UPPSA Roundup- November 15th

• University Reorganization and Tuition Differential Discussions- You may not know it, but there are serious discussions in the university administration to reorganize the structure of UIC colleges. UPPSA and the 3 other CUPPAH student associations met with Dean Pagano this past week to learn more and express our desire that students are included in this conversation. We will hold 3 discussion sessions Monday, November 22nd at 12pm, 3pm and 5:30pm in the Graduate Student Lounge. You need only attend one session during which student association leaders will give a brief overview of the current debate, record how you feel about the situation and take notes on your suggestions. All are encouraged to also join us for a roundtable discussion with Dean Pagano on Friday, December 10th. RSVP for this event and read about the debate at www.uppsa.org.
• Mentorship Program Comments and Feedback- If you are currently participating in either the APA-IL or CUPPA Alumni mentorship program, we would like to know what you think about your experiences in the program! Let us know what is working well, what is not, and any recommendations or other comments you may have. Please visit http://www.uppsa.org/contact-uppsa.html and leave your feedback using the appropriate form. Your comments are important and will help to improve the future of both programs, so please share your thoughts!
• Urban Innovation Symposium- There is lots to do before the symposium in January. Interested in helping out? There will be a meeting on Monday, November 15th, in the grad student basement lounge, at 3pm. RSVP at www.uppsa.org
• UPP Accreditation Student Participation- In the coming months the Urban Planning and Policy department will undergo its self-study as part of the work to be accredited. Be on the lookout for opportunities to provide the department your feedback and help with the study. In partnership with the department, UPPSA will help disseminate surveys, host focus groups and help analyze how the department tracks outcomes. For more information about accreditation take a look at http://www.planningaccreditationboard.org.
• Green Building Council Event- The Emerging Professionals of the USGBC are putting on a huge event Tuesday night Nov. 16th after Greenbuild and they would love to have any interested MUPPs attend to network and have a fun time. Cost is about $10.00 for the event, open bar, and food. Here is the link to the event website. http://take5greenbuild.eventbrite.com/
***Additionally they're looking for 10 responsible and enthusiastic volunteers to help staff the event (they would also get free admission)!***
If you are interested in volunteering or if you have any questions, please feel free to contact Candis Queen, candisq@gmail.com.
• GCI Lecture Series "Building the Speculative City" with Faculty Scholar Rachel Weber- Associate Director of CGI & Associate Professor for UPP, Dr. Weber will discuss her work on periods of rapid change in the physical fabric of the city, from construction booms to financial systems, to public planning. November 16th, 2pm at CGI, 4th floor of CUPPA. RSVP atwww.uppsa.org
• Wanna play some flag football and help out the local food bank for Thanksgiving?? PASA (public administration grads), UPA (urban and public affairs undergrad), UPPSA , the history department, & Student National Pharmaceutical Association (SNPhA) are teaming up for a flag football tourney on Nov 20th, all to benefit a local soup kitchen. Each team needs at least 5 people, of which 2 have to be girls and everyone needs to bring a valid icard and a canned or boxed good for charity to be eligible. Good, cold, clean fun will ensue. Dress appropriately. When: Nov 20th at 1:30pm, Where: The field at Harrison and Halsted, right next to the Highway, Who: Teams of 7(have to have 2 girls) with a canned or boxed good item for each player. RSVP at www.uppsa.org
• Book Exchange- As this semester is ending, a new one is going to begin shortly. Don’t forget to sell your books for some extra holiday cash, or rent them out, if you are attached to them. UPPSA book exchange in online! Go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html to post your books.
• Masters Project Forum- Based on a past UPP Next event during which UPP faculty and former students presented on the MUPP masters project, we thought it would be a good idea to begin an on-going discussion board for students to put their ideas out into the MUPP community, learn about resources and find people for collaboration. One of the ideas that came up was the disconnect between completing a solely individual masters project and then working in careers that will almost never involve purely individual work. Us this thread as a forum for collaboration. Feel free to post 1) your idea for a masters project 2) requests for information, sources or people to connect with 3) provide feedback to others and 4) begin the process of pursuing a collaborative masters project. To view it go to http://www.uppsa.org/forum.html
• Academic or Assistantship Advocacy- Any MUPPs with concerns about department-wide academic issues are encouraged to contact UPPSA at UPPSAinfo@gmail.com with your feedback about the program. The Board of UPPSA meets regularly with the UPP department and the Dean of CUPPA. Let us be your advocate. Also, for those students with assistantships, UPPSA President Bob Fuller is also the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) steward for CUPPAH. If you feel you have been treated unfairly in your assistantship (Teaching, Graduate or Research) feel free to contact him at rfulle5@uic.edu to get connected with the GEO’s grievance resources.
• If you have important news for fellow MUPPs and you would like it included in the President’s Weekly Roundup and/or on the UPPSA website email UPPSAinfo@gmail.com by 2 p.m. each Sunday.