Tips for aliens in New York:
Land anywhere, Central Park, anywhere. No one will care or indeed even notice.
Surviving: get a job as a cabdriver immediately. A cab driver's job is to drive people anywhere they want to go in big yellow machines called taxis. Don't worry if you don't know how the machine works and you can't speak the language, don't understand the geography or indeed the basic physics of the area, and have large green antennae growing out of your head. Believe me, this is the best way of staying inconspicuous.
If your body is really weird, try showing it to people for money.
Amphibious life forms from any of the worlds in the Swulling, Noxios, or Nausalia systems will particularly enjoy the East River, which is said to be richer in those lovely life-giving nutrients than the finest and most virulent laboratory slime yet achieved.
Having fun: this is the big section. It is impossible to have more fun without electrocuting your pleasure center....
Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks For All the Fish, p. 25.
Copyright © 1995-2002 by the Computer Science Graduate Student Organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. All rights reserved.
The opinions expressed in this document are those of its authors,
and do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Illinois,
or of the Department of Computer Science.
This is the 2002 edition of The CSGSO Guide to Life,
generated July 18, 2002.
THIS GUIDE TO LIFE is intended to tell you everything you need to know about surviving and even thriving during your first year of graduate school here. For many people, coming here to the University of Illinois is their first exposure to a really large institution, and they don't know what to expect. The secret to being happy at the U of I is this paradox:
The University of Illinois is an enormous, impersonal place which, as an institution, doesn't care about you. However, it is filled with people who, given a chance, will care about you.
As soon as possible, you should find groups of people within the University with interests similar to yours. Whether this means a weekly graduate seminar in topology, a photography club, or an intra-mural soccer team is up to you. If you make the effort to find a niche for yourself here, you will get the personal attention that the University as an institution cannot provide.
Thanks to Anand Ranganathan, Sumant Kowshik, Chris Siefert and Hanna VanderZee.
Thanks to Fred Rothganger.
Thanks to Deb Israel, Peter Leven, and Anda Ohlsson
Thanks to Cesare Tinelli and Barb Cicone. Suggestions by Vihn Lam.
Thanks to Barb Cicone and David Hull. Suggestions by Joel Jones. Proofreading by Barb Cicone.
Submissions by David Lemson. Thanks also to Ian Chai, Barb Cicone, Tom Magliary, and Chuck Thompson.
Research by Mary Wisnewski. Suggestions by David Bradley and Peter Madany. Submissions by Ran Libeskind-Hadas, Todd Biske, John Quinn, and Linda Lorenz. Proofreading by Dan Walkowski, Steve Stone, Mary Wisnewski, and Prof. William Kubitz.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is, as has been remarked before often and accurately, a pretty startling kind of thing. It is, essentially, as the title implies, a guidebook. The problem is, or rather one of the problems, for there are many, a sizeable number of which are continually clogging up the civil, commercial, and criminal courts in all areas of the Galaxy, and especially, where possible, the more corrupt ones, this.
The previous sentence makes sense. That is not the problem.
This is:
Change.
Read it through again and you'll get it.
The Galaxy is a rapidly changing place. There is, frankly, so much of it, every bit of which is continually on the move, continually changing. A bit of a nightmare, you might think, for a scrupulous and conscientious editor diligently trying to keep this massively detailed and complex electronic tome abreast of all the changing circumstances and conditions that the Galaxy throws up every minute of every hour of every day, and you would be wrong. Where you would be wrong would be in failing to realize that the editor, like all the editors of the Guide has ever had, has no real grasp of the meaning of the words ``scrupulous,'' ``conscientious,'' and ``diligent,'' and tends to get his nightmares through a straw.
Douglas Adams, So Long and Thanks For All the Fish, p. 121.
If you have corrections, or would like to volunteer to help on the
next edition of the Guide, send e-mail to the editor,
Hari Ramasamy at (csgso@cs.uiuc.edu).
Here are some important information sources you should familiarize yourself with:
The World Wide Web has become the primary means of gathering and disseminating information via computer. Find a computer that runs Netscape, Internet Explorer or your favorite browser and check out the department's web server at http://www.cs.uiuc.edu/ for information about staff and courses in our department. For pointers to other sources of information mentioned later in this guide, check out our ``Fundamental links'' page at http://www-csgso.cs.uiuc.edu/fundamental.html. That is, if you don't have time to read the whole ``Guide to Life'' make sure you visit that page.
The student-run daily newspaper is available for free in various places around the University.
A free newsletter, targeted at faculty and staff, published every two weeks by the University. Contains a thorough calendar of lectures, colloquia, and free concerts.
Call 333-INFO to reach their helpful information service.
The helpful people at the Union Information Desk can answer almost any question. Printed Timetables are available here.
The Info desk near the entrance to the Main Stacks is a great place to get information about the library. They also handle reference questions.
If you don't have a student/staff directory handy, you can call 3-1000 (or 333-1000 from off campus) and have the operator look up campus phone numbers for you. Or you can look up the number yourself using ph, available on most campus computers.
The CS Department offers an orientation for new graduate students at the beginning of each semester. Be sure to attend this meeting to find out the latest about CSGSO, computer accounts, and much more.
Quad Day is an event held outdoors in the Quad (surprise surprise!) before classes start in the Fall; there will be fliers in the Union giving the exact day. On Quad Day, registered student organizations set up displays touting their activities and try to recruit new members. (There was a scene like this in the film Chariots of Fire, only it was indoors and everybody was wearing a tie). This is a great opportunity to see the different activities our campus offers and to get involved in something outside the department.
Most CS graduate students get some kind of graduate assistantship. The salaries for these assistantships are based on various milestones in your graduate career, like passing the Qual or passing the Prelim. When you pass one of these milestones you should receive a pay raise at the beginning of the next semester, if not sooner. Check with the administrative office or your supporting department if this doesn't happen. Appointments usually last for nine months, with the possibility of an additional two month summer appointment. Note that nine plus two is eleven, not twelve. For some reason, it is very difficult for graduate students to get paid in August. So be sure to set aside some money for next August!
The University employs graduate students to aid in teaching undergraduate courses. These jobs, called Teaching Assistantships, are usually for twenty hours per week, also known as half time. The standard TA contract runs from August 21 until January 5 and from January 6 until May 20. Assignments are done on a semester basis and are renewable upon progress and availability of funds. The duties of a teaching assistant depend on the nature of the class being taught. Some TA's simply hold office hours and aid the professor in grading exams, while other TA's are responsible for weekly discussion sections, in which the TA helps the students understand the material covered in lecture. TA's for programming classes spend most of their time helping students complete programming assignments, while TA's in theory classes will spend their time answering questions about homework and exams. Be aware that not all teaching assistantships are created equal; depending on the nature of the class and the amount of work the professor is willing to do, a teaching assistantship can be either pleasant or exhausting. Still, teaching can be one of the most rewarding experiences you will have in graduate school. Be aware that graduate students whose native language is not English will have to pass the Test of Spoken English (TSE) to qualify for a teaching assistantship.
