New Faculty Orientation (NFO)
Introduction
Welcome aboard! It is our absolute pleasure to welcome you to the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). We are delighted that you have chosen to join us, and we are glad that you are now a member of our engaged community of internationally recognized educators, scholars and researchers.
Online Modules
To support your introduction to all things UIC, we’ve developed a range of resources to help you navigate the many aspects of teaching and research here.
- The New Faculty Orientation online modules are designed to serve as a helpful guide throughout your first several months.
- Explore a menu of topics and discover a variety of useful campus resources at your own pace.
- We encourage you to complete these modules prior to attending New Faculty Orientation in August 2025.
Access Online Modules
New Faculty Pre-Orientation: August 19-20, 2025
Join us for optional pre-orientation activities held on UIC’s east and west campuses. Families are invited to participate!
August 19, 2025
Ready Set Teach: A Welcome for New Faculty
This event is open to new faculty starting at UIC in the 2025-2026 academic year.
Join the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE) for a new faculty event in support of excellence in teaching at UIC. This event provides new faculty with 3 must-attend workshops for a successful first week of class: Inclusive Syllabus, Teaching with AI, and First Day of Class, and time for participants to build community among their new faculty cohort. Each workshop is followed with a break and 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. Coffee, tea, and refreshments will be served.
This event will take place on Tuesday, August 19, 1:30-4:00pm. It will be held on-campus, in-person in the Teaching Excellence Building (TEB) Room 201 located on 924 S. Morgan Street.
For any questions about this event, please contact teaching@uic.edu.
August 20, 2025
Agenda
| Activity | Address | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Tour | 800 S. Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60607 | 10:00 AM |
| Student Recreation Facility | 8737 S. Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60607 | 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM |
| UIC Architectural Tour | 940 W. Harrison St, Chicago, IL 60607 | 1:00 PM |
| Surgical Innovation Training Laboratory (SITL) Tour | 912 S. Wood St, Chicago, IL 60612 | 2:30 PM |
To Be Announced
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Tour
What makes art radical? Why was the first building at Hull-House an art gallery? How did arts education change during Jane Addams’s lifetime? The exhibition Radical Craft: Arts Education at Hull-House 1889-1935 celebrates the work of immigrant artists and reformers at the country’s most important social settlement. Join a museum educator on this 50-minute tour to learn how Hull-House’s art education programs changed the neighborhood around them. Handle objects made from the time, participate in a community weaving project, and build your own exhibition book as you go.
Student Recreation Facility
Visit the UIC Student Recreation Facility between 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM to explore state-of-the-art fitness and wellness amenities. Bring the entire family to enjoy fun activities like the pool and climbing wall, and experience all that the facility has to offer.
Patrons must be 5 years of age or older to access the climbing wall. For details on age requirements and other policies, please visit the UIC Recreation and Wellbeing’s General Policies webpage.
UIC Architectural Tour
Join Jessica Williams, longtime UIC linguistics professor, for a one-hour guided walking tour of UIC’s campus — recently featured in UIC today — the nation’s first fully planned public urban university. Learn how architect Walter Netsch used bold Brutalist design to promote educational ideals, earning both architectural praise and public criticism. The tour also delves into the controversy surrounding the campus’s construction, including its modernist style and the displacement of a working-class neighborhood.
Surgical Innovation Training Laboratory (SITL) Tour
Experience a one-hour, behind-the-scenes tour of the Surgical Innovation Training Laboratory (SITL), where visitors will gain insight into cutting-edge medical training and advanced surgical technologies.
Families are welcome to participate in all pre-orientation activities. Child care services will not be available on this date.
Planning Your Visit
Left
Getting to UIC
For driving directions, please visit UIC’s Visit and Directions webpage.
Parking Information
Parking is available at the Halsted/Taylor Parking Structure (760 W Taylor St.), and complimentary parking passes will be provided at check-in.
Public Transportation
If you are taking public transportation, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) website offers helpful route-planning tools and up-to-date service information.
Getting Around UIC
To help you navigate campus, refer to the UIC Campus Map.
Right
Reminders:
- Plan your travel accordingly, as commute times may vary throughout the day.
- In support of our sustainability efforts, please bring a reusable water bottle for all New Faculty Pre-Orientation activities.
Attire
- We recommend wearing comfortable, breathable clothing and walking shoes as you explore campus. If you plan to participate in activities at the Student Recreation Facility, please also bring:
- A swimsuit if you would like to swim (towels are provided).
- Comfortable clothing and closed toed shoes for the climbing wall.
