Help spread joy this holiday season! OVP is hosting its annual Holiday Toy Drive to provide a positive holiday experience for children and families in need. All gifts must be new and unwrapped. They will be donated to the Champaign County Toys for Tots campaign. Donations will be accepted from November 27 - December 13. The goal is to collect 1,000 toys for children in the Champaign-Urbana Community!

Find out more information on what to donate here!

In an effort to aid the citizens of Puerto Rico affected by Hurricane Maria, the College of Medicine at Urbana-Champaign students, staff, faculty, and their families and friends will package dry-food products to be delivered to colleagues at Ponce Health Sciences University for distribution to those in need. Volunteers are needed for Saturday, December 2^nd for 2-hour shifts to pack dry ingredients into meal bags.

To sign up, click here.

The Illinois Office of Undergraduate Research is seeking motivated and experienced undergraduate researchers to participate in their new Illinois Undergraduate Research Ambassadors (IURAs) program. The IURAs program is a collaborative cohort of accomplished and experienced students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Ambassadors will promote undergraduate research on the UIUC campus and help the Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) develop and maintain student-focused programs that represent UIUC’s diverse array of disciplines. Some benefits for participating in the program is a $250 stipend per semester, resume building, enhancement of public speaking, and much more. Applications are due December 3.

Apply here!

Thanksgiving Break: two words that make most parents sit up and look alert for the first time in months. A long weekend (or if you’re lucky, a full week) for your heart to once again feel whole. A moment or twenty moments to grab your baby girl or boy and give them the never-ending hug you’ve been feeling and planning in your mind since you dropped them off, all those giant red X-ed calendar squares ago.

You see, this isn’t my first time to this rodeo. My daughter is a sophomore. I’ve lived the whole “cram as much as you can into the time you are given” mentality of her breaks now for over a year. And while it doesn’t get easier, there is something I’ve learned.

Cramming as much as you can into the time you are given isn’t a mentality that only applies to her breaks, it’s one that I’ve come to realize applies to every day, no matter if she’s home from college or not.  And perhaps most importantly, the “as much as you can” part doesn’t need to be anything more than a conscious effort to be present and to appreciate the moment, whatever it is.

To continue reading this article, click here. 

The Illini Union Parent and Family Programs Office is committed to providing all University of Illinois families with up-to-date information, resources to assist you in the role that you play in your student’s success, and a point of contact to answer questions or address your concerns. Complete the contact information form and make sure you have access to everything the Parent and Family Programs Office has to offer. Be sure to forward this to other Illini families who are not receiving our updates.

Have you joined the Facebook Group? We created a Group for Parents and Family members of UIUC students to connect and communicate with each other about whatever they would like i.e. sharing tips, have questions, carpools, etc..

To join, click here. 

Parents and family members, just like you, have the ability to make our students’ college experience remarkable. Your contribution supports innovative programs that promote student learning, personal development, and well-being. 

Your unrestricted gift to the Parent Fund helps Student Affairs support alcohol-free programming, such as Illinites, provide personal safety training to students, and more. Your gift also ensures that regular communication and support for all families of Illinois students will continue.

To learn more about Student Affairs, click here. 

GIVE TODAY!

Give thanks this season by giving back! Learn about the University’s Office of Volunteer Programs (OVP)! The OVP promotes service by encouraging students to donate their time and volunteer for the university and local communities. OVP pairs students with opportunities where they gain invaluable experience through public engagement. For many, volunteering with the OVP leads to the discovery of a career they will pursue when they graduate. The success of OVP is due to those who donate their time willingly to help others. It is this passion of bettering the lives of others that continues to make the program thrive.

Find out more about OVP news, events, and resources here!

Thank You to all of our Illini parents and families who attended Dads Weekend 2017 and made the weekend a success!!  We had over 3000 families and friends participate in Dads Weekend 2017 events, and all proceeds will support the Dads Association grants and scholarships awarded each year. Also, a big congratulations to King Dad 2017, Chris Thilmany! We are already looking forward to another amazing Dads weekend in 2018!

 Save the date: Dads Weekend will be November 2nd-4th, 2018.