Each semester the TA's and professors are asked which classes they would like to TA and which TA's they prefer, respectively. Needless to say, not all of these preferences can be satisfied. At times the TA assignment process can seem flawed and arbitrary, but remember that many compromises are involved, and not even senior faculty always get the TA's they want.
The University's standard instrument for evaluating teaching is the Instructor Course Evaluation System (ICES). Each instructor receives a set of questionnaires to be handed out to students during the penultimate week of class. After reading a brief set of instructions, the instructor leaves the room, so that the students feel free to write candid answers. These questionnaires are tabulated by the Office of Instructional Resources (OIR) and returned to the instructor after the students' grades have been turned in. While you can learn a lot from reading these forms, don't let them discourage you--every instructor has fans and detractors both. You can't please everyone.
Another program run by OIR is a training program for new TA's. This takes places immediately before classes start, and is usually held in the Foellinger Auditorium. The program is mandatory, so make sure you don't miss it. The OIR people are very professional and informative, and they discuss many subjects you might not otherwise think about. As a follow-up to this training program, the OIR sends someone to videotape you during your first semester of teaching. While potentially embarrassing, watching this videotape can be very instructive. The department also runs its own new TA orientation--watch your mailbox for details.
Many TA's feel that they are on the bottom of a caste system that places senior faculty on the top, RA's in the middle, and TA's way down at the bottom. Whatever your feelings on the subject, remember that your students do appreciate good teaching and can tell whether you're prepared. Your efforts are important and will be appreciated.
The Computer Science department also provides funding to graduate students in the form of research assistantships. Unlike teaching assistantships, which are centrally assigned by department, research assistantships are handed out by individual professors. This is because TA's are paid by the state of Illinois, while RA's are paid by professors' research grants, which come from a variety of sources. As with teaching assistantships, the duties of a research assistant can vary widely. Ideally, the research assistant is employed by her advisor to do the research required for her thesis or dissertation. Within the CS department, this is generally the case.
Professor Ralph Johnson had this to say about getting a research assistantship:
The majority of first year grad students who have support [meaning RA's--Ed.] get it from outside the department. In fact, CERL [U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratory--Ed.] has almost as many CS grad students working as RA's as the department has TA's. CERL is by far the largest employer of CS grad students outside the CS department (and maybe the ECE department--they have a lot, too). After that there seem to be a lot of places that hire a few students. Some that I've heard of are the linguistics department, mechanical engineering, physics, civil engineering, CCSO, and NCSA. Some of these positions offer work that is interesting enough to turn into a MS thesis, but a lot of it is just UNIX administration or database programming. I've had several MS students who were database programmers for CERL and decided that Smalltalk sounded like more fun.
If you are not offered an assistantship immediately [i.e., when you are admitted to the department--Ed.], it will probably take several years to get a position as an RA inside the department. I know of people who were offered RA or TA positions their first or second semester here, but that is the exception. You need to work with a project to prove yourself, then you'll be in a position to be hired when a new grant comes in or when more senior students finally graduate.
The way to get an assistantship on campus is to come early and spend a lot of time looking. Most people who look hard can find something before school starts. I've never known someone who looked hard to take more than a semester to find a position, though someone will probably tell me a horror story now.
The places that I mentioned pay as well as our department. There are certainly places that don't. I believe that I mentioned that the jobs are usually not very interesting. However, when the job description says 20 hours a week, they really mean 20 hours, and you don't have to stay up all night grading exams at the end of the semester.
The biggest problem is that people with assistantships outside the department tend to take longer to get involved with research. Of course, I've noticed that TA's take longer, too. The reason is obvious. Departmental RA's have an advisor pushing them to do research, while everyone else has to go look for one.
I have always admired students who come here with no immediate means of support. It requires bravery and self-confidence to move to a distant state with large tuition bills on the way and no income to match. Most of the students do well, even with the disadvantages that I mentioned.
One of the secrets to doing well is to get involved with research as soon as you can. Attend seminars, find out about the hot research topics. If you make sure that you are involved in the department then you will minimize the disadvantages of spending a lot of time outside it.
Two of the University's residence halls are set aside specifically for graduate students. They are Daniels Hall, on Green Street near Lincoln, and Sherman Hall, at the corner of Fifth and Chalmers. Daniels Hall is closer to the department and was recently remodeled (so it is probably nicer), but is also more expensive. These halls offer rather small single rooms, with a bathroom shared between each pair of rooms.
The residence hall contract also optionally includes a food service contract. The food service contract entitles you to eat up to three meals a day at any of the cafeterias in the residence hall system. While the food is undeniably industrial strength, some frills like a decent salad bar and a constant supply of soft-serve ice cream make the exploding chicken Kiev easier to tolerate. Unfortunately, there are no University dining halls near Sherman. Graduate students living there and wanting a meal plan should consider Illini Towers, a private residence hall across the street from Sherman.
The University operates a collection of apartment buildings for married students (especially those with children) south of campus at Orchard Downs. Conveniently served by the Orchard Downs bus, these apartments are attractively priced at around $400 a month. It's really neat to see kids from many nations and ethnicities playing together in the Orchard Downs playground.
A lesser-known building called, cleverly enough, the Student-Staff Apartments, is located on the corner of Green and Goodwin. Most of the units are one bedroom apartments. The location is terrific. For information about either building, contact the Family Housing Office at 333-5656.
In addition, U.S. residents should check out the Winfield Village Cooperative2.1 in the Village of Savoy just five miles south of campus. There are one or two bedroom apartments and two or three bedroom town-homes. The cost is quite reasonable with lots of amenities and it is only a 15-20 minute MTD bus ride. The catches are the relatively long waiting list and the large cash outlay required to buy into the coop.
Most graduate students rent their dwellings from one of Champaign-Urbana's morally upstanding landlords. (Actually, most people have few problems with their landlords.) Here are some important points to keep in mind.
Look through the classifieds section of the Daily Illini for apartments on campus and near campus. Also, check campus bulletin boards like the one in the south foyer of the Illini Union. Look through the classifieds section of the News-Gazette for apartments off campus. It's surprising just how much rent drops off if you're willing to live off campus. Decide on some ads that sound interesting, phone the landlords, and arrange to see them. Don't rent the first apartment you see. Try to see a few different places before coming to a decision.
Among the many useful student organizations funded by the University is the Champaign-Urbana Tenant Union. Located in 326 Illini Union, the Tenant Union performs several functions. Their staff will look over the lease you are planning to sign and point out objectionable parts (be sure to ask your prospective landlord for a copy to review before you sign). Ask to see the Tenant Union's file of complaints against your prospective landlord. Some local landlords have such a bad reputation that they change the name of their rental companies every year! If, once you sign a lease, you have a problem with your landlord, you can file a complaint with the Tenant Union and they will try to help you resolve it. Be sure to get a copy of their Tenant Handbook.
Perhaps the most important advice the Tenant Union gives is, ``Get it in writing.'' Your landlord's verbal promises really can't be enforced, so make sure that promises you want your landlord to keep are made in writing.
Some housing includes power and water in the rent, but most do not. If you're renting a house, also check to see that yard maintenance is included. At least two weeks before you move in, be sure to call Illinois Power at (800) 755-5000, Northern Illinois Water at (217) 352-1420, and Ameritech at (800) 244-4444 to connect the gas and electricity, water, and telephone, respectively.
