Upcoming Events
End of Academic Year Party
Please join us for the End of Academic Year Party on May 11, 2026 from 11am-1pm on the North Patio of the Student Union. Enjoy a delicious lunch with your colleagues celebrating together as a campus community. Although not required, please feel free to RSVP to assist in our planning efforts.
Employee Development Series
UIS Access and Equity Office: What We Do and How We Support
Our May session of the Employee Development Series will be from the Access & Equity Office (AEO) titled “What We Do and How We Support”. This session will be held in the Student Union Ballroom on May 26, 2026, from 9:00-10:00am. This one-hour presentation by Jeff Moulton will include an overview of the role of AEO, non-discrimination issues, and reasonable accommodations. Registration is not required for this event.
Reminders
Alternative and Flexible Work Schedules
Employees may be eligible to participate in an alternative or flexible work schedule, operations permitting, in accordance with applicable policies, rules, and collective bargaining agreements. The alternative or flexible work schedules for Summer 2026 have a window between 05/10/2026 and 08/15/2026.
Employees seeking to use an alternate or flexible schedule must submit a request form through supervisory channels. Completed request forms must be received in HR prior to the beginning of the effective pay period. Alternate and flexible schedules can be used in addition to remote work agreements and are offered at the discretion of the supervisor. Division Head approval is optional. Please check with your Division Head to determine whether their approval is necessary. The request forms are available on the HR Forms & Links webpage.
Remote Work Agreements
We also find this to be a good time to remind employees that Remote Work Agreements are good for up to one (1) year. Remote work can be a viable option for employees in jobs that are suited for such an arrangement. Civil Service and Academic Professional employees working a remote work schedule must keep a current Remote Work Agreement on file with Human Resources. Please use the electronic Remote Work Agreement form to submit your request. You can review the UIS Remote Work Policy for more information, or contact Kenzie Filchak at mwest22@uis.edu if you are unsure if you have a current agreement on file.
Annual Evaluations
Annual Evaluations for Civil Service and Academic Professional employees are due to HR by June 5, 2026. Supervisors should utilize the Annual Evaluation electronic form to fill out and submit. Evaluations are based on a review period from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026 and are a great time to review job responsibilities, give feedback to employees on their performance, and to set goals for the upcoming year. More information on the annual evaluation process can be found on the Human Resources website.
Student Employee Annual Evaluations
With the performance evaluation season, please remember that student employees value constructive feedback too. While student employee evaluations are not required, they are considered a best practice and help support student growth and development. The Student Employee Evaluation Form (pdf) is available online or in the Student Employment Supervisor Resources Box folder.
Additional Reminders
Human Resources Office Hours
We wanted to remind the UIS community of the HR office hours. We are open Monday through Friday, 8:30am-12:30pm and 1:30-5:00pm. We are closed for lunch between 12:30-1:30pm. We are open for walk in assistance, but strongly encourage you to make an appointment with your HR division liaison to ensure their availability.
Academic Impressions
UIS is partnered with Academic Impressions (AI) to help the professional growth of all UIS faculty, staff, and students. AI is a free workplace resource that offers training opportunities such as live and recorded webcasts, live virtual trainings and conferences, on-demand video courses, articles and reports, and the Virtual Writing Cafe. You can access your Academic Impressions account using your UIS email.
Leave Spotlight
Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave
Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave is available to all employees that are eligible for Family and Medical Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993. Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave, under the Family Bereavement Act (ILPA 102-1050), grants up to ten (10) days of unpaid leave time due to the death of a family member.
Employees that are eligible for paid Funeral/Bereavement Leave receive up to five (5) days of University-paid leave, and these days run concurrently with unpaid Family Bereavement Leave. Therefore for example, if an employee’s immediate family member passes away, and they wanted to use Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave in conjunction with paid Funeral/Bereavement Leave, they may be granted five (5) days of paid Funeral/Bereavement Leave and five (5) days of Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave for a total of ten (10) days of leave, meeting the requirement of ILPA 102-1050.
While this leave is unpaid, employees do have the option to take this leave with or without pay. To continue in pay status, employees may use accrued benefit leave in accordance with University leave provisions. Leave taken in this way will count toward the maximum ten (10) day entitlement. If an employee cannot return to work because of special circumstances at the completion of the allowable unpaid Family Bereavement Leave, they may consult with the HR department to explore additional leave options.
Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave is requested through the Leave Coordinator in HR and requires an application. Once approved, the leave time must be reported in your respective timekeeping system at the time of usage (AVSL, CS VSL, FLRS, Web/Time Entry).
Other provisions of note include:
- Leave must be taken in full-day increments and may be taken as a block of time or intermittently, unless used in conjunction with paid Funeral/Bereavement Leave. If eligible and using paid Funeral/Bereavement Leave in conjunction with Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave, the benefit days must be used as a single block of time, in full-day increments.
- Leave is expected to be taken within 60 days of the employee’s notice of the death.
- Relationships existing due to marriage terminate upon the death or divorce of the relative through whom the marriage relationship exists. Current marital status will be defined in accordance with Illinois state law.
- If an employee suffers the death of more than one covered family member in a 12-month period, from the date of first qualifying event, the employee is entitled to take up to six (6) weeks of unpaid Family Bereavement Leave.
For more information and a complete list of eligible family members, please visit our Unpaid Family Bereavement Leave policy webpage. For any questions about this leave benefit, please contact our Leave Coordinator, Heather Moore, at hkimb2@uis.edu or 217-206-7020.
Important Dates
- 05/11/2026- End of Academic Year Party
- 05/12/2026- New Employee Orientation (in person)
- 05/25/2026- Holiday: Memorial Day
- 05/26/2026- New Employee Orientation (virtual)
- 05/26/2026- Employee Development Series: Access and Equity Office
- 06/09/2026- New Employee Orientation (in person)
- 06/19/2026- Holiday: Juneteenth Day
- 06/23/2026- New Employee Orientation (virtual)
- 07/03/2026- Holiday: Independence Day
© 2026 UIS Human Resources
HR homepage | ph. 217-206-6652 | fax 217-206-7145 | uishr@uis.edu