PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 21, No. 4, Aug. 16, 2001

briefnotes

Planning for your financial future
Credit union offers workshops
The UI Employees Credit Union is offering the following free financial services workshops to UI employees (credit-union members and non-members).

Aug. 30: Investment Fundamentals
Sept. 20: UI Retirement Planning
Oct. 11: Long-term Care
Oct. 25: Understanding Mutual Funds

All workshops begin at 7 p.m. and will be at the Credit Union, 2201 S. First St., Champaign. Reservations are required. Call 278-7768 or e-mail memfinsrv@uiecu.org.

CCSO and OIR
GradeBook workshops announced
Free hands-on workshops on Campus GradeBook are being offered for faculty members and teaching assistants.

Campus GradeBook is a secure computer program that instructors can use to compute, maintain and publish their grades online. It was developed by the Computing and Communications Services Office (CCSO) and is maintained and supported by CCSO and the Office of Instructional Resources (OIR).

The schedule for the workshops:
Aug. 24: 9-11 a.m., Undergraduate Library, Room 289
Aug. 28: 1-3 p.m., 146 Everitt Lab
Sept. 6: 10 a.m.- noon, 146 Everitt Lab

To reserve a space in one of the workshops, contact OIR’s Division of Measurement and Evaluation at 333-3490 or e-mail t-keith1@illinois.edu. For more information about Campus GradeBook, visit www.uiuc.edu/ccso/gradebook.

Free use of facilities offered
Campus Rec hosts Rec Expo
Campus Recreation will host a Rec Expo on Aug. 30 at the Intramural-Physical Education (IMPE) Building. This event will showcase the programs and services offered by Campus Rec. There will be booths in the IMPE lobby from 11a.m -6 p.m. for each programming area and a pool party from 5:30-7 p.m. with performances by local campus singing groups.

This event is open to UI students and faculy and staff members. UI faculty and staff members will be allowed free use of the facility for the day and will receive a week pass to return at a later time. For more information about the Rec Expo, check the Campus Rec Web site at www.campusrec.uiuc.edu or call 265-0779.

English as an International Language
English course for non-students
Any adult in the community who has limited English proficiency and who is not a UI student is eligible to apply for the Special English Class offered by the UI Division of English as an International Language during the fall semester of 2001.

The 10-week course begins Tuesday, Sept. 25, meeting from 1 to 2:50 p.m. Monday through Thursday each week through Dec. 6. There are no classes during Thanksgiving break, Nov. 19-23. There is a $50 fee for the course.
Course supervisors are Cathrine Berg and Jill Knutson.

Placement tests will be given from 1-2 p.m. Sept. 11, in G-ll, Foreign Languages Building, and from 1-2 p.m. Sept. 13, in G-13 Foreign Languages Building.

Interested individuals can sign up at 3051 Foreign Languages Building, to take the test on one of these dates, or call the Division office at 333-1506.

Laboratory and non-laboratory
Chemical safety training
The Chemical Safety Section of the Division of Environmental Health and Safety (DEHS) is now offering three chemical safety training workshops during the fall semester that address both laboratory and non-laboratory uses of chemicals on campus. A fourth topic will address Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations regarding the shipping and receiving of hazardous chemicals. This DOT HazMat Shipping Awareness class must be taken at least once every three years if you receive (sign for) hazardous chemicals directly from an outside vendor or if you need to ship hazardous chemicals off-campus. Pre-registration is required for these free classes. For detailed information on the topics covered, class dates, or to register, visit www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~chem/train/train.html. If you need assistance in registering, call the DEHS office at 333-2755.

Nation’s oldest research plots featured
Agronomy Day is Aug. 23
A celebration honoring the 125th anniversary of the Morrow Plots – the nation’s oldest continuously used agricultural research area – will take place at mid-day on Aug. 23, during the UI’s celebration of Agronomy Day.

Headquarters for the 45th Agronomy Day, which begins at 7 a.m., will be the Crop Sciences Research and Education Center, located southeast of Assembly Hall on Wright Street extended. The event is a partnership among several academic units in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences.

The main Agronomy Day program will feature four hourlong wagon tours of research plots. The tours repeat every 30 minutes when groups are available. The last tour leaves at noon.

The program celebrating the anniversary of the Morrow Plots will begin at noon near the main registration tent. After the ceremony, buses will be available to take visitors to the plots for a guided tour.

Admission and parking at the research and education center are free. Lunch will be available at a nominal charge.

TAB/Provost
Teaching excellence workshop
Joseph Lowman, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of North Carolina, will give a free workshop on exemplary teaching Aug. 23 at the Heritage Room of the ACES Library. His presentation, "Exemplary College Teaching and Student Learning," will be from 2:30-4 p.m. Lowman has developed characteristics of effective instruction. He is the author of "Mastering the Techniques of Teaching" and many journal articles on the subject.

The workshop, which is open to faculty and staff members, is sponsored by the UI Teaching Advancement Board and the Office of the Provost.