New Faculty Orientation: August 21, 2025
Cardinal Room, Student Center East (SCE) | 750 S Halsted St, Chicago, IL 60607
Agenda, Presenters, Logistics
Agenda
| Time | Activity | Presenter(s) | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10:00 AM-10:30 AM | Check-In | Second Floor Escalator Landing | |
| 10:30 AM-11:30 AM | Welcome Remarks and Conocimiento Activity | Mike Stieff, Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs | Illinois Room B |
| 11:30 AM-12:30 PM | Workshop A – Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence: Active Learning in Every Classroom | Lori Mumpower; April Andry Rah’man; Katie Pierson; Margaret Gonzalez | Illinois Room B |
| Workshop B – Instructional Design and Media Production Studio: Creating Presence in the Classroom | Chris Blakesley | White Oak Room | |
| 12:30 PM-1:15 PM | Lunch | Enjoy lunch with peers and presenters. | Illinois Room B |
| Resource Fair | Explore resources available to support your success at UIC. | Fort Dearborn | |
| 1:15 PM-2:30 PM | Workshop C – Promotion & Tenure: Criteria, Expectations, and Mentorship | Faizan Abid; Jamie Chriqui | Illinois Room B |
| 2:30 PM-3:30 PM | Workshop D – Getting to Know UIC Students | Sue Farruggia, Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs | Illinois Room B |
| Elevating Your Networks at UIC: Research Centers / Panel Discussion for Senior Faculty | Facilitated by Dr. Joanna Groden, Vice Chancellor for Research | White Oak Room | |
| 3:30 PM-4:00 PM | Break and Transition Activity | Illinois Room B | |
| 4:00 PM-4:30 PM | Leadership Remarks | UIC Senior Leadership | Illinois Room B |
| 4:30 PM-5:00 PM | Closing Networking Activity with Provost Karen Colley and UIC Senior Leadership | Illinois Room B |
To Be Announced
Lori Mumpower, CATE Executive Director
Dr. Lori Mumpower is the Executive Director for the Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence. She joined UIC in May 2024, having spent 6 years directing the teaching and learning center at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Dr. Mumpower earned her B.A. in mathematics and English at Columbia College, her M.A. in Composition, Rhetoric, and Literacy at the University of Oklahoma, and her Ph.D. in Texts and Technology from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Mumpower’s scholarly research centers on educational development, student-centered teaching practices, and faculty mentoring.
Chris Blakesley, Instructional Design & Media Production Studio Executive Director
Dr. Chris Blakesley joined the Studio in 2023. In this role, he conducts strategic planning, directs initiatives, implements digital learning projects, and oversees the delivery of its services. Dr. Blakesely has 17 years of experience consulting directly with instructors and designing digital learning solutions across disciplines. He has previously served as a Learning Engineer at Carnegie Mellon University’s Eberly Center of Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Curriculum and Instruction where he co-created a mixed reality mobile learning platform as well as an award-winning simulation about cryogenics and thermodynamics. He also holds a M.S. in Instructional Technology from Utah State University, and a B.A. in Theater and Media Arts from Brigham Young University.
Sue Farruggia, Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs
Dr. Sue Farruggia is the Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs. Her research interests include studying adult influence on student success and development within a cultural perspective, the influence of universities and colleges, faculty, parents, important non-parental adults (VIPs), mentors and transition coaches on the development of academic achievement and well-being, and translational research to identify areas for change and create/facilitate/test evidence-based intervention and prevention initiatives. Farruggia is currently working on issues of Undergraduate Student Success: Identifying the factors that promote retention and graduation in college among diverse students in an urban environment, Foster Care Youth: Understanding the factors that promote a positive transition to adulthood, with a focus on education, for youth in the child welfare system, and Youth mentoring: Examining the qualities and characteristics of mentors and mentoring programs that promote student educational achievement and well-being.
Resource Fair Participants
| Advanced Cyberinfrastructure for Education and Research |
| Campus Advocacy Network/Women’s Leadership and Resource Center |
| Center for the Advancement of Teaching Excellence (CATE) |
| Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change |
| Corporate & Foundation Relations - Advancement |
| Credit Union 1 |
| Honors College |
| Instructional Design and Media Production Studio (IDMPS) |
| Learning Technology Solutions |
| Study Abroad |
| UIC Children’s Center |
| UIC Human Resources |
| Undergraduate Research and External Fellowships |
| United Faculty |
| University Library |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Animal Care & Institutional Biosafety |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Postdoctoral Affairs |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Protection of Research Subjects |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Research Data Initiatives & Information |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Research Development |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Research Integrity |
| Vice Chancellor for Research, Research Resources Center |
Child Care
We are pleased to provide child care for children ages 3 to 12. A team of UIC staff will be available onsite, offering engaging and interactive activities for children throughout the day. The child care area will be located on the same floor as the orientation activities. If you require child care, you will need to complete a waiver form at check-in. For more information about UIC’s Protection of Minors Policy, please visit: https://hr.uic.edu/employees/protection-of-minors/.
Planning Your Visit
Left
Getting to UIC
For driving directions, please visit UIC’s Visit and Directions webpage.
Parking Information
Parking is available at the Halsted/Taylor Parking Structure (760 W Taylor St.), and complimentary parking passes will be provided at check-in.
Public Transportation
If you are taking public transportation, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) website offers helpful route-planning tools and up-to-date service information.
Getting Around UIC
To help you navigate campus, refer to the UIC Campus Map.
Right
Reminders:
- Plan your travel accordingly, as commute times may vary throughout the day.
- In support of our sustainability efforts, please bring a reusable water bottle for all New Faculty Orientation activities.
- Bring a fully charged electronic device or tablet to access the agenda and event materials via QR codes.
- If you’re experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or any other contagious illness, please prioritize your health and the well-being of others by staying home.
Attire
We recommend wearing business casual attire for the event.
Photo Release
Photo Release: By participating and being present during the event, you give the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) the right to use photographs or video/audio recordings taken of you during the event for educational or promotional purposes and for sharing with external news media. If you do not wish to appear in photographs during this event, please contact us.