killeen announced a 2 percent, merit-based salary program for faculty, academic professional and civil service staff to take effect August 16.

  • Impact Illinois 2019

    2019 report highlights initiatives from across the U of I System

    Impact Illinois 2019, the annual report from the University of Illinois System, highlights recent initiatives of the system, our three best-in-class universities, and our leading hospital and health sciences system.

  • university seal/annual report cover

    2020 annual report highlights initiatives from across the U of I System

    Empowering Extraordinary, the 2020 annual report from the University of Illinois System, highlights recent initiatives, accomplishments, and innovations from across the system, including our ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • Tim Killeen

    2021-22 Salary Program

    Today President Killeen announced a 2 percent, merit-based salary program for faculty, academic professional and civil service staff to take effect August 16.

  • report cover with blue/orange/pink image of nurse drawing vaccine from vial close up

    2021 annual report highlights initiatives from across the U of I System

    The University of Illinois System 2021 Annual Report: Empowering Extraordinary highlights our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent initiatives, accomplishments, and innovations from across the system.

  • Cover of Empowering Extraordinary annual report with young woman arms raised in celebration

    2022 report highlights system initiatives in new, interactive format

    U of I System President Tim Killeen: I invite you to read just some of the many stories from all across the U of I System that show how we are laying the foundation upon which we can build a better future for all of Illinois.

  • gold medallions of U of I seal on blue ribbons

    28 receive U of I System honor for leading COVID-19 response

    University of Illinois President Tim Killeen on Monday honored 28 key leaders of the system’s COVID-19 response with the Presidential Medallion. The medallion is the highest honor that the system president can bestow.

  • Rich and Leslie Frank at their vineyard

    $7.5M gift establishes Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media

    The College of Media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has announced that its students will benefit from a suite of enhanced professional experiences, thanks to a $7.5 million gift by Rich and Leslie Frank of St. Helena, California. The gift, the largest in the College’s history, will establish the Richard and Leslie Frank Center for Leadership and Innovation in Media.

  • Agreement reached with State Universities Civil Service System

    Over the last year, the University of Illinois System joined other public universities in talks with the State Universities Civil Service System (SUCSS) to develop new procedures for exempting positions from the civil service system.I write to share the news that an agreement has been reached that complies with state law while still allowing us to exempt academic professional positions from the civil service system, as appropriate.

  • Alumni, students advocate for U of I System

    Nearly 250 current students and alumni met with Illinois legislators Wednesday to advocate for the University of Illinois System during its annual Day at the Capitol in Springfield. The afternoon-long event also included the U of I System’s first-ever Statehouse rally, featuring speeches in the Capitol Rotunda by legislators, a student and a graduate. 

  • Argonne Energy Sciences Building

    Argonne joins new research center led by U of I System

    The U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, a global leader in scientific discovery and America’s first national laboratory, signed an agreement Wednesday to partner in a new research center led by the University of Illinois System to accelerate the groundbreaking innovation that drives progress and economic growth.

  • three artistic sculptures, one from each campus

    Arts & humanities initiative offers new support for 10 projects

    The University of Illinois System continues to demonstrate its commitment to the arts and humanities, funding a second generation of vital projects through the Presidential Initiative: Expanding the Impact of the Arts and the Humanities, President Tim Killeen announced today.

  • Avijit Ghosh

    Avijit Ghosh named interim executive VP for U of I System

    Avijit Ghosh, vice president/chief financial officer and comptroller for the University of Illinois System since 2018, has been named interim executive vice president and vice president for academic affairs, effective July 15, President Tim Killeen announced today.

  • Obama receives award

    Barack Obama receives award, speaks to students

    On Sept. 7, former President Barack Obama was honored by the University of Illinois System with the Paul H. Douglas Award for Ethics in Government, presented annually by the system's Institute of Government and Public Affairs. During his visit, Obama also spoke to students at Foellinger Auditorium. 

  • Barb Wilson with UIUC quad backdrop

    Barbara J. Wilson named president of the University of Iowa

    Barbara J. Wilson, a longtime University of Illinois faculty member and administrator who has served as second-in-command of the U of I System since 2016, was unanimously approved as president of the University of Iowa today by the Board of Regents.

  • Illinois State Capitol building

    Become an Illinois Connection advocate

    VIDEO: Illinois Connection is the legislative advocacy network for the University of Illinois System. By increasing awareness and understanding of the U of I System's positive impact on the state, nation and world, Illinois Connection advocates help to ensure the system’s legacy and longevity.

  • University of Illinois System Associate Vice President for Economic Development and Innovation Kyle Harfst, Falling Walls Lab Illinois third place finisher Neddy Byron, Caterpillar Emerging Technologies Program Leader Tazio Grivetti, Falling Walls Lab Illinois winner Bhargavee Gnanasambandam, EnterpriseWorks Associate Director Cynthia Faullin.

