ISTAR - UIUC

Alice Campbell Alumni Center (ACAC)

• Over 500,000 alumnae

  • Dick Butkus, Donna Mills, Ang Lee, Nick Offerman

• UIUC ranked as #15 public university in the US

Spurlock Museum

• Free to public 6 days a week (Closed Mondays)

• Krannert Art Museum is on south of campus

  • 2nd largest art museum in Illinois (art institute 1st)

• 50,000 cultural artifacts spanning back 1,000,000 years and 6 continents

Illinois St. Residence Hall (ISR)

• Renovated 2021

• Home to Innovation and Honors LLC (10 LLC’s)

  • Students take courses together, study, socialize with others, and offer advising services, tutors, and unique opportunities to interact with faculty members

  • Extra cost of an LLC is ~$200-300 more

Private Certified Housing

• Approved by the university but owned by private companies

• ¼ of first-years live in PCH

• Both co-ed and same-sex facilities

• Typically larger rooms, almost all offer doubles or singles with semi-private baths

• All units are air-conditioned

• Some places offer unique amenities (maid service, indoor pool, washers and dryers)

University Housing

• Owned and operated by the university

• 24 UG, 2 grad facilities

• ¾ of first-years live in university housing

• Mostly double rooms (singles for upper-division students and those needing more accomodation)

  • Communal, semi-private, and private (only in suite-style) bathrooms

• Next fall, 91% of university housing will have AC

• Rooms have XL twin beds depending on location, bed configurations vary

• Co-ed housing arranged by towers, layered floors, by wing, by room and within room

University Residence Hall Staff

• RA - Live-in full-time returning student

  • Plans floor activities connected to our residential curriculum

  • Helps students adjust to the University

  • Assists students with individual problems or roommate issues

  • Refers to campus resources and ensures University policies are followed

• RD - Live-in full-time professional staff member

  • Oversees administration of each hall

  • Supervises RA staff

  • On call nights and weekends

• Inclusion and Leadership Mentors

  • Promote diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and residential programming

• 24 hour on-call maintenance for emergency facility issues

• Registered Dietitian

Security within UIUC Residence Halls

• Electronic card access to security doors

• Exterior doors are locked 24/7 (card)

• Hallway Doors locked 24/7 (card)

• Room + closet doors locked at your discretion (key)

Selecting a Residence Hall

• Housing is guaranteed for new First-year students

• You can complete your contract 48 hours after accepting your offer of admission

• If you submit the housing contract before the priority deadline you will be emailed a time ticket for when you can go online and choose your specific room in a residence hall

• Time tickets will be awarded by a random lottery system to those who have met the priority deadline.

  • Equal chance for all who submit by/before deadline (May 15th)

• Students who contract after deadline will be provided assignment by Housing

Selecting a Roommate

• First time attending students who would like to live with a friend can request them during the first part of the housing contract. If they agree to be roommates before May 15 they will get the same time ticket

• When you contract for housing, you will be asked to complete a lifestyle preferences questionnaire. The questions focus on areas related to sharing a space with someone

  • Students can search for a roommate by reviewing answers to the questions given and messaging potential roommates in the housing system.

• Students can choose a random roommate by selecting a room already with another resident or a vacant room with the other space that will be chosen by a roommate. In both instances, the room selection step allows you to see how the current occupant has answered the lifestyle questions.

  • Also unofficial groups for picking roommates on social media

Inside Sample Room (no more than 2 mins)

Amenities (outside Dining Hall)

• Laundry

  • Some units text you when laundry’s done

• Fitness Areas

  • Some halls have fitness areas in the lower level

• Libraries in most halls

• Learning commons or business kiosks

  • Computers and printing available

  • Open 24 hours for residence hall students

• Community kitchens in all halls

• Lounges

  • TVs, study tables, couches, etc

• Game rooms

  • TVs, pool tables, air hockey, etc

• Music Practice Rooms in most halls

• Front Desk offers support nearly 24 hours a day

  • (some close between 3-5 am)

  • Students can check out a key when locked out of their room, check out board games, cookware for the community kitchen, a vacuum, etc

Dining Options

• Free-flow: any of the 4 dining halls on campus

  • IKE, ISR, LAR, PAR

  • Breakfast 7-10, Lunch 10:30-2:30, Dinner 4:30-9

• Variety: Weekly menu rotation that varies by facility offers a variety of dishes for every meal

  • Gluten free, vegetarian/vegan, halal, nutritional info on the app

Meal Plan Options

• 4 Meal Plans (weekly)

  • 12 Classic Meals, 15 Dining Dollars

  • 10 Classic Meals, 45 Dining Dollars

  • 42 Classic Meals (6/day), No Dining Dollars

  • No Classic Meals, 130 Dining Dollars

• Classic Meals

  • Meal swipe system

  • All-you-can-eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner

  • Unused meals do not roll over to the next week

• Dining Dollars

  • Can be used at A La Carte locations; items priced individually

  • Can be used to purchase classic meals or to treat friends

  • Can roll over for just the next week

• Illini Cash

  • Load money onto an I-Card to use at campus locations

ALL OF THIS AND MORE ON THE APP!!!