To see pictures from the events, click here.

We want to hear your feedback on the weekend, click here to complete the Dads Weekend 2017 survey.

The Moms Association is a great way to be involved with the university and learn more about the exciting events, scholarships, and opportunities available to you and your student. While everyone is automatically a member of the association, the Board of Directors is looking for interested moms and mother figures to join the leadership team.

Board members participate in several meetings on campus (in person or by teleconference), are engaged in numerous activities during Moms Weekend, form a closer connection to the university, make new friends with other Illinois moms, and have a great excuse to visit campus a few times a year to see their student! Those with creative, organizational, and/or business skills and experience are encouraged to apply.

If interested, please complete the online application on the Moms Association website here.

You can also support the Illini Moms Association by getting Illini Moms Merchandise from the official Moms Association Online Store. All proceeds will go towards supporting our students and the campus community.

The Moms Association at the University of Illinois is looking forward to an exciting year. Be sure to like the Facebook page for the latest Moms news, events, and advice.

Looking to get involved while your student is at U of I?

We are always looking for fathers and father figures to join our Board and serve on various event committees. If you have experience and skills in event planning, organizing outings, philanthropic causes, marketing, communications, or just plain want to help out on Dads Weekend, then please click here to join the board and we will be in touch.

Whether you are interested in joining our board or not, please click here to activate your free membership with the Illini Dads Association.

All proceeds coming into the Illini Dads Association supports our students and the campus community. Founded in 1922, IlliniDads has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarships and grants to U of I students and the Champaign-Urbana community. We look forward to hearing from you and meeting you at our next meeting!

For more information about the Dads Association, click here.

Andreas Cangellaris, the dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has been selected by Chancellor Robert Jones to be the campus’ next vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. Cangellaris is slated to start in his new role January 16, 2017.

“Dean Cangellaris has earned an international reputation for excellence as an academic leader, a teacher and a researcher,” Jones said. “His career here at Illinois has provided him with the vast institutional knowledge and with the deep personal connections with faculty members, staff, and students. This is a combination that no one else in our pool of candidates could match and is what made him such a clear and outstanding choice to be our next vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost. I’m excited to start working with him in this new role.” Cangellaris has provided critical campus leadership around a number of major interdisciplinary initiatives and programs.

To read more about our new vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost, click here.

Ahead of Veteran’s Day on November 11, the Board of Trustees of the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) has unanimously approved the addition of an MTD Veteran Pass. Beginning January 2018, MTD will offer a free, unlimited, 3-year bus pass to any veteran who presents a State of Illinois-issued identification card or driver’s license carrying an official “Veteran” designation, a Military Retirement Card, a VA ID card, or the combination of a DD214 and valid State of Illinois ID card or Driver’s License.

Read the rest of the article here!

Illinois men's cross country sophomore Jon Davis was named United States Track and Field (USTFCCCA) Midwest Region Athlete of the Year on Tuesday, as voted on by the coaches from the Midwest region. The second-year Illini won the Midwest Regional race last Friday in Ames, Iowa, becoming the third ever Illini to do so.

"I think it speaks directly to the maturation of him as an athlete in cross country," said head coach Jake Stewart. "There were, in his freshmen year, many ups and downs with him figuring out how to race against the best athletes in the country on grass. He took what he learned last year in cross country, and certainly in track, and applied it with a new-found confidence this fall. Friday's result was a direct correlation of everything he's done in the last 12 months to get himself prepared for races like that."

To read more, click here.

• November 18-26 | Fall Break
• November 27 | Instruction Resumes
• December 15-21 | Finals Week
• December 22 | Winter Break Begins
• January 15 | Martin Luther King Jr Day (No Classes)
• January 16 | First day of classes

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign remains one of the most sought-after destinations for international students, according to the annual Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange. The report, published on November 13, 2017, by the Institute of International Education (IIE), ranks Illinois as second in the nation among public institutions (sixth when accounting for private schools) for welcoming international students. The university also ranked in the top 25 universities in the country for credit-bearing study abroad participation in 2015-16.

Read the rest of the article here!