For those who don't have more than enough to do already, you can have cable TV service connected by calling AT&T Cable Services at (217) 384-2500. There's a good chance that AT&T will also provide broadband service to your address. AT&T is the dominant cable TV provider in town, having recently bought out just about everybody else other than Heartland Wireless.
We don't want to scare you, but choosing the wrong thesis advisor could really ruin your graduate school career. The graduate student folklore is full of advisors who take credit for their students' work, advisors who take a better paying job and leave town just before the dissertation is finished, advisors who deliberately impede their students' progress toward graduation while simultaneously demanding slave labor from them, advisors who are never satisfied with their students' writing style or statistical evidence or formal proofs or LISP indenting style or whatever.
On the other hand, it's clear that there are very few such people on our faculty. The point is that you should choose your advisor carefully. Pick someone you feel you can work with, someone you feel comfortable with.
Each graduate student is assigned a de facto advisor upon entering the department. This advisor is supposed to help the new graduate student decide what classes to take. You used to need this professor's signature on your program request form until you find a thesis advisor. With the change to on-line registration (a.k.a., U of I Direct), you no longer need your advisor's signature. However, it is highly recommended that you discuss your class registration with your adviser. Their advice will help you make sure that you are taking the classes you need and also balance the class work load.
Students wishing to formalize a thesis advising arrangement should fill out an Advising Agreement form. The student and the professor both sign the agreement. Once it is signed, the student is allowed to enroll for CS499, thesis research units. Also, the thesis advisor takes over the task of providing advice about classes. The advising agreement is not permanent; it can be broken by either the student or the professor at any time.
Many fields such as physics, chemistry, and astronomy are becoming profoundly dependent on computation as a basis for research. Some students become interested in these related disciplines, and find that the dissertation topics they are contemplating fall outside the traditional domain of Computer Science. In such situations, students may draw most of their research direction from a faculty member in another department. In order to accommodate the requirement that a student's thesis advisor be a computer science professor, it is necessary to find a de jure advisor--a computer science professor who is willing to officially sponsor the student while leaving the actual research supervision to a professor outside the department. While these arrangements are undoubtedly tricky, there are certainly successful precedents, and much potential for a rewarding experience.
If your research area deals with the application of computers to an engineering discipline, check out the Computational Science and Engineering (CSE) curriculum.
Summer and Fall early registration, the U of I Direct registration system, came on-line for the first time in 1995. The system provides immediate feedback about class openings and even allows you to make changes to your schedule! Although U of I Direct doesn't force you to see your advisor when you register, the department will require you to see your advisor at least once a semester. Even though the system still has its quirks, it sure beats the old manual system.
The current registration software for U of I Direct (introduced in Spring 1999), only runs on Windows or Macintosh systems. If you have such a machine you can download the client at http://www.uiuc.edu/ccso/pubs/connect/kermit/. This software is preinstalled in on the computers in the CCSO labs and the Windows CSIL machines (including TA machines).
You will need to know your CCSO-given ``Network ID'' and password to access the U of I Direct system. Your Network ID is the same as your ph alias, thus your e-mail address is NetworkID@uiuc.edu. The Network ID is the username you use to enter the CCSO modem terminal servers, as well.
About 8 weeks before the end of the semester, you will receive a letter containing your Earliest Registration Time (ERT). This is the time after which you may access the U of I Direct system and pick your classes. The times are stacked to give certain students (e.g., honor undergraduates, athletes, and graduate students!) priority in registration. Pick up a timetable at the Illini Union information desk or access it online for the most up-to-date information. Step-by-step information on how to register is available at CCSO Sites (including 1420 DCL), and is printed in the timetable.
If you're registering for CS499 (thesis research) or CS490 (individual study), note that there are different call numbers associated with each professor. Ask either your professor or the academic office for the correct number. These numbers don't change, so if you signed up for CS499 last semester, just use the same number. Before you can register for CS499 with a professor for the first time, you will need a signed Advisor Agreement Form with that professor. To register for CS490, you need a new Courses Application Form for each faculty member and each semester you register.
Prior to each term you should receive a schedule of classes. Ideally, this list matches the classes you asked for when you registered. If not, check with the Academic Office. U of I Direct or the CS Academic Office Timetable should reflect any change in time, location, or faculty made to classes.
If you have trouble and need to talk to an actual person, you can go to Registration Service Center, in the Illini Union South Lounge. The Registration Service Center is open for two weeks beginning the Monday before the first day of classes.
For an idea of how the new system is better than the old one, here's how the 1994 Guide described the process:
If you need to make changes to your registration, you will experience the excruciating excitement of Armory Registration. The Armory is an enormous, hot, stinky building on the corner of Fourth and (guess what?) Armory streets. Twice a year you will find the Armory crammed with a maze of booths, at which you can add and drop classes. In a failed attempt to prevent overcrowding, the University has devised a schedule which allows you into Armory registration only at certain times, based on your last name. Look for this schedule on your Registration Document, in the Timetable, or in the Daily Illini. Study it carefully--it's no fun walking all the way down to the Armory, only to be turned away.
Graduate students are allowed to add classes with impunity during the first six weeks of the semester and drop classes during the first twelve weeks. Check the Timetable or the Academic Office for official deadlines. In the past, students filled out scantron sheets and ran all around campus trying to find the proper building to turn them in, but no more. U of I Direct allows you to make changes to your schedule (add or drop classes, change credit or sections, etc.), up until the academic deadlines, without filling out any forms!
After the deadlines, to change your schedule you have to petition the department. It's a lot of work. Save yourself the hassle and get the changes made by the deadlines.
There are three places to purchase textbooks in Campustown.
In addition to commercially-published textbooks, some classes require you to get class materials from a local copy shop. Kinko's is, of course, a popular location with a special Classnotes Center on Sixth street between Green and Springfield. Then there is Notes and Quotes at 502 E. John Street in Champaign and UpClose Copies on Sixth Street. Your instructor will give course materials like overhead transparencies or papers to one of the copy centers, where they will be available for purchase within about 48 hours. However, most of the CS courses are now posting their handouts on the web.
The University publishes a timetable for the next semester shortly before the early registration period begins. Timetables are available at the Illini Union, as well as the first floor lobby of the Student Services Building and the Information Desk on the second floor of the Main Library. The online edition of the Timetable is available on the web at http://www.uiuc.edu/admin_manual/Courses/time.top.html. Unfortunately, many interesting CS courses, especially CS497 graduate seminars, are created too late to make it into the printed Timetable. However, the electronic edition is updated at least every 24 hours during the registration period. It is the best source for current schedule information. You can even view the number of people registered for a class in real time.
While U of I Direct may not force you to talk to your advisor, you should do so anyway. Avoid trouble later by talking over your goals and planning your course of study now. Get a feel for the department and how it works. Ask about what classes to take, and, if you are a new student, make sure you attend the orientation session, where class selection will be discussed.
