FEATURE STORY — Winter 2005

By Mary Caroline Mitchell

Homecoming Dinner Buffet

From the left: Henry Berry, MPA '82 PAA; Katherine Starks-Lawrence '82, MBA '00 CBM; and Chuck Schrage, VP for Alumni Relations

On a Friday evening in early October a homecoming buffet dinner was held in UIS’ Public Affairs Center restaurant prior to a performance by Capitol Steps, a musical satire group of government staffers from Washington, D.C., who claim to be "the only group in America that attempts to be funnier than Congress." More than 80 alumni attended the sold-out dinner and everyone agreed it was the perfect way to spend an evening, enjoying the company of fellow alumni and laughing so hard that it hurt.

Networking Events

UIS students and alumni benefited from two networking workshops offered on campus and in downtown Springfield in mid-October. Claudia Delestowicz from the UIAA’s Alumni Career Center shared tips on the importance of networking in career development. Participants worked on developing a 30- second sound bite to use when introducing themselves, learned how to share their business cards, and received advice on the best ways to meet and greet others. Everyone was gratified to learn that 80 percent of people consider themselves shy!

In early November an Alumni Networking Roundtable was held in downtown Springfield at which participants practiced their networking skills while they picked up career tips from successful alumni professionals. Deb Cimarossa '93 CBM, MA '98 LAS, senior human resource consultant, AIG American General, spoke on "Career Mobility within Your Company." Geoff Obrzut '76 LAS, president and CEO of the Illinois Community College Board and chairman of the UIS Campus Alumni Advisory Board, presented "Board Careers in Nonprofit vs. For-Profit Organizations." Linda Koch '84 PAA, executive vice-president, Illinois Bankers Association, discussed "Using Your Professional Association to Advance Your Career." For more information about career related job workshops and counseling, visit the Career Center website at http://www.uiaa.org/careers/.

To network with other alumni, visit the UIAA's online directory at http://www.uiaa.org. Be sure to keep your own information up-to-date, as members of the Alumni Association have members-only access to a component that allows multi-level searches for alumni (throughout the U.S. and world) who are willing to provide career advice and mentoring. For information about how to access this service, contact the Alumni Association service center at 1-800-355-2586.

Lou Kutzler MA '74 PAA and Diana Carper '80 LAS (UIUC) enjoy the buffet at a Taste of UIS luncheon

Taste of UIS Luncheons

Attendance doubled this past fall at the Taste of UIS luncheons. On October 21, UIS Professors Michael Lemke and Keith Miller made a joint presentation titled "Floodplain of Dreams" at which they described UIS' involvement with the Emiquon project, a massive ecological effort to restore 7,000 acres of Illinois River floodplain to its pre-civil war state. For more information on this topic, contact Lemke at lemke.michael@uis.edu. In November, Dean of the College of Business and Management Ron McNeil made a fascinating presentation titled
"Nanotechnology: How It Might Change Your Life." Participants were given a "Nano IQ test" and their questions were more than answered by the end of the luncheon. All Taste of UIS luncheons are taped for re-broadcast in the Springfield area on public access TV, cable channel 4 and are also available on DVD. Please contact alumni@uis.edu if you are interested in obtaining a DVD of any of the luncheons.

WUIS Alumni on the Air Day

A great big THANK YOU to all UIS alumni who participated as donors, on-air personalities, and phone-answerers during the campus radio station's fall fund drive in October.Recent data shows that over half the members of WUIS are U of I alumni. While many alumni participated on other days of the fund drive, on October 20, designated Alumni on the Air Day, the following UIS alumni answered phones: Joyce Nardulli '84 LAS, Shari McCurdy MA '00 LAS, Helen Dunn MA '72 LAS, Mary Beaumont MA '89 LAS, Teresa Szabo MA '88 EHS, Bev Scobell '85, MA '90 LAS, Sally Cadigan MA '76 EHS, Shelley Hoffman '82 CBM, Mary Bohlen MA '78 PAA, Ralph Woehrmann MA '91 EHS,Robert Volkman MA '73 LAS, Mary Rechner '98 CBM, Mark Wancket MA '84 LAS, Lynn Rhoades '92 , MA '96 LAS, Bonita Ellis '80 CBM, and Teresa Ebert '02 CBM. On-air hosts during the fund drive were Tim Schweizer MBA '85 CBM, Tess Fyalka '87 LAS, MA '88 PAA, Tara McAndrew MA '85 PAA, Jim Forstall MPA '73 PAA, Randy Witter MPA '82 PAA, and Bill Hall '70 (UIUC), MA '73 LAS. During Alumni on the Air Day the Alumni Association donated four bottles of UIAA private label wine and two tickets to the November Taste of UIS lunch.