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts

• Home to 300+ performances a year

• Contains 2 blocks, 5 theaters, and 5 levels - including 2 levels of underground parking

• Home of the Music, Theater, and Dance departments

• Great Hall inside is one of the most acoustically perfect halls in the world (designed by

  • Its chairs are made of a material replicating sound absorption properties of the human body

  • Designed by Max Abramovitz, an alumni who also designed the State Farm Center and the Lincoln Center in New York City

Morrill-Burrill Pathway

• Life Sciences Departments

  • Mostly classrooms and lab space

• Built on the land where Dr. Burrill, one of our first faculty members, grazed his cattle

• Rogers Adams Lab

  • Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

  • Alumni have developed many products, such as: Tide, Cheerios, DiGiorno Pizza, and Cottonelle tissue

• Most science programs (bio, chem, etc) housed in this portion of campus

  • Engineering - north of green, ACES at the SE portion of campus

• Carle College of Medicine

  • First class was 2018

  • World’s first engineering-based medical school

Music Scene

• State Farm Center

  • Kid Cudi, Rascal Flatts, Bob Dylan, Jay-Z

• Canopy Club

  • Smashing Pumpkins, Fall Out Boy, Ween, Umphrey’s Magee, Snoop Dogg

• Foellinger Auditorium

  • Doja Cat, B.B. King, Duke Ellington, Lil Wayne, REO Speedwagon, The Black-Eyed Peas

Natural History Building (1892)

• Integrative Biology, Geology, Geography, and Atmospheric Sciences

• NHB’s brand-new second mammoth outside, first is a fossil inside

  • Funding for the mammoth came from the Art in Architecture Program

• Newly renovated - features include:

  • Includes smart lecture halls and modernized laboratories for advanced courses in life sciences

  • Visualization studio for analyzing satellite weather data and space mission data from NASA

  • New “hyperwall” in auditorium shows ocean currents, atmospheric circulations, and storms

• Green building! LEED certified by the U.S. Green Building Council

Harker Hall

• University of Illinois Foundation

  • Calls alumni, fundraises for the university

  • Oldest building on campus (1877)

    • Morrow House first structure on campus (1870)

      • Not a building bc it’s uninhabitable :(

Noyes Lab

• Chemical Sciences

  • Physical, organic, and analytical chemistry

• Mostly research labs and classrooms, but also houses the Chemistry Library

• Connected to the chemistry annex via an underground tunnel

• Pronounced like “noise” - do the “no yes” joke if you want

• Notable alumni: St. Elmo Brady - first African-American in the US to receive a Ph.D. in Chemistry

The Quad

• Center of campus for our 35,000 undergrad and 20,500 grad/professional students go

• Quad events put on by the Illini Union Board - student run

  • Quad Day - anecdotes relevant

  • Spring Jam

    • Lil Yachty, T-Pain, Post Malone, Sean Kingston

  • iHelp

  • Movie Nights

• Many academic buildings surround the Quad, but many are off the Quad as well

• Quad Cam

Illini Union

• Dedicated in 1941 and expanded in 1962

  • 1st lady Eleanor Roosevelt attended its 1st birthday celebration and even cut the celebration cake

• ~11,000 people pass through each day

• First Floor

  • Courtyard Café, restaurants, bank, convenience store, art gallery, study spaces, meeting rooms, ATMs

• Lower Level

  • Food court, study space, Rec Room with bowling, pool, and video games

• Second Floor

  • 72 guest-room hotel, student organizations office, meeting rooms, Gender and Sexuality Resource Center, Legal Services, and Illinois Leadership Center, etc

• Speak on RSO’s, getting involved, Quad Day, etc

Altgeld Hall

• Mathematics and Actuarial Sciences

• Similar Altgeld Halls and “castles” located at other Illinois colleges, all inspired by Illinois governor John Altgeld

• Altgeld has 20 levels - for now, it is currently being renovated and its completion date is unknown

Alma Mater

• Stop for photo op here

• Sculpted by world-famous sculptor, and Illinois alumni, Lorado Taft

• Motto is “Learning and Labor”