When asked what they wished they had known in their first year at the U of I, most graduate students will mention unfortunate combinations of courses they took. Generally, here's what they say:
Don't take two programming courses at once. Courses like CS323, CS423, CS318, CS338, CS321 and CS326 tend to require a lot of time-consuming programming. Unless you are a total programming wizard (and already know the languages and operating systems being used), don't take more than one of these at a time3.1.
Talk to other graduate students. Your graduate student colleagues are usually happy to offer advice about what courses to take. Reviews of specific courses and professors are clearly beyond the scope of this document, but most of us are happy to dispense advice one-on-one.
Talk to faculty about what classes to take. Yes, even the faculty know what's going on, some of the time.
Beginning with Fall 1996, the University is grading on a four point system rather than the old five point system the old-timers are used to. For each course you can receive an A, B, C, D, or F. There are several other grades you might see on your Grade Report Form, which is mailed to your home address after the end of each semester. An AB indicates that you were absent from the final exam. A DF means that the grade is being deferred until a later time. Grades for CS499 are deferred until your thesis is deposited. An EX means that you have been excused from the regular final exam, and that the grade will be turned in when you complete the missing requirements sometime later. The EX grade is popular with some graduate students and professors, because it allows them extra time to finish the work and finish grading it, respectively. Note than an EX grade (or a DF for non-499 classes) turns into a pumpkin by the end of the next semester (remember the Cinderella story ?). Needless to say, EX projects from a previous semester can interfere with your current courses. To paraphrase Obi Wan Kenobi, ``Don't give in to the Dark Side of the Force; don't take an EX.'' A grade of MS (Missing Grade) means that your professor is a yogurthead, and couldn't be bothered to turn the grades in on time. Just kidding there, hahaha.
If you feel that a grade you receive is based on something besides your performance in the course (for instance, your ethnicity or your sex), you may be a victim of capricious grading. You should first talk to the instructor of the course, or contact the department Capricious Grading Committee3.2 if the instructor is unavailable. If you and the instructor are unable to satisfactorily resolve the problem, you can bring the matter to the University's Capricious Grading Committee, where your case will be heard by people outside the department. The Code on Campus Affairs has details on the procedure. Capricious grading is a very serious accusation, and should not be made lightly.
SINCE YOU'RE JUST ARRIVING, you have no idea what the old DCL building was like. Some of us like the new building, some of us hate it--there's no accounting for taste. Undeniably, we needed more space, and we got it. Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of the new building is watching students take it over--hang out in the atrium, study in the basement, and so on. The study areas in DCL have been recommended by a contributor to this guide as the best place to study on campus, so check them out. Also, know that there are vending machines in the basement!
The Department of Computer Science's Academic Office in 2270 DCL handles everything to do with classes--advising, registration, adding and dropping classes after the deadline. Remember that the Academic Office has to deal with zillions of undergraduates (and lots of other graduate students) in addition to whatever problem you think is so important. The people in the Academic Office really do care, so be nice to them and they'll be much more inclined to be nice to you. That goes for the Administrative Office, too.
The Administrative Office, located in 3270 DCL, handles such matters as graduate assistantship contracts, instructing electronic card locks to recognize your new student ID, handing out and collecting office keys, and making room reservations in DCL (Note: some room reservations are handled by the Academic Office and some by the secretarial offices). The Administrative Office also sets up CRL computer accounts.
The Computer Science Graduate Student Organization main purpose is to serve the students. First and foremost, it fosters informal graduate student interaction through a steady supply of free food (see below). Second, it represents CS graduate students in dealings with the department administration and other University bodies. Third, it's a lot of fun. The CSGSO has five elected officers--a President, a Treasurer, and three Coordinators, whose role is to coordinate particular events (such as seminars or the picnic) and to generally help out. All of these are elected in May and serve for one calendar year. For the 2002-2003 school year, your CSGSO President is Harigovind Ramasamy (ramasamy@uiuc.edu), and your Treasurer is Anand Ranganathan (ranganat@uiuc.edu). The Coordinators are Sumant Kowshik (kowshik@uiuc.edu), Chris Siefert (siefert@cse.uiuc.edu), and Hanna Joy Vander Zee (zvander@uiuc.edu). The CSGSO office is in 2417 DCL For more information on CSGSO, refer to it's home page (http://www-csgso.cs.uiuc.edu).
This program (re)started in Fall 2001 offers an excellent way by which new grad students get guidance from "old" grad students about how to get around the department and how to choose coursework in their area of interest. Because there are just some things no-one else but a student can tell you. Visit the CSGSO website, and register if you need peer advice.
In Spring 1994, the department set up a new printer room in 2436 DCL, installed a set of really nifty laser printers, and instituted a new accounting scheme for printing. All grad students can print to these printers on personal accounts, for which they will be billed. Teaching and research assistants can use appropriate teaching or research accounts for printing. The department's copying machines are also located in the printer room. A photocopier is available for graduate student use in the Universal Lounge, 3310 DCL. Kinko's on Sixth street is the closest commercial copy shop. All the libraries on campus have copiers connected to special card readers which will allow you to use your student ID, the i-Card, to pay for copies...once you have built up credit using the nearby card machine.
When facing a hurdle like the Qual or Prelim, it is all too easy to develop a confrontational, ``me versus them'' attitude. Such an attitude is totally counterproductive. The faculty derive no pleasure from watching graduate students fail exams and drop out. If you take these exams seriously, you won't have any problems passing them.
The Fall of 1991 marked the beginning of what is called the ``New Quals.'' Under the old system, the doctoral candidate was questioned for an hour and a half by a randomly selected committee of three faculty members in the student's research area. Many felt that this system was unfair, arbitrary, and out of touch with common academic practice. The faculty realized that the Qual was attempting to serve two purposes--evaluating broad knowledge of Computer Science and evaluating depth of knowledge pertinent to the candidate's proposed dissertation interests--and they devised two new exams designed to test these different qualities.
The first of these two exams, the Comprehensive, was a written exam that was designed to test the candidates breadth; the second, the Qualifying exam, an oral exam to test depth.
Starting with the Fall of 1995, the system changed again. Instead of three long, tedious written exams from five areas of CS, the department introduced a coursework requirement. If you want more details, see the Graduate Education Brochure for a more in-depth coverage of the subject.
Generally speaking, the coursework requirement requires you to take one graduate-level class in software, one in theory, and one in computer architecture. In addition, you must take a 400-level course in an area related to your intended area of research (which will, no doubt, change at a later date). Of course, the rules are a lot more complicated than that and are likely to change, so see the Graduate Education Brochure as mentioned above.
The Qual is supposed to examine the candidate's knowledge in depth of a particular body of research. The faculty was unable to come to a consensus about the format of the Qual. Thus, the format of this exam is determined by the faculty in each research area. One format suggested by the department is a oral defense of a given set of papers taken from the relevant research literature.
In general, oral exams are quite an experience. Some tips:
Leading a discussion section requires you to think on your feet, understand and answer student questions lucidly, and explain your ideas clearly. These are precisely the skills you will need to pass an oral exam. Just another of the many rewards of teaching.
Just as you might take practice tests while studying for the GRE, try to simulate your oral exam by having other graduate students play the part of the faculty committee. You might even want to tape record yourself, to see whether you really sound coherent or not.
