Sparking Change

$1.2M NIH grant backs UIC, Malcolm X College biomedical research program

Dec 13, 2021 12:30 pm

UIC and Malcolm X College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, have teamed up for a five-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to support undergraduate students training in biomedical research during the last two years of their studies.

large pack of students look up to the camera

17 companies tap more than 100 UIC students to tackle tech challenges

May 19, 2022 3:45 pm

More than 100 women and nonbinary students pursuing undergraduate degrees in computer science, data science and other tech disciplines at the University of Illinois Chicago will team up with 17 Chicago and national companies to help solve technology-related business challenges.

$1.9M NSF-funded initiative to transform UIC undergraduate chemistry offerings

Aug 25, 2021 1:45 pm

Supported by a five-year, $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation, the University of Illinois Chicago department of chemistry will launch a project consisting of evidence-based research of teaching and learning practices, course and curriculum revisions and faculty development, all with the intention of enhancing STEM education for undergraduate students.

UIC students crowded around laptop at outdoor table

$40M donation to support UIC first-gen and low-income students

Jun 16, 2021 8:30 am

The University of Illinois Chicago is the recipient of a $40 million donation from philanthropist and novelist MacKenzie Scott. It is the largest gift from an individual in school history. The funds will provide life-changing support for first-generation and low-income students attending UIC.

$5M grant to support national initiative in Latino humanities studies

Sep 22, 2021 1:45 pm

The University of Illinois Chicago has been awarded a three-year, $5 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support a national initiative in Latino humanities studies called “Crossing Latinidades: Emerging Scholars and New Comparative Directions.”

Advancing inclusion in STEM education

Jul 18, 2018 2:45 pm

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a five-year, $1 million grant through the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Inclusive Excellence Initiative. More...

The mansion at Allerton Park in Monticello, Illinois

Allerton preparing for inaugural year of Illinois' first folk school

Aug 7, 2023 2:30 pm

The Farms will offer classes, workshops, and gatherings focusing on art, outdoor education, science, storytelling, and wellness. All experiences value hands-on, experiential teaching and learning, and are facilitated by and for the members of the community.

American Talent Initiative

Jul 20, 2018 2:45 pm

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has joined the American Talent Initiative, a coalition of top universities committed to enhancing the recruitment, enrollment and graduation of high-achieving lower- and moderate-income students. More...

five students in front of Morningstar building

A new vision for tech in Chicago

Aug 23, 2022 10:45 am

Break Through Tech Chicago at UIC is changing the landscape of technology in Chicago and fostering long-term connections between students and national and local companies committed to gender equity.

two women facing the camera, one holding an award

Cairo food donation garden work wins award for community champion

Feb 27, 2023 12:30 pm

An Extension employee’s work to fight food insecurity in her community has earned her Extension’s Excellence in Diversity Award. Sarita Sawyer, community outreach worker, has been instrumental in recruiting diverse volunteers for the Cairo Pilot Food Donation Garden.

Reon Gillespie putting on UIC hat and necktie from 2018

Call Me MISTER graduates hope to inspire, mentor

May 5, 2022 2:45 pm

The first three students of UIC's Call Me MISTER initiative will graduate from the UIC College of Education May 6, and be one step closer to becoming Chicago-area teachers and mentors to students who look like them.

Chancellor Jones champions higher ed access at Ohio State lecture (video)

Apr 24, 2023 10:45 am

Under Chancellor Jones’ leadership, UIUC has achieved major milestones, including launching the Illinois Commitment program, which makes college education affordable for Illinois students from low-income families.

Kenneth Nixon, left, talks to police recruits about his own wrongful conviction at age 19 for a murder he did not commit.

Changing police culture with stories of wrongful convictions

Jun 14, 2023 11:45 am

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield developed the Wrongful Conviction Awareness and Avoidance course at the Police Training Institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Chicagoans of the Year: UI Health's Evelyn Figueroa

Dec 11, 2023 11:45 am

As busloads of migrants arrived from Texas, UI Health's Evelyn Figueroa knew she was in a position to step up and help people in need. She organized a group of over 150 physicians and nurses that has provided them over 7,000 health screenings this year.