    Bhargavee Gnanasambandam wins Falling Walls Lab Illinois

    Gnanasambandam earned the top prize with her presentation “Breaking the wall of gynecological cancers,” in which she discussed a new way to detect human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer with a simple test that provides results within 15 minutes. She also won an all-expenses-paid trip to Berlin, to compete at the global Falling Walls Lab finale on Nov. 7.

  • Lake Michigan Chicago shoreline

    Binational Great Lakes Higher Ed. Consortium Launched

    The Council of the Great Lakes Region, the University of Toronto, and the University of Illinois System have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to officially create and launch the binational Great Lakes Higher Education Consortium.

  • seal of the university

    Board backs Discovery Partners Institute

    The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today gave its unanimous support to the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI), the groundbreaking new research and education enterprise led by the University of Illinois System. DPI will boost the state’s economy by addressing real-world challenges, promoting entrepreneurship, growing next-generation businesses and delivering top talent to Chicago.

  • Don and Anne Edwards

    Board of Trustees Chair commits $100K for UIC's frontline healthcare workers

    University of Illinois Board of Trustees Chairman Don Edwards and his wife, Anne Edwards, both alumni of the University of Illinois, have pledged $100,000 to establish the UI Health Employee Relief Fund, which will support health care workers at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Sciences System, or UI Health.

  • The seal of the University of Illinois Board of Trustees

    Board of Trustees freezes in-state undergraduate tuition rates for 2024-25

    The University of Illinois Board of Trustees today approved tuition rates for the 2024-25 academic year that freeze the undergraduate base rate tuition for resident undergraduate students at the three system universities. This decision reflects the system’s ongoing commitment to affordability. 

  • Illinois State Capitol building in Springfield

    Budget plan to provide reinvestment in U of I System, public higher education

    The state budget proposed today by Governor J.B. Pritzker would provide a 7% increase in general operating support for the University of Illinois System, increasing the system’s total general funds appropriation to $697.1 million for the coming fiscal year and representing a vital reinvestment in public higher education that would build on last year’s appropriation increases. 

  • state capitol building

    Budget proposal would provide needed investment in U of I System, students

    Under the fiscal year 2023 budget proposed today by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, the state appropriation for the University of Illinois System would increase by $28 million over the current fiscal year. Additional one-time funding proposed by the governor would increase current-year funds by another $28 million. 

  • 64.8% raised

    Campaign fundraising for the U of I System crosses $2 billion mark

    In October 2017 the University of Illinois System officially launched a comprehensive fundraising initiative with an ambitious $3.1 billion goal. Now, less than a year and a half into the public campaigns, the U of I System has surpassed the $2 billion mark—or 64.8%—in funds raised toward this goal.

  • gloved hand and test tubes in lab

    CDC endorses Test to Stay strategy piloted by IDPH, SHIELD Illinois

    A new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report published today confirms that the Test to Stay program, created locally by the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and operated by SHIELD Illinois, can help keep kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) students in the classroom. As a result of the report, the CDC endorsed Test to Stay as a useful strategy to be implemented in schools.

  • Close up of test tubes in lab

    CDPH to utilize innovative covidSHIELD test in select city schools

    The University of Illinois System today announced that it will begin providing its innovative saliva-based covidSHIELD test to select K-12 Chicago schools through funding from the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). The $20 million in funding will go to the system’s nonprofit SHIELD Illinois unit, which provides testing throughout the state. 

  • Chicago skyline

    Chicago awarded $18.5M in federal funds to create new jobs in the region

    The Discovery Partners Institute and P33 will spearhead tech-specific workforce development programs in support of an $18.5 million federal Good Jobs Challenge award announced earlier this month.

  • artist rendering of proposed DPI

    City Scholars program expands at Discovery Partners Institute

    The Discovery Partners Institute and The Grainger College of Engineering are expanding the City Scholars program to now include the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Illinois Institute of Technology (Illinois Tech).

  • Lt. Governor Juliana Stratton and others celebrate the Cairo grocery store opening in a group photo

    Coalition brings desperately needed grocery store to Illinois' southernmost city

    University of Illinois System leaders visited Cairo last summer to explore ways to support the port town’s revitalization work. 

  • Grainger Engineering Library

    College of Engineering to be named in recognition of Grainger support

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s College of Engineering will become The Grainger College of Engineering, recognizing a new $100 million gift from The Grainger Foundation and more than $300 million in total support, after consultation with the Chancellor’s Joint Advisory Committee on Investment, Licensing, and Naming Rights and pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

  • COVID-19 update with university seal

    Commencement ceremonies update

    Today University of Illinois System leadership sent a massmail regarding commencement ceremonies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • researcher processing test in lab

    Community colleges in Illinois now have option to provide free covidSHIELD tests to state residents

    Community colleges across the state now have the ability to provide the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s innovative, saliva-based COVID-19 test at no cost to any state resident who wants one. 