After years of listening to undergraduates give bogus excuses for class absences and late homeworks, professors have a finely tuned ability to tell when students are making things up. When asked a question you can't answer, simply admit, ``I don't know.'' If you have a supposition or think you know, you should speak up, but be sure to indicate that you're not certain of your answer. Be confident when answering questions you can answer, and be honest about what you don't know. This is the mark of a responsible scholar.
It never hurts to become acquainted with the professors on your committee. Besides finding out that they are nice people, you will also get a feel for their backgrounds and the types of questions they might ask.
One of the coolest yearly happenings in the CS department is the Donald B. Gillies Memorial Lecture Series. Established to honor one of this department's earliest and best loved faculty members, this series has featured a stellar collection of Turing award winners and internationally known scientists, including Ivan Sutherland, John Backus, John Hopcroft, and (many years ago) Donald Knuth himself! Be sure to attend each fall. There will be posters around the building and (of course) a posting in newsgroup uiuc.cs.general.
At well-endowed, private universities like Carnegie Mellon University, providing overwhelming computing resources for every graduate student is no problem. At the U of I, a maze of different funding sources and federal grant regulations has meant that getting access to resources is more complicated, and may require some effort on your part. If you are willing to ask around and make an effort, you can find the resources you need.
From your account you will be able to send and receive electronic mail, access the library computer system, and waste away the day surfing the web and browsing through a huge collection of newsgroups.
The department's instructional computing facilities are funded by corporate grants and the state of Illinois. They are only available to graduate students registered to take classes.
All graduate students not having a CRL account used to be eligible to have an account on the Sparc workstations in room 1235 DCL or any of the other DCS workstation laboratories. This has now been replaced with the engineering workstation labs located throughout the engineering campus. This account allows you to read department newsgroups, send and receive electronic mail, and use a variety of tools including the X window system and LATEX.
Each teaching assistant office now contains at least NT workstation. These machines are connected to both the instructional lab printers and the main CRL printers (for printing exams and handouts).
The primary organization for administering computing resources inside the CS department is the Computing Research Laboratory (CRL). CRL is in charge of networking, mail, the department's Sun servers, and laser printers. Since CRL is funded from a combination of state funds and direct charges to contracts, CRL charges a fee for the use of its facilities and services. Faculty partially pay these fees using grant money, usually obtained from industry or federal agencies like the National Science Foundation. The department pays the balance from state funds. In addition, the department provides fifty accounts for graduate students without assistantships who are actively engaged in research with a Department of Computer Science faculty member. Federal regulations require that the government (e.g., the NSF) be charged no more than any other user of a given service. Thus, CRL cannot have any users who do not pay the fee. To allow any users to use CRL resources for no fee would imply that no federal agency should pay either.
The best way to get a CRL account is to actively engage in research with a CS professor.
The College of Engineering maintains a good number of labs that have UNIX workstations from various vendors such as SUN, HP, and IBM, as well as engineering-related software. As members of the College of Engineering, CS graduate students have access to such machines.
CCSO is a separate division of the University that shares our building. CCSO's mission is to provide computing resources to the entire campus.
Every student is eligible to have an account on the free student machines. Take your student ID to the CCSO Resource Center (in 1420 DCL) and fill out some forms to get your account. Most CS students will not regularly use this account, but it can be occasionally useful.
CCSO operates a Resource Center in 1420 DCL. In addition to support for various mainframe systems, the Resource Center includes the Microcomputer Resource Center. The MRC provides assistance with all kind of microcomputers, provides a collection of magazines for your browsing pleasure, converts between various diskette formats, and you can even get copies of many popular shareware or public-domain applications.
As a side note, students from all over campus come to the Resource Center if they forget their password. Thus, if you see lost-looking people wandering around on the first floor, direct them toward 1420.
CCSO operates a variety of microcomputer sites around campus, featuring Apple Macintoshes, PC-compatibles, printers, scanners, and other peripherals. These sites can be quite busy, especially late in the semester. Most of the time, however, you can easily find a machine to use. For the location of the sites, check out fundamental links from CSGSO's web page.
The National Computational Science Alliance is a national supercomputing program headed by the center located at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. The local center is also known as the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (conveniently both acronyms are NCSA). The NCSA is a center for computational science--the use of computer simulations to model real-life phenomena; they also provide computational resources to researchers all over the country. The NCSA administers an awesome budget and an awesome pile of high performance computers including a Silicon Graphics CRAY Origin2000 and a high-end SGI Power Challenge. On the whole, you don't stand a chance of getting anywhere near these machines (unless, of course, they hire you as a research assistant). However, some of their hardware is available for educational use on a limited basis. Also, you can apply for a grant of computer time, provided you enjoy filling out forms.
NCSA has become internationally well-known for its Mosaic software, which allows easy access to the Internet via the World Wide Web. Besides Mosaic, they also have produced several other very useful, if not domain specific, software packages.
The CS department owns and operates many different computers, hence, it is difficult to describe the computing environment of a typical graduate student. Still, there are certain tools that most students will benefit from knowing.
A large fraction of machines on campus run some version of the UNIX operating system developed at Bell Laboratories. Even though the different versions are wildly divergent, they share a common set of tools and a common philosophy of terseness, expressiveness, and counter-intuitiveness. A working knowledge of UNIX will save a lot of time in your programming classes.
You will find many people in the department are easier to reach by electronic mail than by telephone. Choose a mail reading program (``mail'', ``elm'', or ``pine'' on most UNIX machines) and become familiar with it. You can even try sending mail to the President of the United States (president@whitehouse.gov). But don't forge threatening e-mail to the President, or you may find yourself kicked out of school and brought up on federal charges, as one UIUC undergrad was in 1993.
The University of Illinois is connected to the Internet. One extremely valuable Internet service is called USENET News. News is a system of broadcast messages organized by topics called newsgroups. They are named hierarchically, and range from rec.games.backgammon to soc.culture.india to comp.sys.mac.hardware. More importantly, the CS department has established newsgroups for use within the department and newsgroups are established for most of the classes. Some of the newsgroups you should know about are:
You'll need to have facility with some kind of UNIX editor, in order to write electronic mail, debug programs, or post news articles. The two most popular UNIX editors are VI and Emacs (especially GNU Emacs, a version written by the Free Software Foundation). As with Apple Macintosh and IBM PC owners, strong advocates of VI and Emacs should not be placed in small rooms together, as bloodshed will certainly result. So, try them both and see which you prefer. VI is arcane, terse, and not programmable, while Emacs is arcane, enormous, and entirely programmable. You are especially encouraged to try out XEmacs, an enhanced version of GNU Emacs which is developed here at the U of I.
If you use any of the workstations in the instructional computing laboratory (or the CRL Suns), you will want to be familiar with the X window system. X allows the console to be something more than just a glass teletype. Learning the intricacies of X may make you more productive (or provide an unlimited time sink) and you can impress your friends, too.
