Align and Plan
with Boldly Illinois
Challenge accepted. Now it’s time to take action. Big ideas call for innovative approaches. The Align and Plan section offers a guide for implementing the Boldly Illinois strategic framework within your unit, college, department or team, as well as a downloadable poster for brainstorming sessions.
Find inspiration from uniquely Illinois examples of faculty, students and staff across campus living out the values identified in Boldly Illinois — collaboration, inclusion and empowerment.
Collaboration
Illinois Extension is the university’s statewide network of educators, faculty experts and staff dedicated to the mission of aligning research to needs and translating research into action plans that allow Illinois families, businesses and community leaders to solve problems, make informed decisions and adapt to changes and opportunities. Illinois Extension leaders work with a network of local stakeholders to define annual priorities to respond to evolving and emerging needs while still ensuring meaningful progress toward key outcomes in five grand challenge areas: community, economy, environment, food and health.
Operational Excellence is a campuswide initiative to streamline, innovate and improve administrative services and processes at all levels. Efforts began in May 2021 to reimagine how administrative areas — Budget, Data, Human Resources, Information Technology, Marketing and Communications, Procurement and Space — can most effectively support university missions.
Campus Resources
Inclusion
Established in 2019, Illinois Global Institute is home to the area and global studies centers and thematic programs at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. IGI is dedicated to fostering an environment where international perspectives are integral to teaching and research.
These 11 centers and programs develop global awareness and cultural competency through a combination of faculty research and professional development, curricular internationalization, student-life activities, international experiences and outreach and public engagement.
The Illinois Scholars Program Summer Bridge Experience is designed to help guide undergraduate students’ transition to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. ISP combines opportunity and access, experiential learning and support to position students for academic success and personal growth throughout their time at Illinois. Priority is given to first-generation college students, individuals from a low-sending county or members of underserved groups.
Illinois has a deep history of leadership in accessibility, and we now have an opportunity to set the standard for inclusive practices. Recent updates to ADA Title II clarify our obligation to make accessible all digital content, including online course content and mobile applications. To guide our work, a Digital Accessibility and Excellence Steering Committee will conduct a comprehensive review of our current digital assets to identify areas of opportunity with ADA Title II requirements and collaborate with key stakeholders to develop a strategic plan for addressing accessibility gaps.
Campus Resources
Empowerment
In a partnership between Academic Affairs and Student Affairs, the Illinois Leadership® Center opened its doors in September 2002 as a campus resource hub designed to provide comprehensive leadership education and training to all students at the university; their aim to study leadership and teach students the relevant skills to be effective leaders.
The Illinois Leadership® Center is committed to developing and enhancing the leadership skills of all students through assessment, learning and experiential opportunities. In addition, the center supports faculty and staff who are pursuing leadership-related teaching, research and student engagement activities.
The Chez Center supports student-veterans in their transition to college. The center offers academic coaching services as well as individual and family counseling. Additional transition services help set up VA benefits, find suitable housing, connect students with their program’s academic advisor and more. They also provide individualized academic coaching, tutoring, a student-veteran orientation course and disability self-management. Incoming students are connected with trained Vet Connect mentors who are academically successful students who have been on campus for at least one year.