  • COVID-19 update with colorized seal of the university

    COVID-19 booster shot now required

    University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen sent a massmail to students, faculty and staff today requiring COVID-19 booster shots for all when eligible.

  • COVID-19 update with colorized seal of the university

    COVID-19 booster shot recommendation

    University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen sent a massmail to students, faculty and staff today recommending COVID-19 booster shots for all when eligible.

  • CDC image of virus up close

    COVID-19 news and research

    (Originally posted March 5). The University of Illinois System has established a COVID-19 Planning and Response Team to help coordinate the system’s response to and communication about the virus, and our three universities are monitoring their campuses and working with their local community agencies. COVID-19 related websites, communications, policies, and other resources can be found on this page.

  • COVID-19 update with university seal

    COVID-19 reminder: keep your guard up

    University of Illinois System leadership sent a COVID-19 update message today to students, faculty, and staff.

  • U of I president Killeen

    COVID-19: Rising to the Challenge

    The University of Illinois System is demonstrating its land-grant mission in real time, marshalling its world-class resources and ramping up its knowledge-generating power to foster solutions that will help steer our state through the COVID-19 crisis. Visit this page for updates, communications, and other resources.

  • Screenshot from CNBC

    COVID-19 testing strategies allow universities to open

    CNBC (Aug. 28) On CNBC's "Sqauwk on the Street," University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen discussed the pioneering saliva-based testing program that allowed the system’s three universities to resume face-to-face instruction this fall.

  • COVID-19 UPDATE from U of I System, with virus image

    COVID-19 update

    University of Illinois System President Tim Killeen sent a COVID-19 update massmail this evening to faculty, staff, and students.

  • DACA ruling

    University of Illinois leadership sent a massmail today to students, faculty and staff regarding the the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

  • seal of the university system

    David Merriman named interim director of IGPA

    David F. Merriman has been appointed interim director of the University of Illinois System’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs (IGPA), system Executive Vice President and Vice President for Academic Affairs Nicholas P. Jones announced today. Merriman is the James J. Stukel Presidential Professor of Public Policy, Management, and Analytics at the University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs.

  • Defense spending an economic driver for Illinois

    Though not generally considered a state that is closely tied to military spending, a new study by the University of Illinois System shows that the defense industry has a significant impact on the Illinois economy.In 2016, the study found that total economic impact of defense spending in Illinois was nearly $12 billion, representing approximately 1.5 percent of the state’s gross domestic product and contributing to more than 136,500 jobs.

  • Flags from Syria and Turkey

    Devastation in Turkey, Syria impacts University of Illinois System community

    The scale of the disaster is Syria and Turkey is staggering, and our hearts go out to all who are struggling with these losses.

  • rendering of DPI

    Discovery Partners Institute and Illinois Innovation Network

    The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and Illinois Innovation Network (IIN), the pillars of a new statewide innovation enterprise led by the University of Illinois System, will magnify the time-tested formula for job creation and economic growth to a massive, unprecedented scale. 

  • Rendering of future Discovery Partners Institute headquarters with vibrant city building all around

    Discovery Partners Institute creates endowment to support long-term growth

    The fund was seeded last month with $3.5 million in revenue from Shield T3, a business created and owned by the University of Illinois System to expand the use of the saliva-based COVID-19 test created by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers.

  • a rendering of the future DPI headquarters along the Chicago River, with parts of the iconic Chicago skyline visible in the background.

    Discovery Partners Institute headquarters construction bids underway

    The University of Illinois System’s Discovery Partners Institute is one step closer to its permanent home with the announcement that the Illinois Capital Development Board is accepting bids for the construction project. A groundbreaking ceremony for the 1.5-acre site is scheduled later this year at The 78, Chicago’s 62-acre neighborhood on the Chicago River.

  • the shoreline of a large, calm lake

    Discovery Partners Institute joins regional Great Lakes water resources initiative

    A new multistate partnership including the Discovery Partners Institute will create a hub of research and economic development around water resources in the Great Lakes region. Great Lakes ReNEW, funded by up to $160 million over ten years through the National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines program, is a collaboration of more than 50 partners led by Current, a Chicago-based water innovation hub, and includes research institutions, industry, investors, government, and nonprofit organizations. 

  • two students looking at a computer screen

    Discovery Partners Institute launches new program for middle school students

    The Digital Explorers Program will expand DPI’s efforts to develop promising and diverse tech talent in Chicago. The program will be offered to students in grades six to eight on Saturdays at DPI’s downtown offices across two sessions. Students will develop computer science skills through coding and building a mobile app, while also taking part in team-building activities and solving problems with human-centered design thinking.