There still is no end date to the university’s Benefit Choice period, which began May 1 because not all health contracts for FY2013 have been finalized.

Ilesanmi “Ade” Adesida, the dean of the College of Engineering at the UI, has been named vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost of the Urbana campus, pending approval of the board of trustees at its May 31 meeting in Chicago. He will assume his new role on Aug. 16.

Peter E. Schiffer, the associate vice president for research and director of strategic initiatives at Pennsylvania State University, will become the vice chancellor for research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, pending approval of the board of trustees at its May 31 meeting in Chicago.

Like many young boys, Bryan McMullan wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps. “I grew up in a construction family,” McMullan said. “That’s what my father and uncle did. I used to wear a hard hat when I visited my father’s work.” But instead of constructing buildings, McMullan maintains them.

Who says you can’t take it with you? A Public Affairs makeover of the campus map and the development of an improved smartphone application means the UI can tag along no matter where in the world you go.

The old warning about judging a book by its cover applies to the new album by flutist Jonathan Keeble and harpist Ann Yeung, music professors at the University of Illinois who perform and record as the Aletheia Duo. Their second CD is “Song of the Black Swan: Works Inspired by Nature.” The instrumentation and New Age title combine to suggest the CD is an hourlong soundtrack suitable for meditation or a garden wedding.

The sound of silence isn’t so golden for consumers, and both marketers and advertisers should take note, says new research from a University of Illinois expert in new product development and marketing.

People with mild or moderate disabilities who are creative, intellectually curious and attentive to their feelings – those who score higher on the personality trait openness – may be significantly more likely to maintain employment, suggests a new study co-written by David Strauser, a professor of kinesiology and community health at the UI.

Miscanthus grasses are used in gardens, burned for heat and energy, and converted into liquid fuels. They also belong to a prominent grass family that includes corn, sorghum and sugarcane. Two new, independently produced chromosome maps of Miscanthus sinensis (an ornamental that likely is a parent of Miscanthus giganteus, a biofuels crop) are a first step toward sequencing the M. sinensis genome. The studies reveal how a new plant species with distinctive traits can arise as a result of chromosome duplications and fusions.

The Internet is changing the way people get their news, but there’s little proof that it is fragmenting or polarizing the news audience the way many assume, says professor David Tewksbury, the head of the University of Illinois department of communication.