From the left: UIS Chancellor Richard D. Ringeisen, Barbara Burkhardt and Carolyn Ringeisen

Washington, D.C., Alumni

UIS alumni in the D.C. area gathered at the home of Craig '81 LAS (UIUC) and Barbara Burkhardt '84 LAS (UIUC), MA '90 LAS, PHD '94 LAS (UIUC) for an evening of food and conversation. Chancellor Richard Ringeisen, and wife, Carolyn, helped welcome the group and the Chancellor also updated everyone on the amazing changes occurring on campus. Barbara, who has her master's degree from UIS and her undergraduate degree and doctorate from the Urbana campus, informally shared with the group her experiences teaching online. As an assistant professor of English at UIS, Barbara continues to teach full-time from her desk at home in D.C. The group of 20 who attended agreed that it would be fun and worthwhile to continue gathering at least yearly.

CAAB Holiday Party

The UIS Campus Alumni Advisory Board (CAAB) enjoyed a holiday party in early December at the home of Ralph '51, MA '52 CEE (UIUC) and Nancy Hahn '81, MA '87 LAS. The CAAB assists in directing alumni activities on the Springfield campus. Members of the newly formed UIS College of Education and Human Services Alumni Council were also invited to attend.

Alumni Association Scholarship Recipients

The UIS scholarship luncheon is a joyful event each fall that brings current scholarship recipients together with the donors who have provided scholarship funding. On November 3 the lobby of Sangamon Auditorium was filled with more than 250 who were able to participate this year.

The Alumni Association has provided for two scholarships annually. This year's SSU-Full Time Scholarship went to Kristen Pruett, a UIS online student who is working toward a bachelor's degree in English literature. Kristen is a native of Colorado and currently lives in Parachute. She previously attended the University of Wyoming, where she studied music for two years. After moving back to Colorado to live near her fiancé, she changed her major to English and sought out an online program to continue her education. Her career goal is to become an editor at a publishing company and also to pursue her writing interests. She is junior at UIS and plans on graduating in December 2005. She reports that "the scholarship allows me the freedom to worry less about financing my education and to focus more on my studies." Kristen enjoys her online professors, and indicated that hard work and diligence is rewarded and encouraged by the UIS faculty.

Another recipient of an Alumni Association scholarship is Rhett Gairani, a junior majoring in Chemistry. He hopes to attend medical school and is particularly interested in infectious diseases. He graduated last May with honors from Springfield College in Illinois. A native of Springfield, Rhett is the fifth in a family of six children, and indicated the scholarship is a big help in financing his education. UIS is a family tradition for Rhett—his brothers Andrew and Victor both have degrees in Chemistry from UIS; his sister-in-law Cheryl has a degree in psychology; and his mother, Kathryn, has a bachelor's and master's degree in history from UIS. Rhett Gairani

From the UIS Peoria Alumni Chapter

Greetings from Peoria!

I hope that all of you have had the chance to start your New Year off on the right foot and that the upcoming year will be prosperous and most enjoyable for you!

I'd like to tell you a little bit about what's going on in the UIS Alumni community in Peoria. On January 22 we held a Comedy Night for UIS at Brewster's Comedy Club, located at inPlay in downtown Peoria. Despite the sudden winter chill, the event was attended by many local alumni and a good time was had by all.

There are three more events that we are planning this year to encourage interaction and participation among current and prospective UIS Alumni Association members living in the Peoria area. They are:

• Movie Night in April at one of the local theatres, with group discounts for all tickets bought as a part of the UIS Peoria group.
• A Wine Tasting Celebration held in July to provide an occasion during the summer to mix and mingle, and enjoy some premium wines and other delicacies from the area.
• UIS Peoria Center 30th Anniversary and Homecoming Celebration early in the fall,with events and final date to be determined.

As you can see, we're planning some wonderful events to encourage activity and interaction among our central Illinois alumni. What will make it work and help sustain our UIS Peoria Chapter is involvement and participation from everyone. Come out and join us; we hope to see you soon!

Sincerely, Tom Duncan '00 CBM