Chicago awarded $18.5M in federal funds to create new jobs in the region

Aug 17, 2022 2:00 pm

The Discovery Partners Institute and P33 will spearhead tech-specific workforce development programs in support of an $18.5 million federal Good Jobs Challenge award announced earlier this month.

City Colleges guaranteed admission partnership

Jul 15, 2018 2:45 pm

A guaranteed admission partnership with City Colleges of Chicago (CCC) has been expanded to include all three U of I System universities and that top transfers will be eligible for scholarships through a new pilot program. More...

Astronomer Margaret Bryan and her daughters

Details unearthed about well-regarded 19th-century astronomer's life, family

Mar 27, 2023 11:15 am

UIUC professor Gregory Girolami discovered previously undisclosed details concerning Margaret Bryan, an English schoolmistress who published numerous astronomy and physics textbooks for young women.

Headline: Expansion of Digital Scholars program

Discovery Partners Institute, UIC CHANCE expand Digital Scholars

Jul 5, 2022 10:45 am

The Discovery Partners Institute and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC’s) CHANCE program, in partnership with University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, announced the expansion of its Digital Scholars Program to support and develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois.

Digital Scholars, now in its third year, is an intensive, free, five-week summer program for high school students and incoming UIC freshmen.

DPI aims to diversify Chicago's tech sector

Jun 9, 2022 8:45 am

The U of I System-led Discovery Partners Institute's Pritzker Tech Talent Labs are a resource to help increase the diverse supply of tech talent for Chicago-area businesses. DPI Director Bill Jackson writes about why it is so important in an OpEd in Crain's Chicago Business.

DPI and UIC CHANCE Announce Expansion of Digital Scholars Program

Apr 2, 2021 9:30 am

The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and University of Illinois Chicago (UIC’s) CHANCE program today announced the expansion of its Digital Scholars Program to support and develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois.

DPI expands efforts to boost diverse tech pipeline with Google support

Dec 5, 2022 1:30 pm

To kick off Computer Science Education Week, Discovery Partners Institute, part of the University of Illinois System, today announced a $200,000 grant from Google to expand its efforts to develop promising and diverse tech talent in Chicago.

Woman with laptop, her image reflected in the glass wall she leans on

DPI, Interapt, CVS Health to launch program to develop diverse tech talent for Illinois companies

Sep 23, 2022 2:30 pm

Chicago/Skills will provide tuition-free technology training and paid apprenticeship opportunities to as many as 2,500 people over five years.

DPI Launches First Apprenticeship Program with Cognizant

May 26, 2022 8:45 am

The Discovery Partners Institute’s Pritzker Tech Talent Labs is launching its first apprenticeship program in partnership with global professional services leader Cognizant, aimed at advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in the tech industry.

DPI launches statewide mobile app development program for K-12 educators

Oct 12, 2022 8:45 am

The Discovery Partners Institute, in partnership with Apple, is launching a training program for teachers in mobile app development using Swift, enabling participants to gain programming skills and bring CS concepts into their K-12 classrooms.

DPI partners with Hope Chicago to expand access to tech apprenticeships

Mar 6, 2023 11:45 am

The new multigenerational partnership will create a new pathway to lucrative tech careers for thousands of Chicago Public Schools students and their parents.

DPI Partners with OneTen to Advance Black Talent in Illinois

Feb 22, 2022 9:15 am

The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) has been inducted into the OneTen employer partner network, a coalition of leading CEOs and their companies aiming to upskill, hire, and advance one million Black individuals without four-year degrees over the next decade.

DPI's IWERC awarded $1M for computer science education research

Feb 3, 2022 10:30 am

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) at the Discovery Partners Institute has been awarded $1 million to research computer science education in Illinois with the aim of helping schools meet new statewide requirements and recruit more women and people of color into the major at Illinois universities.