The Thesis Office ( 218 Coble Hall, 801 S. Wright, Champaign) probably won't become important to you this year, but you should know where it is. This is the office where one day, with luck and perseverance, you will deposit several copies of your thesis or dissertation. The office is staffed by a graduate assistant who is employed to ensure that your margins are correct, that you have correctly spelled your middle name, and so on. The office also has a collection of handouts, including the extremely important yearly timetable, which lists all the deadlines for depositing theses, dropping classes, and so on.
Another popular item, Instructions for Preparation of Theses, subtitled, ``How to deposit a thesis with the graduate college and retain your sanity,'' gives step-by-step instructions on the depositing process. The department has created an infosheet telling the CS procedures for depositing a thesis. It is available online at University home page. A hard copy is provided in the information rack of the Academic Office in 2270 DCL.
Many people tell horror stories about the Thesis Office, but most of the problems occur because graduate students don't seem to think that the format rules set down by the Graduate College apply to them. Well folks, they do. So read them, understand them, and deal with them.
For those who like using LaTeX, a package that confirms these requirements is available. It is called UIUC thesis and is developed by Bill Gross. Another benefit in using this package is that the Academic Office is very good at catching the mistakes in this case.
Graduate student petitions provide a mechanism for doing things that are normally disallowed. Examples include retroactively withdrawing from a class or changing a degree course requirement. Petition forms are available from the Academic Office in 2270 DCL. After filling out the petition form and getting your advisor's signature, submit the petition to the Academic Office for departmental consideration. If approved, the Academic Office will forward your petition to the Graduate College, who will notify you by mail when they take action on it.
The Graduate College's Minority Student Affairs Office (201 Coble Hall) is largely concerned with increasing enrollment levels of various minority groups. In addition, this office also offers counseling on a wide range of issues, assistance with job hunting, and information about minority student activities on campus.
The Graduate Student Advisory Council (202 Coble Hall) was founded by the Dean of the Graduate College to provide feedback to the Dean from graduate students concerning various issues. The GSAC consists of some fifteen graduate students representing the entire campus; there is a second tier of contact people, one in each department. The contact people are intended to relay your concerns to members of the council.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS has a large administrative and bureaucratic structure that most people find overpowering, irritating, or both. Remember that there are good, helpful people scattered within the system--your job is to find them. Here are some of the most important organizations within the University and what they can do for you.
At the beginning of each semester you will receive a ``Statement of Charges and Aid'' from the University. This document specifies how much money you owe for tuition and fees, and when you have to pay it. If you have a tuition and fee waiver (included with most graduate assistantships), then you will have a large credit on your statement, cancelling out the tuition amount and about half of the fees. You can pay the entire amount at once, or pay in three installments.
If you are a graduate assistant and your first tuition payment would be due before your first paycheck, the deadline for your tuition payment should automatically be deferred until immediately after your first paycheck. However, this will not happen if you aren't on the payroll in time, about a week before the first tuition payment is normally due; in that case you'll have to pay the first fee installment on the normal date. Contact the department that offers your assistantship if you're not sure whether you're on the payroll. For CS assistantships, contact the Administrative Office in 3270 DCL.
Each semester, students are assessed a fee for health insurance which provides coverage for necessary hospital stays and accidents, including $100,000 of catastrophic accident coverage. Your dependents can also be covered. The Student Health Insurance Plan brochure, available from the Benefits Center (4th Floor, 807 S. Wright- near the Illini Union Bookstore), has the details. If you already have health insurance, you may show a copy of your current insurance policy and have the fee waived. To change your enrollment in the student health insurance plan, go to the Benefits Center or to the Registration Service Center during on-campus registration. Note that your health will be evaluated on an individual basis should you apply to reinstate your health coverage.
If you don't enroll for summer classes, your health insurance will not automatically be extended; you may explicitly extend your health insurance over the summer. To verify coverage and benefits, please call the U of I Student Insurance Office at the Illini Bookstore on the fourth floor.
The McKinley Health Center (at 1109 South Lincoln , Urbana) is the university health center. The doctors there can treat any number of minor ailments. In addition, the center has a women's health clinic, and can also help with getting your required immunications done.
Each student is assessed a Health Service fee in addition to the insurance fee mentioned above. This fee is not refundable, unless you are off campus and only enrolled in thesis units. All students on campus pay the Health Service fee, and are thus eligible to see McKinley physicians and have prescriptions filled there. The Health Service fee also entitles you to use the services of the Counseling Center.
To cancel an appointment, call 244-6066. If you do not call one hour prior to your appointment time or miss your appointment, a fee will be charged to your student account.
McKinley's ``Dial-A-Nurse'' service, answers questions 24 hours a day about illnesses, injuries or other health concerns. Depending on the nature of the problem, the nurse may suggest basic first-aid, a visit to the Health Center's self-care center, an appointment at the Center, coming immediately to the Center or a visit to the emergency department of a community hospital. To reach the Dial-A-Nurse, call 333-2700, 24 hours a day.
Upon entering the University, your student ID number is entered into the library computer system, making you eligible to check books out of the U of I Library. In addition to the mammoth main stacks, the library's collection is scattered among more than thirty departmental libraries, of which our late DCS library used to be one. Fortunately, a single database indexes the entire collection and will tell you which library holds the book you want and whether it's available, charged out, or stolen. The library also provides access to databases of magazine articles (Current Contents, CARL Uncover).
Access to the library database is easy from any computer terminal. See the IOplus section further down for details.
One word of advice: when you return a book, return it to the library you checked it out from. With such an extensive collection scattered across campus, it is the norm to receive overdue notices while the book you dropped off at the most convenient library makes its glacial way back to its original home.
The largest single portion of the U of I library collection is stored in the stacks of the Main Library (1408 W. Gregory Dr.). In order to keep pandemonium to a minimum, the stacks are not open to the public, especially not to undergraduates. Those without access to the stacks can request a book (called ``paging'') and then present their student ID's at the main circulation desk; the library staff will then go into the stacks and retrieve the book in question. Graduate students can simply show their student ID's to gain access to the stacks and find books themselves. The main stacks also contain study carrels, where you can study in complete silence and tranquility. You can acquire a study carrel of your own by filling out an application and getting an advisor's signature.
The Undergraduate Library contains another large chunk of the library's collection, including many general interest magazines. However, the Undergrad is plagued by fraternities and sororities that schedule enforced ``study hours'' there. The result is a high school locker room atmosphere, including a vexing disrespect for peace and quiet. In other words, don't go to the Undergrad between 7 and 10 on a weekday night (unless you're there to people watch).
The Engineering library, across the street from DCL at 1301 W. Springfield Ave., has many useful tools for finding books and articles. Among these are Current Contents, a database containing the tables of contents of scientific journals; Science Citation Index, a database documenting the pattern of citations among scientific papers; and the ACM Guide to Computing Literature. The Engineering Library staff are very competent and helpful, so don't hesitate to ask them for help.
The Grainger Engineering Library Information Center, which opened in Spring 1994, is a fabulous facility. Formerly crammed into a dingy space in Engineering Hall, the Engineering Library has really blossomed into a great place to work and study. There are many library computer terminals, brightly lit study spaces, and conference rooms for group projects. There's also a nice engineering workstation facility with fast HP's and IBM PowerPC workstations in the basement. Check it out!