  • Inscription reads: “to thy happy children of the future, those of the past send greetings”

• Dressed up for special occasions

  • winter clothes, big sports wins, graduation, etc

• QUAD CAM

Bardeen Quad

• Home to Grainger Library

  • One of the largest engineering libraries in the country

• Named after John Bardeen - former faculty member, only two-time winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics

• Engineering Open House (every spring)

  • Program meant to demonstrate everything that is fascinating about engineering

  • Tesla coil concert, a self-driving solar car, and a tent of battling robots, to name a few

Green Street & Campustown

• Main social center of campus, tons of great restaurants and shops

  • Target, Cracked, Dunkin, 2 Subways, 3 Jimmy Johns

  • Great place to come back to after tour

• 25% of our out-of-state students are international, which is reflected in our local food options

  • Shawarma Joint, Sakanaya, Cravings, etc

Student Services Arcade Building

• Career Center

  • Provides career counseling, resume workshops, career library, interview critiques, workshops on salary negotiation and applying to grad school

• Illinois graduates are ranked #3 in the country by corporate recruiters

• Countless career fairs throughout the year which give students the opportunity to meet & talk with potential employers

Office of Student Financial Aid

• Walk-In Hours Monday-Friday 10-4

  • Closed 12-1

• 72% of all undergrads receive some form of financial assistance

• 100% of all students with need will receive some form of need-based aid

Turner Student Services Building

• Office of the Dean of Students

  • Student Assistance Center

  • Off-Campus Community Living

  • Office for Student Conflict Resolution

  • Fraternity & Sorority Affairs

  • Emerging Basic Needs Center

• Office of Minority Student Affairs

  • Tutoring and Academic Services

  • Advising and Mentoring

• Counseling Center

  • Covered by student health fee, so no charge to students

  • Same-day appointments, online scheduling, and urgent appointments available

Bookstore

• Only official University bookstore

• All profits support student events and programs provided by the Illini Union

• Online price-checker available

• Where you go to get ID’s taken

• DGS academic advising office on the 5th floor

Greek Life

• About a quarter of our undergrads are part of the greek community

• Members participate in philanthropic, social, and extracurricular activities

• Largest Greek community in the country with over 90 chapters

  • 39 sororities, 52 fraternities (not including honorary and major-based)

• Students who are involved in Greek organizations at the U of I have higher graduation rates and GPAs compared to students who are not

Henry Administration Building (1912)

• Turn in tuition and other payments to the University here, check student accounts

• University President’s office on the third floor

• Has lots of classrooms to host general education class discussions (e.g., RHET 105 or MATH 220)

English Building (1905)

• Departments of English, Rhetoric, and Business and Technical Writing

• Originally a women’s building

  • Had a gym on the second floor and a pool in the lower level - both gone now

• Humanities at Illinois

  • Dozens of Humanities majors in the college of LAS - African American studies, Classics, Philosophy, etc

  • Humanities Research Institute on campus

• Eternal Flame

  • “A lover’s kiss will bring eternal bliss” The myth states that if a couple kisses beneath the flame their love will be eternal

  • The current “flame” is now a light bulb that sometimes turned off to save electricity

    • Now their relationship is “on and off” cue laughter

  • This tradition supposedly developed because men would wait outside of the former Women’s Building (now English Building) before their dates

Lincoln Hall

• College of LAS

• Memorial to Abraham Lincoln

  • The sides of the building are engraved with quotes & murals depicting scenes from his life

  • Lincoln’s sculpture (1928) is just outside Lincoln Hall Theater, and his nose is just like the one at Springfield

    • In 1979, the bust was stolen and relocated to a tree stump on the Florida Avenue golf course

Lincoln Hall Room Talk

• Classes

  • Academic life compared to social life

• Class Sizes

  • 80% of classes are 50 students or less

  • 19:1 student faculty ratio

  • Class sizes capped at 750

  • Every large lecture comes with a small discussion or lab section

  • Every professor has to have office hours at least once a week

    • Great opportunity to talk about research options, every student can do research

    • Most professors have much more office hours than once a week, communication with faculty is largely encouraged in classes

  • Advising

    • Weekly emails sent out by advisors with reminders, resources, opportunities, etc

    • At least one academic advisor per department - many had more

      • Actuarial advisor Stefanie Klabjor-Goderich probably does the work that 5 people might be doing somewhere else

    • Departments offer peer advisors to give you a good perspective for advice

  • Gen-Ed Requirements

    • 11 “buckets” you have to dip into, and many gen-ed courses will count for 2 or 3 of these buckets

