The University of Illinois Springfield will receive a five-year $100,000 National Science Foundation grant aimed at developing and implementing evidence-based programs that will support the academic success of underrepresented minority students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.
One of the goals of the grant is to increase the participation of minority students in research through the establishment of faculty-student mentoring teams. The end goal is to provide a variety of resources to ensure student academic success and to prepare the next generation of scientists.
Lucía Vázquez, associate dean of the UIS College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, will serve as one of the principal investigators on the project.
This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on January 14, 2020.
Read the entire article online.
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Tuesday, January 14, 2020
Unreal Treadmill Sessions Push College Coach to Olympic Trials
Runners at the University of Illinois Springfield abide by two rules: Be a good person, and work harder than anyone else in the room.
Their coach, 26-year-old Tyler Pence, labors right alongside them, picking up trash during community service projects and logging up to 120-mile weeks in preparation for February’s Olympic Marathon Trials.
After a successful collegiate career, Pence wasn’t sure he’d continue running competitively. But when he headed back to his hometown to coach at UIS four years ago, he found himself motivated and challenged by his athletes. “I’m a big believer in practicing what you preach,” he told Runner’s World. “Here I am telling them what it takes to be good, and I wasn’t doing it at the time.”
By December 2018, his efforts paid off. In his second attempt at the distance, he ran 2:15:36 at the California International Marathon, finishing in 17th place and earning a Trials spot. At the same time, he’s led the UIS Prairie Stars from a brand-new program into contention for conference titles. The men’s cross-country team was the runner-up at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships in October, and the women placed sixth. And two of his runners, Taryn Christy and Blake Jones, qualified for this year’s NCAA Division II Cross-Country Championships.
“When you’re around hard workers, that’s contagious,” he said. “We hold each other accountable.”
His Trials training has also included a three-week stint at altitude in Colorado Springs over winter break, and he’ll line up at the Houston Half Marathon on January 19.
He doesn’t have a specific goal in Atlanta, and knows his first experience may come with a learning curve. As he tells his athletes, “You don't become great overnight.” Eventually, he hopes to mature into one of the fastest U.S. marathoners. He has big goals for his runners, too—for example, taking the full men’s and women’s cross-country teams to nationals next year—and he sees the two pursuits as entirely complementary.
His running has served as a valuable recruiting tool for the young coach, in addition to the personal fulfillment it brings. “I won’t be able to do this forever,” he said, of the dual roles. “But I don’t want to leave my life having questions of, ‘What if I would have tried?’”
This story appeared in Runners World on January 14, 2020.
Read the entire article online.
Their coach, 26-year-old Tyler Pence, labors right alongside them, picking up trash during community service projects and logging up to 120-mile weeks in preparation for February’s Olympic Marathon Trials.
After a successful collegiate career, Pence wasn’t sure he’d continue running competitively. But when he headed back to his hometown to coach at UIS four years ago, he found himself motivated and challenged by his athletes. “I’m a big believer in practicing what you preach,” he told Runner’s World. “Here I am telling them what it takes to be good, and I wasn’t doing it at the time.”
By December 2018, his efforts paid off. In his second attempt at the distance, he ran 2:15:36 at the California International Marathon, finishing in 17th place and earning a Trials spot. At the same time, he’s led the UIS Prairie Stars from a brand-new program into contention for conference titles. The men’s cross-country team was the runner-up at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championships in October, and the women placed sixth. And two of his runners, Taryn Christy and Blake Jones, qualified for this year’s NCAA Division II Cross-Country Championships.
“When you’re around hard workers, that’s contagious,” he said. “We hold each other accountable.”
His Trials training has also included a three-week stint at altitude in Colorado Springs over winter break, and he’ll line up at the Houston Half Marathon on January 19.
He doesn’t have a specific goal in Atlanta, and knows his first experience may come with a learning curve. As he tells his athletes, “You don't become great overnight.” Eventually, he hopes to mature into one of the fastest U.S. marathoners. He has big goals for his runners, too—for example, taking the full men’s and women’s cross-country teams to nationals next year—and he sees the two pursuits as entirely complementary.
His running has served as a valuable recruiting tool for the young coach, in addition to the personal fulfillment it brings. “I won’t be able to do this forever,” he said, of the dual roles. “But I don’t want to leave my life having questions of, ‘What if I would have tried?’”
This story appeared in Runners World on January 14, 2020.
Read the entire article online.
Monday, January 13, 2020
UI trustees set to look at 5-year-old freeze on in-state tuition
Tuition for in-state freshmen hasn’t changed in five years at the University of Illinois, and trustees will decide next week whether to continue that freeze.
So far, administrators aren’t saying what they will propose. But they’ve noted recently that faculty hiring hasn’t kept up with enrollment gains, partly because the tuition freeze has limited income growth.
Executive Vice President Barbara Wilson declined to say whether the freeze will be extended for a sixth year. “We’re still in discussions with the board members,” she said.
Systemwide, income from undergraduate tuition has continued to grow in the five years since the freeze was imposed in fall 2015, from $750 million in 2014-15 to $830.1 million in 2018-19, after waivers were granted to veterans, children of employees and other students, according to UI data.
Separately, fees and housing rates have also continued to climb for all students. Undergraduates provide the bulk of tuition income, as most graduate students receive tuition waivers, and in-state students make up about three-quarters of all undergraduates.
The UI system plans to hire 500 new professors in over the next five years, on top of normal retirements and faculty departures.
UI officials are considering state funding levels, enrollment and financial aid resources as well as “what other institutions are doing,” she said. Trustees meet Wednesday in Chicago, where they will also consider fees and housing rates for 2020-21.
This story appeared in The News-Gazette on Jan. 10, 2020.
Read the entire story online.
Executive Vice President Barbara Wilson declined to say whether the freeze will be extended for a sixth year. “We’re still in discussions with the board members,” she said.
Systemwide, income from undergraduate tuition has continued to grow in the five years since the freeze was imposed in fall 2015, from $750 million in 2014-15 to $830.1 million in 2018-19, after waivers were granted to veterans, children of employees and other students, according to UI data.
Separately, fees and housing rates have also continued to climb for all students. Undergraduates provide the bulk of tuition income, as most graduate students receive tuition waivers, and in-state students make up about three-quarters of all undergraduates.
The UI system plans to hire 500 new professors in over the next five years, on top of normal retirements and faculty departures.
UI officials are considering state funding levels, enrollment and financial aid resources as well as “what other institutions are doing,” she said. Trustees meet Wednesday in Chicago, where they will also consider fees and housing rates for 2020-21.
This story appeared in The News-Gazette on Jan. 10, 2020.
Read the entire story online.
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