The library computer system is accessible through terminals located in the library or via computers on campus. One of the handiest things you can do with IOplus is charge out books using your student ID number and have them mailed to your campus address6.1 (i.e., DCL). This saves you the trouble of walking all over campus to the many departmental libraries, and it's fun to get books in the mail. Paging works even with other Illinois libraries whose catalogs are available online over ILLINET Online.
You can get to IOplus from any UNIX machines on campus by typing telnet illinet.aiss.uiuc.edu. All the various libraries have IOplus terminals for public use.
The Illini Union, at 1401 W. Green St., is a popular hangout for many students. In addition to a food court, it features a computer lab, study space, a bank, ATM machines, billiards, bowling, video games, and vending machines of various sorts. Several other important services include:
Guest rooms are available for your guests staying here in Champaign-Urbana. The reservations desk is located just inside the main north entrance. These rooms can be extremely busy, and are booked a year in advance for the weekends of home football games.
The Union is home to the offices of many registered student organizations, including the Tenant Union. This organization, located in 326 Illini Union, helps tenants to file complaints with unscrupulous landlords, keeps files of past complaints, examines leases for objectionable clauses, and gives seminars around campus about renting apartments. When you are thinking about renting an apartment, get a copy of the lease and show it to the folks at the Tenant Union. Also, ask to see their file of complaints about your potential landlord. If he has received a lot of complaints, think twice about renting from that landlord!
They also publish the Champaign-Urbana Tenant Handbook, full of important information for the prospective renter.
Student Legal Services (324 Illini Union, phone 333-9053) provides legal advice and representation to students in all matters. This registered student organization, like all registered student organizations, is funded by a $4.00 fee each semester, called the SORF fee. Student Legal Services provides legal representation in a wide variety of circumstances, from changing your name to suing your landlord. You can, if you wish, get your $4.00 back from the University. If you do, however, you will not be eligible for Student Legal Services. Our advice: let the University keep the four bucks.
The only place on campus where you can get Krannert and Assembly Hall tickets at the same location.
A much embattled feature of the Illini Union, the Browsing Room is a reading room and small library operated by the University Library. In addition to a diverse collection of popular books, the Browsing Room stocks magazines, and many daily newspapers. It's a convenient, peaceful place to go and relax. The Browsing Room is in the northwest corner of the Union.
I'm told that there was a Physics TA who had never heard of the Quad and had no idea where it was! The Quadrangle is the large grassy area south of the Illini Union, and is a focus of many campus activities. On any given day, the Quad will be filled with hackey-sack players, sun worshipers, fundamentalist preacher Brother Max, guitar players, and even members of the Illini Juggling and Unicycle Club. One especially important Quad event is the previously-mentioned Quad Day. There are also numerous free concerts and movies on the Quad during the year.
The Turner Student Services Building, on 610 E. John St. has many offices dedicated to helping students succeed. Among its offices are:
The Office of International Student Affairs, on the fourth floor, can help you with all kinds of problems faced by international students, including advice and information on visas and other federal regulations applying to international students, alien income tax returns, insurance and housing problems, payroll clearances, social security numbers, and English language problems. (Information from A Handbook for Graduate Students and Advisors.) They also organize social events for international students and can put you in touch with national and ethnic student organizations.
The Financial Aid Office, on the fourth floor, is where you go to pick up and drop off financial aid forms and related documents. There is also a board listing various jobs open to students. Remember that many students use the financial aid office, so try to go there during off hours (early morning, for instance), and be prepared to wait for a while.
The University Counseling Center, located on the second floor, operates a variety of programs. Seminars on topics such as procrastination, long-distance relationships, and depression are offered at various times and places throughout the semester. The Counseling Center also offers free personal counseling for students and many support programs, including a dissertation writing support group.
The nexus of activity in the David Dodds Henry Administration Building (506 S. Wright St.) is Room 100, which is open 9 AM to 4 PM on weekdays. It does not close for lunch. All of the following transactions occur in Room 100 Administration:
Anyone with a staff ID card (i.e., everyone with either a teaching or research assistantship) is allowed to cash checks at the Cashier's window.
Staff can also purchase American Express traveler's checks at the Cashier's window, using either cash or a personal check. There is no service charge.
If you want a receipt for your tuition payment, go to 100 Administration to make payments to the University and inquiries regarding your University bill.
Those of you wishing to defer payment of student loans from earlier in your career will need some certification that you are officially enrolled at Illinois. Go to Room 100 to get such certification.
Be aware that processing is done in batches and you are advised not to wait until the last minute to submit your certification form.
The College of Engineering operates a centralized Engineering Career Services (203 Engineering Hall), to coordinate the efforts of companies trying to hire U of I graduates and graduates in engineering trying to find jobs. The system for getting an interview as an undergraduate is somewhat complicated and requires constant vigilance. Fortunately, the Engineering Career Services office operates a more relaxed program of supplying the names of graduating doctoral and masters students to companies that want to hire people with more schooling. Be sure to contact the office early in the school year in which you plan to graduate.
The Division of Campus Parking and Transportation (201 Public Safety, 1110 W. Springfield Ave., Urbana) is where you go to rent a parking space in a university lot, register your car, motorcycle, or bicycle with the University, buy a summer bus pass if you don't pay summer fees, or to pay or contest a campus parking ticket.
Official U of I parking is very expensive and generally has a long waiting list. Do yourself a favor and don't bother driving. The town is small and the bus is convenient. Or ride a bicycle--besides the exercise of more than just your fingers, the bike racks are often a lot closer than the parking spots!
The University's Ombuds Officer (323 Illini Union, phone 333-1345) is the person you go to when you have a problem you can't resolve. The Ombuds Officer is strong with The Force, and has mysterious powers and unseen ways of accomplishing things.
Women who attend graduate school in computer science at the University (or virtually anywhere else on the planet) will find themselves in the minority. Statistics from the 1990-1991 Taulbee Survey reveal the overwhelming nature of this inequity. Of the 862 Ph.D.'s granted in the US in 1990-1991, only 13% were granted to women. Of the 2,725 CS professors in 137 CS departments surveyed, only 10% of assistant professors, 11% of associate professors, and a minuscule 5% of full professors were women. If the computing community is to become more inclusive, we (especially men) must ensure that our words and actions do not exclude or offend those currently underrepresented. Some thoughtfulness and common courtesy would really help.
The women of the computer science department have been meeting at the beginning and end of each semester to support each other and share experiences. Here are some other organizations designed to support women on campus.
AWIS is a national organization founded in 1971 to improve the educational and employment opportunities for women in all science fields. It is a dynamic organization with over 3,500 members working on both national and regional levels. It publishes a magazine in addition to information on grants, career guides, employment, legislation, and educational materials on a variety of topics. The Central Illinois Chapter of AWIS was established at the University of Illinois in Spring of 1991. Its sister organization, Organization for Women in Science (OWIS), is a registered student organization that addresses the particular concerns of graduate and undergraduate women in science, mathematics, and engineering at the U of I.
