New Faculty Orientation (NFO)

The 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC) will be held in Chicago from August 19-22, with main events at the United Center and McCormick Place.

While there are no planned DNC-related events on campus, and UIC is not in the DNC’s security perimeter, we anticipate significant public transportation and traffic delays due to UIC’s proximity to the United Center and the downtown area.

Please visit the City of Chicago’s Emergency Management & Communications website for up-to-date information as well as transportation and traffic assistance.

For live traffic, street closures, and emergency updates for the DNC: To opt in, TEXT DNC to 2-2-6-7-8-7 or download the Chicago OEMC app. For more information, please click here.

For the latest campus guidance and information, please refer to the official campus announcement dated August 1, 2024.

Updated: August 1, 2024

Discover the rich history of your new academic home through an engaging 50-minute presentation from former UIC Historian Jason Marcus Waak. Learn how UIC evolved from its humble beginnings at Navy Pier to becoming a premier, urban R1 institution in the heart of the city. Following the presentation, enjoy a guided shuttle tour of key sites and landmarks that define UIC’s unique story.

Location: Richard J. Daley Library | 801 S Morgan St, Room 1-470
Time: 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.

Want to learn more about how UIC is preparing the next generation of surgeons nationwide to foster innovation in surgical education and research? Opened in 2020, the Surgical Innovation Training Laboratory (SITL) is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to contemporary and future surgical training, innovation and technological research. Guided by SITL Director Dr. Liaohai Leo Chen, this 30-minute hands-on tour will showcase simulation, imaging, 3D printing/reconstruction, tele-surgery, artificial intelligence interaction, and traditional surgery using cutting edge communication and visualization technologies. You and your family won’t want to miss this opportunity!

Location: Neuropsychiatric Institute | 912 S Wood St
Time: 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Join the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE) for a new faculty event in support of excellence in teaching at UIC. Teaching with CATE provides new faculty with 3 must-attend workshops for a successful first week of class: The Inclusive Syllabus (1:00-1:30pm), The First Day of Class (2:00-2:30pm), and Keeping Students Engaged (3:00-3:30pm). Each 30-minute workshop is followed with 30 minutes of consultation time so faculty can learn more about the workshop topics, get to know the CATE staff, and access CATE resources that support new faculty. RSVP for one workshop, or all three.

Location: Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence | 924 S Morgan St
Time: 1:00 p.m.-3:30 p.m.

Stop by to see how video lectures and lightboards work in a professional studio space! The Instructional Design and Media Production Studio (IDMPS) is a non-academic unit that provides space for UIC instructors to bring a creative and digital mindset to enhance their teaching with digital tools. Faculty engage with the studio to collaborate with instructional designers and media specialists, and pursue learning opportunities. The studio is also the production unit for the design of courses for new online degree programs in close collaboration with UIC instructors, the colleges and schools, and Extended Campus. Learn more by visiting us in Room 2111.

Location: Richard J. Daley Library | 801 S Morgan St, Room 2111
Time: 9:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.

Physical health is essential for maintaining a work/life balance, bringing your best self to the classroom or laboratory, and overall well-being. Did you know as a faculty member, you receive two-months free membership to our state-of-the-art Recreation Centers? Explore these key gems for faculty and student wellness. On the east campus, tour the Student Recreational Facility (SRF) across from Student Center East to experience the amenities offered, including a lap and leisure pool, spa, multi-activity courts, track, fitness gym, and more. On the west campus, tour the Sport & Fitness Center (SFC) to see the racquetball and basketball courts in action on your way to the six-lane lap pool. Discover how our facilities can support your health and wellness journey!

East Campus Location: Student Recreational Facility (SRF) | 737 S Halsted St
West Campus Location: Sport & Fitness Center (SFC) | 828 S Wolcott Ave
Time: Every half-hour from 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

Jason Marcus Waak has been immersed in UIC history since graduate school. He spent thirteen years in the Office of the Historian and later served as Historian/Contributing Editor for UIC Alumni Magazine. He continues his passion for campus history as a lecturer, trainer, and writer. He is a frequent guest to campus serving departments, organizations, scholars, and the Alumni Association with institutional history and background. His written work has been featured in his column “Ask The Historian”, Journal of Illinois History, and conference presentations.  This material covers UIC topics including Navy Pier campus, student life, consolidation, minority recruitment, athletics, and neighborhood relations. His scholarship also includes naval history including Naval Training Schools, Navy Pier, Chicago, history of Navy Chaplain Corps, and biographical work on Admirals Willis Augustus Lee and Gordon Pai’ea Chung-Hoon. He served as project manager for the book, University of Illinois at Chicago: A Pictorial History and consulted on two books covering campus architecture. He is a two-time UIC graduate, BA (History) 1996 & M.Ed 1998 and a proud member of his family’s UIC Triplets as both his father and daughter are also UIC alumni.

