University of Illinois Springfield runners Blake Jones and Taryn Christy became the first athletes in school history to qualify for a spot in the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, the school announced on Tuesday. 

This article appeared in The State Journal-Register on May 19, 2021.

Read the entire article online.

The University of Illinois Springfield Innovation Hub, UIS Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Community Health Roundtable will host a public webinar “COVID-19 and Returning to Work: Implications for the Workforce, Women and Work Sectors.”

In the webinar, panelists will discuss how issues like childcare and the lingering fear of COVID-19 infection are affecting the state and local workforces, why women may be more affected than men in returning to work and what re-start challenges businesses are facing.

The University of Illinois Springfield will offer 28 accelerated online and blended courses for prospective and current students. Most classes will begin Monday, March 15, and will conclude in early May.

“This is a great opportunity for new UIS students to start or finish their education,” said UIS Interim Chancellor Karen Whitney. “It’s also a chance for current students to add to their course load and potentially earn their degree in a shorter period of time.”

Due to the accelerated nature of the classes, it is recommended that students only enroll in one course.

University of Illinois Springfield women’s basketball assistant coach Jenna Kotas has been named one of the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s Thirty Under 30 honorees, the organization announced on Wednesday.  

University of Illinois Springfield junior Lexi Dhamrait of Springfield was in New Orleans with UIS administrator Mark Dochterman on an annual spring break service trip when they got word from the university system that in-person classes were canceled for the rest of the semester.

The University of Illinois Springfield could return to a more normal atmosphere in the fall if the pandemic trends continue in the right direction.  The university system has announced it plans to offer more in-person classes starting in August, citing the rising number of people getting vaccinated as a main reason. 

Tasneem Shaik said her mother and father are coming from India for her graduation from the University of Illinois Springfield in May.

That experience will look a little different than past UIS graduations in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students like Shaik, who is getting her master's degree in computer science, are being given the option of having an in-person “stage experience” days before a May 15 virtual commencement celebration.

Students were informed of the plan last week.

University of Illinois Springfield junior guard Lauren Ladowski was named Great Lakes Valley Conference women's basketball player of the week for the first time in her career on Monday.

Ladowski, a 5-foot-7 Lake Central High School graduate from St. John, Indiana, became the school's all-time leader in made free throws against Rockhurst and eclipsed the 1,000-point career milestone against Southwest Baptist.

The Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois Springfield announced that one of its clients, who was wrongfully convicted twice, has been pardoned by Gov. JB Pritzker.

Norman Propst, formerly of Chicago, was convicted of robbery in 1990 and of retail theft from a Borders bookstore in 1997.

Lauren Ladowski scored a game-high 28 points and University of Illinois Springfield went on an 11-2 run with under 4 minutes to play to claim a 63-58 victory over Southwest Baptist on Saturday in a women's Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Meyer Sports Center.

This story appeared in The State Journal-Register on Feb. 21, 2021.
Read the entire article online.