    • If you have taken AP, IB or any sort of college credit before coming here then UIUC is likely to accept that credit - personal experience

    • Experience with few but fun gen-eds

  • Registration experience

  • Experience with changing majors, double majors, minors

  • Credit hours, course schedule, gen eds you’ve taken, etc - start with the basics

Foellinger Auditorium

• Holds lectures, concerts and other special events

  • Speakers include Bill Gates, Eleanor Roosevelt, Nick Offerman, and former President Barack Obama

  • Concerts include Doja Cat, Duke Ellington, Lil Wayne, The Black-Eyed Peas, and REO Speedwagon

  • Seats 1,361 people - yet the largest lecture class is 750 people

  • Pineapple at the top of the building is a universal symbol of welcome

Gregory Hall

• College of Media and the Departments of History and Philosophy

  • College of Media resources in the building include: Media Design Center, Broadcast Lab, Editing/Research Lab, Video Editing Suite, Reporting Lab, Photojournalism Lab, Audio Editing Lab

• Named after our first president, John Gregory

  • Grave lies between HAB and Altgeld Hall

• Houses a Communications Library that offers 8 TVs set to international news broadcasts in many different languages

Main Library

• 20 Departmental Libraries across campus

• Library and computer lab are open as late as 2:30 AM on weekdays and 9:00 PM on the weekends

• Amenities in Libraries: computer labs, group study rooms, coffee shops, digital equipment rentals

• Residence Hall labs are open 24 hours

• Over 24 million resources (journals, books, articles, etc.)

• Students can check out up to 99 books at a time!!

• Rare book and Manuscript Library on 3rd floor

  • First folio of Shakespeare (1623), the oldest book printed on moveable type, and the original manuscript of War of the Worlds

Observatory

• National Historic Landmark (built in the late 1800s)

• Usually not open, but hosts open house events for students to use the telescopes and see plants up close

Morrow Plots

• Oldest experimental field in the western hemisphere

• Most valuable corn field in the world

• Students are rumored to risk expulsion if they are caught in the field (BS)

South Quad

• Point out BIF to Business students

• Architecture Building, David Kinley Hall (Political Science and Econ), Temple Buell Hall (Urban Planning), and Mumford Hall (ACES)

• Mumford House (1870)

  • The old white, prairie house on the South Quad

  • Oldest structure still standing on campus; was originally designed as a model farmhouse

• McFarland Memorial Bell Tower (2008)

  • Donated by Rich McFarland in honor of his wife, Sarah McFarland

Carl Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

• Named after Carl Woese, a UIUC professor who discovered Archaea, the third kingdom of life

• Projects include developing improvements of photosynthesis funded by Bill Gates and research into the origins of life in the universe funded by NASA

• “The Blobs” are sculptures that signify the child-like creativity of biologists

• UIUC is the #1 recipient in National Science Foundation funding

• Research opportunities available to every student on campus, not just science students

Study Abroad

• Over 350 available programs in over 50 countries

• Talk about yours and friends’ experiences

• 43% of semester programs are equal to or less than average in-state tuition

• Programs include semester, year-long, summer and winter break programs

• Costs vary from place to place and many scholarships are available

Bevier Hall

• Food Science & Human Nutrition (FSHN) and Human Development & Family Studies (HDFS)

  • Both are in ACES

• 2 student-run businesses, Bevier Café and Spice Box

  • Both provide a hands-on learning experience for undergrads

  • Bevier Café pay-what-you-can system

Campus Recreation Center East (CRCE)

• Holds locker rooms, multi-purpose gym, free weights, and aerobic fitness center

• Expanded in 2004 to include a pool, water slide, hot tub, indoor track and more

• Cost of use is included as part of fees

• Intramural and Club Sports

  • Club sports are competitive and have tryouts (like ice hockey)

  • Intramural sports are relaxed, allowing you to get a group of friends together and play

  • All games take place at ARC and CRCE or fields on campus

• CRCE is 1 of 2 recreation centers on campus, the 2nd being the Activities and Recreation Center (ARC):

  • 3x larger than CRCE

  • Has indoor track, weight room, indoor, and outdoor pools, basketball/volleyball courts, rock climbing wall, sauna, squash, racquetball and handball, courts, outdoor tennis courts, combat room, reflection room, group cycling room

McKinley Health Center (1925)

• The official campus health center, two of them on opposite ends of campus

• All students taking 6+ credit hours pay a health service fee to access all of McKinley’s services

  • Primary care, mental health, women’s health, health education, etc

• Pharmacy, lab and radiology onsite

• The Self Care Stations provide FREE over-the-counter self-care supplies

• McKinley’s Dial-A-Nurse is available 24/7 to answer any questions or coordinate healthcare needs

