December 3, 2015 Meeting of Area Studies

Agenda not yet available.

IAS Staff Meeting

December 3, 2015

Present: Jan Adamczyk, Atoma Batoma, Kit Condill, Shuyong Jiang, Lisa Renee Kemplin, Joe Lenkart, Laila Hussein Moustafa, Xiaoping Qi, Lynne Rudasill, Antonio Sotomayor, Mara Thacker, and Steve Witt

Guest:  JoAnn Jacoby 

Announcements & Accolades:

1. Steve is the new Interim Director for the Center for Global Studies through May 15, 2016. There is an ongoing search for a new director, which may change the end date of Steve’s appointment.

2. IAS Holiday Dinner is this Friday, December 4 at 6pm at Golden Harbor. Thank you to all who donated.

3. Antonio received a grant from LARRP-CRL that will be used to advance his digital project on the letters of Conde de Montemar (Peru, 1761-1799). He will use the monies to hire a GA to work on the transcription of the letters.

4. Friday, December 11 at noon we will gather at the Colonial Room at the Illini Union to say goodbye to graduating IAS students-Yushi and Nian and one student to study abroad-Emma.

Discussion:

1. JoAnn led a discussion on the budget and priorities for FY2017. She began by saying that she does not want the budget to drive services. Due to upcoming retirements and some changes to units, the cuts may not be as drastic as was initially thought. Some possible changes may be closing UGL from 2-7am but making sure that Grainger is open during those hours. JoAnn welcomes ideas for future services and cost saving measures.
2. Steve encouraged staff to look at the Grand Challenge Courses for Undergraduates. The courses use an interdisciplinary approach and many have an international focus. Staff should be aware and plan how they may intersect with courses. (Steve sent a list of courses after the meeting.) This topic will also be discussed at our next staff meeting.

Reports: 

1. Steve announced that there is still $10,000 available for buying trips. There was a brief discussion on how funds are distributed.