Young boy with mom or female caregiver outside

DPI’s IWERC awarded funding to expand research on education issues

Jun 27, 2022 3:15 pm

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) at the Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) has been awarded a total of $275,000 in funding from three organizations — CME Group Foundation, Joyce Foundation, and Crown Family Philanthropies — that will expand IWERC’s research on Illinois education issues.

Zipporah, Matthew, and Ainsley, three of the apprentices in the Pritzker Tech Talent Labs’ Software Development Program

DPI's Software Development Program: Confronting challenge, changing lives

Apr 3, 2023 9:45 am

Discovery Partners Institute’s Pritzker Tech Talent Labs Software Development Program aims to reskill and upskill adult learners that are rethinking their careers. Meet three of the apprentices in the program: Matthew, Zipporah, and Ainsley.

DPI wins Joyce Foundation grant to examine dual-credit outcomes

Oct 25, 2022 12:00 pm

The Illinois Workforce and Education Research Collaborative (IWERC) has been awarded $94,191 by the Joyce Foundation to fund a two-year study of Illinois’ dual-credit program, which enables high school students to undertake coursework that counts for high school and college credit.

Dual credit class

Jul 20, 2018 2:45 pm

UIS is offering its first on-campus dual-credit class for high school students as part of a pilot program. The pilot course, CHE 199A: General, Organic, and Biochemistry, is taught by a faculty member and students earn high school and college credit. More...

Four Black students smiling around a table

DuSable Scholars Program aims to increase number of students of color in STEM

Aug 30, 2021 12:45 pm

In an effort to bolster the number of Black and Latino students studying STEM-related fields, the University of Illinois Chicago has established a merit-based scholarship program within the College of Engineering and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Enrollment grows to nearly 89,000 students

Sep 12, 2019 10:15 am

Enrollment this fall across the University of Illinois System grew to a record high for the seventh straight year, increasing 3.8 percent to nearly 89,000 students, President Tim Killeen announced. More...

Environmental Leadership Program prepares students to be sustainability leaders

Oct 11, 2021 1:00 pm

The Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) is a cutting-edge program launched by the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The program is designed to prepare Illinois undergraduates for leadership roles in the sustainability field.

Expanded funding for MAP grants and merit scholarships

Jun 9, 2019 1:00 pm

Tim Killeen, president of the U of I System, spoke with the Chicago Tribune about what the increase in state funding means for public higher education.

Expanded scholarship support

Jul 20, 2018 2:45 pm

UIC’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has received $1.5 million from The Davee Foundation to expand its scholarship support for high-achieving students with financial need. More...

Extension to ACES scholarships

Jul 19, 2018 2:45 pm

University of Illinois Extension and the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences(ACES) are now offering up to 54 scholarships for the 2018-2019 academic year. More...

Find Food IL map, centered on part of Springfield

Find Food IL Map gives guidance for people experiencing food insecurity

Aug 28, 2023 10:00 am

Illinois Extension's SNAP-Education program saw that existing community food resource maps were fragmented and scattered. The Find Food IL Map aimed to streamline access, whether a person needed free meals or used some sort of benefit.

Nariah Romero-Rudy enjoys a sunny fall day in this environmental portrait

Future genetic counselor tells her own Illinois Commitment story

Oct 28, 2022 11:15 am

"When I look back at it, that one tiny mutation in (my sister's) DNA had a significant effect on the evolution of our family. For me, it set me on a path that brought me to Illinois."

Gies Business partners with Google to prepare adult learners for career success

Nov 3, 2021 8:30 am

Gies College of Business at UIUC is partnering with Google to prepare learners in the Google Career Certificate programs with critical business skills like leadership, teamwork, and strategic thinking.

Gies launches fully online, stackable graduate certificates

May 5, 2022 2:45 pm

Furthering its longstanding commitment to break down barriers to business education, Gies College of Business is launching a pair of fully online, credit-bearing graduate certificates, the first ever offered by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Google to help DPI & Wilbur Wright College build diverse computing pipeline

Mar 23, 2022 9:30 am

The Discovery Partners Institute (DPI) and Wilbur Wright College are expanding their partnership to develop promising and diverse tech talent in Illinois, focusing on the student journey into computer and data science fields, with support from Google.

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