• Carle and OSF Hospitals are located in close proximity to campus if emergency care is needed

Campus Safety

• University Police patrol campus, along with the Champaign and Urbana Police Departments

• Student Bike or Walking Patrol on campus 9 PM - 2 AM

• Public Safety Building right on campus—campus police, etc

• Emergency telephones throughout campus are connected to police stations immediately via intercom

  • Response time is 90 seconds or less

  • Interconnected, you can use multiple phones if needed

• Safe Rides and Safe Walks programs provide transportation for students from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. approximately- exact hours change throughout year

  • SafeRides is an MTD shuttle system to help give rides at night if there is not a bus available nearby

  • SafeWalks is a program run by the UI Police, which provides a personal escort on campus if you have been studying late

  • Emergency Text Messaging System and Crime Alert e-mails

    • Some might have the impression that we have more crime, that is only because all the crime that occurs is reported to everyone for maximum transparency

    • Knowledge is power and it will always be better for the campus to always know than be left in the dark about things like that

• Security Cameras: Over 800 on campus

  • Focus on housing and recreational centers

  • Provide a live feed to the police that is accessible anywhere

Child Development Lab (1955)

• Undergraduate and graduate students are given hands-on experience to use theory, research, and practice while observing and interacting with children

• Preschool and child care program for children 6 weeks to 5 years old

• Students in Early Childhood Education and HDFS work with the children along with full-time professional staff

Gregory Street Shops, Restaurants, and Apartments

• School of Social Work

  • 4 yr. program with a 1-year Master’s degree offered

  • Great degree for working in schools, hospitals, courts, clinics, senior centers or adoption agencies

  • Alternative to Psychology, more hands-on practicum

• Employment While on Campus

  • Many employment opportunities with the university

    • Friends’ jobs include: CRCE, dining halls, I ISTAR, lab assistant, EMT for football games

  • Virtual Job Board is a wonderful tool

    • How I became an ISTAR

  • Campus Recreation and Dining Halls are the largest student employers

    • Private businesses also provide great job opportunities

• Where to live after University Housing (can point to apartments on Gregory)

  • Most students move to apartments or Greek housing after freshman/sophomore year

  • Most privately owned apartments are a 10 minute walk from the Main Quad

  • Share experiences at Greek/PCH housing

• Chez Veterans Center (2015)

  • Space for those who have served or their families

  • Intended to ease the transition to University life from service

Cultural and Resource Centers

• 9 on campus

• 5 Houses which each offer one lunch for a day in the week to anyone who comes by (Monday-Friday)

  • Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Center

  • Asian American Center

    • International Education Center inside

  • La Casa Cultural Latina

  • Native American House

  • Salaam Middle East and North African Center

• Other 4 centers are Gender and Sexuality Resources Center, Diversity and Social Justice Education, and the Women’s Resources Center

Transportation

• Mostly a walking campus

• Great bus system; 10+ different bus lines cross through campus

  • Campus routes run until 3 am on weekdays and 5 am on weekends

  • 5-minute service between residence halls and classes

  • Buses also run to downtown Champaign, downtown Urbana, grocery stores, movie theaters and the mall

  • The cost of using the buses is included with student fees

  • Share personal experience and ease when using the app

• Bikes are also a popular method of transportation

  • ~9 miles of bike paths across campus

• Freshmen are allowed to bring their own car, but the yearly cost of a parking pass is $780

  • Most people do not bring cars to campus - it’s not necessary

  • Zipcars (car booking program) is available on campus

  • Uber and Lyft service Urbana and Champaign

Accessibility on Campus [Typically done outside of Lincoln Hall]

• First curb cuts at a post-secondary institution

• Illinois was the first post-secondary institution to provide a support services program enabling students with disabilities to attend in 1948

• Office of Disability, Resources and Educational Services (DRES) provides support to students on campus at no cost to students

  • DRES has the best accessible transportation system for students at any college in the U.S.

  • Organized the National Wheelchair Basketball Association; held the first tournament at Illinois

  • Illinois wheelchair racers are also historically among the best in the world

  • Provides support to students with both visible and invisible disabilities

  • Organized the National Wheelchair Basketball Association; held the first tournament at Illinois

    • Illinois wheelchair racers are also historically among the best in the world

Sustainability

• Student Sustainability Committee (SSC): allocates about $1.5 million annually towards these projects

  • We have one of the largest green funds in American higher education today

• Our National Soybean Research Center has a compost tumbler, the first publicly accessible compost drop-off on campus