Dr. Liaohai Leo Chen is the Director of Surgical Innovation and Training Laboratory (SITL) and a Research Professor of Surgery at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He joined the Department of Surgery at UIC eight years ago from Utah State University, where he was a USTAR professor in chemistry. Before Utah State, he was a molecular biologist and Nano-Bio group leader at Argonne National Laboratory. Dr. Chen received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Rochester in 1997, followed by postdoctoral training at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Trained in chemistry but has been working on a variety of cross-disciplinary projects, he accumulated broad yet extensive experience in molecular imaging and spectroscopy, biophysics, chemistry, biology, material science, and biomedical engineering. Dr Chen’s main research interests lie in the development of new technologies for imaging-guided therapy, theranostics and telesurgery. As the Director of SITL, his current research efforts include: 1) Developing smart imaging probes and new imaging modalities to delineate tumor margins and unveil nerves and vessels beneath the tissue surface during surgery, thereby reducing intraoperative complications and improve surgical outcomes; 2) Assessing/Quantifying tissue bio-status (perfusion, stress, redox, etc.) in real-time during surgery, thus providing feedback to smart instruments, surgical maneuvers, and digital pathology; 3) Developing next generation of a mobile operating room (OR) integrated with surgical robots and imaging modalities to enable telesurgery; and 4) Working towards soft tissue surgical navigation and surgical subtask automation using a Da Vinci research kit robot through both AI-assisted and fully AI approaches.

Miquel Gonzalez-Meler is a professor in Global Change Biology at LAS who joined UIC in 2000. He is also Associate vice chancellor for team science and undergraduate research, Assistant Vice Provost for academic leadership, and faculty fellow at the office of diversity, equity and engagement. His research focuses on the interactions and feedback between humans, the biosphere, and the atmosphere in the context of climate change. He has over 100 publications, has graduated over 17 PhD and MSc students, mentored over 300 undergraduate students in research, and hosted 16 visiting scientists in his lab. His climate change research is being funded by NSF, USDA, EPA, DOE, nonprofits, foundations, and international organizations. He has recently received a multimillion-dollar DOE grant in a multidisciplinary team to study and model climate change impacts and mitigation solutions at the urban neighborhood scale. He is an NSF-NEON ambassador working on achieving equitable access to research infrastructure. He is also funded for work in education, inclusivity, and on institutional cultural change of academic institutions. His service includes P&T committees for the Department, College, and campus, associate dean for academic affairs, campus research board, LAS executive committee, general education committee, chair of the Honors college educational policy committee and honors council, provost mentoring taskforce, president’s Access 2030 taskforce, CATE launch committee among others. He is the co-director of the DuSable Scholars Program at UIC and the director of the UIC-City Colleges of Chicago summer internship program (UIC4). He is currently on the editorial board of three scientific journals and has been in the advisory committee for NSF. When not working he enjoys playing soccer, travelling with family, and learning about history.

Aixa Alfonso, a native Puerto Rican, earned her PhD from UW Madison in 1986 and joined the University of Illinois Chicago in January 1996. She is a cell and developmental biologist in the department of Biological Sciences and has been the Faculty Lead of Latin@s Gaining Access to Networks for Advancement in Science (L@s GANAS) since its inception in 2016. L@s GANAS began as an HSI-STEM program supported by the US Department of Education. Receipt of this grant reinforced UIC’s federal designation as a Hispanic Serving Institution. L@s GANAS promotes the engagement, persistence, and success of Latinx students in STEM fields. Up to date L@s GANAS has directly engaged 186 students in long term, meaningful research experiences and worked with over 400 students in a selected group of STEM disciplines. Alfonso is a recipient of a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, and her research has been funded by NIH and NSF. She served the scientific community as Program Officer in the Division of IOS, Biology Directorate at NSF (2007 – 2009). Subsequently she served as a Visiting Associate Dean of UIC’s Graduate College Diversity office. She is committed to access and the success of students interested in science and has mentored 13 graduate students and 76 undergraduates in their research projects. Among them, 30% identify as Latin@.

Lori Mumpower joined UIC in May as the new executive director for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence and teaching associate professor of English. Dr. Mumpower holds a doctorate degree in texts and technology from the University of Central Florida; a master’s degree in composition, rhetoric and literacy from the University of Oklahoma; and a bachelor’s degree in English and mathematics from Columbia College in South Carolina. She has served as director for the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University since 2017. Mumpower has extensive experience in faculty professional development, in inclusive pedagogies, instructional innovation and in developing and implementing programs to support faculty mentoring.

Dr. Katie Pierson is the Associate Director for Educational Development at UIC’s Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE). She is an experienced teacher, program facilitator, and educational developer who is passionate about helping instructors implement inclusive and equitable teaching, course design, and assessment practices that honor the multitude of lived experiences and cultural backgrounds students bring to the classroom. Before joining CATE, Katie was an Assistant Director at Northwestern University’s Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching. She holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies from Florida State University.

The process of Conocimiento was developed by cultural activists in the early 1970s. It is rooted in the influence and inspiration of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian educator and philosopher who believed that we can teach each other about one another through dialogue. It is a basic tool for developing group connections. Within this Conocimiento, we explored our identities and experiences as faculty committed to UIC. It is through this process that we discover ways that we can connect with and support each other throughout our careers.

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This workshop will prepare you for understanding and getting to know UIC’s diverse student population and how to support their needs in and out of the classroom.

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It’s not too late to incorporate inclusive teaching practices into your classroom! This workshop will prepare you for the first day of class and beyond as we share bite-sized inclusive teaching activities that you can add to your teaching toolbox. Not only will these 5 minute activities get students engaged and build community, but they will also foster students’ metacognition.

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This workshop will prepare you for Promotion and Tenure (P&T) including the materials and resources faculty need for promotion and/or tenure related needs. Whether being a tenure system or non-tenure system faculty member, this workshop will provide several helpful resources to help faculty successfully navigate through the P&T process at UIC.

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