At present AWIS is mostly inactive but still holds a monthly brown bag lunch on the first Tuesday of each month. In the past the AWIS has also held panel discussions, pot luck meals, and met with women seminar speakers. Contact AWIS secretary, Linda Lorenz, at l-lorenz@uiuc.edu for more information, or check the newsgroup uiuc.org.awis.
A Woman's Place (505 W. Green, Urbana, 384-4462 or 384-4390) is a shelter for women who are been victims of abuse. The first phone number is for general administrative matters, the second is for crises and crisis information.
Dean Mary Ellen O'Shaughnessey (300 Student Services, phone 333-0050) assists students who have been victims of sexual harassment or other discrimination.
This event has become a tradition among CS women (faculty and grad students). Each semester, there is an informal get together to welcome both old and new women to the CS dept.
WCS creates awareness of issues relevant to women in computing. They have a weekly get-together called the coffee hour. Everyone, including men in CS, are invited! Be sure to check their website.
Women in engineering program offers a variety of resources (financial, academic, counseling) to women students in the college of Eng. Contact info:
WIE program
322 Ceramics Bldg.
105 S. Goodwin
phone 217 244-3517
fax 217 244-4974
Email: wie@uiuc.edu
It is an organization whose main objectives are to further women engineers' issues and to provide network to new engineers in the "real world." In other words, this is the group for you to be in when getting closer to graduation and starting to look for a job.
Contact info: http://eng_council.cen.uiuc.edu/soc/swe.
Current CS Women grad students volunteer to participate in this program to become peer mentors to new women grad/undergrad students. Peer mentors are like ``big sisters'' to new students for one semester.
The Division of Campus Recreation is online at http://www.dcr.uiuc.edu/. They administer a series of sports http://www.dcr.uiuc.edu/facilities among which are the following:
IMPE is a large building located at 201 E. Peabody, Champaign, on the southwest corner of campus just north of Memorial Stadium. It houses two swimming pools, three tennis courts, many racquetball courts, a few squash courts, weight rooms, ping-pong tables, and gyms for basketball. Virtually every sporting activity you can imagine occurs there, meaning that it is often quite busy. A brand new fitness center was opened at the beginning of 1999. One-day guest passes are available for your non-student friends, and spouses of students can get an IMPE pass good for an entire semester.
Many students like to leave their belongings (bathing suits, tennis racquets, etc) in an IMPE locker rather than lug them around all day. The IMPE lockers come in three sizes: Full Size (really enormous), Half Size (a reasonable size), and Too Small. There are very few of the full size lockers, meaning that it is virtually impossible to get one. Read the signs posted in the locker room at the beginning of the semester carefully for instructions on how to get a half size locker. Fortunately, you can always get a small locker, which will hold shoes, some clothes, and a racquetball racket. If you get a small locker, you can temporarily use a half size locker to hold all your stuff while you are exercising. Each locker comes with a towel, which you can exchange for a new towel as often as you like. Locks and towels must be returned to the IMPE locker room attendants at the end of the semester.
The locker room attendants will let you borrow tennis and racquetball racquets, eye protection for racquetball (strongly recommended), basketballs, volleyballs, and a host of other pieces of equipment. In exchange for these, they keep your student ID until you return. Note that you must provide your own tennis balls and racquetballs.
Since there are many more tennis and racquetball players than IMPE courts, the courts are usually reserved ahead of time. You can either go reserve a court in person, or call 244-RESV between 7am-11am on weekdays, 9:30am-Noon on weekends, and 11:30am-2pm on breaks/Holidays. Reservations are only accepted for that day.
The IMPE staff run a variety of programs. Runners and bicyclists can participate in a century club, in which they try to run 100 miles (or bicycle 1000 miles) in a semester. IMPE also offers camping trips, martial arts instruction, aerobics classes, and canoeing expeditions.
At 1102 W. Gregory, on the west side of Allen Hall and LAR, and just east of Freer Hall, CRC-E (sometimes also called ``WIMPE'') was built in 1991 to provide exercise facilities closer to Urbana student residents. There is no pool (although there is one in nearby Freer Hall), but there are three basketball courts and an excellent fitness center with cybex circuit machines, StairMasters, NordicTrack's, LifeCycles, and a huge array of free weights. The fitness center gets crowded around 3 PM and stays that way until about 9 PM. Come in the morning if you can. There are coin return lockers for a quarter (you get the coin back when you're done) but no showers. Make sure you bring your own small towel because you must have one to use the fitness center. You may check out basketballs, weight belts, and reading racks with an ID.
The campus Ice Arena is located on the northwest corner of 5th and Armory in Champaign. It hosts the UIUC hockey team and skating classes, but there is also open skating during the weekend and some evenings. As a UIUC student, admission is free and skate rental is only $1! See http://www.dcr.uiuc.edu/skating/ia_sch.html for their schedule.
Champaign-Urbana may seem like a small, sleepy town, but it is not without its dangers. A few tips and some common sense will make the campus a much safer place.
While not strictly a part of the University, the YMCA's Latzer Hall at 1001 South Wright Street houses many activities of interest to students, including the Y-Eatery, the Dup-It copy shop, and the Friday Forum. The Friday Forum is a noon-time lecture series which focuses on a different topic each semester. Many internationally known writers and thinkers have spoken at this prestigious series. Stop by Latzer Hall for a schedule of the semester's lectures. Another lecture series, entitled ``Know Your University,'' features administrators and other prominent people in the University talking about what they do and what's happening at the University.
Each semester the YMCA also hosts ``Communiversity'', extra-curricular classes on subjects as drawing, dancing, foreign languages, music, and bicycle repair. You can't get graduation credit for these courses, but you sure can learn a lot.
The YWCA, whose offices are located in the YMCA building, is an organization dedicated to the elimination of racism and the empowerment of women everywhere.
For more information on the YMCA, see their website at http://www.universityymca.org.
The average rent for a two bedroom apartment with all utilities paid in Champaign-Urbana is $481 a month. Of course, it's likely to be higher close to campus.
It costs between $10 and $17 a month to have garbage picked up at curbside in Champaign. The costs are similar in Urbana, but the garbage is picked up near your house instead of curbside.
The average monthly gas and electric bill for Champaign-Urbana is $128.67.
The average water bill is about $10 a month.
In Urbana, sales tax can be up to 7.25 percent for retail purchases and 7.75 percent for prepared foods. In Champaign, sales tax is 7.25 percent for most retail purchases. Outside the city limits, the sales tax drops to 6.25 percent.
(Cost of living statistics copied without permission from The Answer Book, published by the News-Gazette, August 1996. Look for a new edition each year for more up-to-date statistics.)
Champaign-Urbana's city bus system is called the Mass Transit District (MTD), and it's really quite good. The MTD has twelve routes (most named with colors) which serve all of Champaign and Urbana, including the Market Place Shopping Center and Parkland College. The MTD also has three routes which serve the campus. They are the Quad bus, which orbits the quad; the Illini bus, which serves the engineering campus and the Veterinary Medicine building; and the Shuttle bus, which serves the remote storage parking lots south of campus. Furthermore, the MTD runs the Nite Rides service described before.
By showing your student ID, you can ride all of these buses for free. (Actually, it's not free; you pay a $15 transportation fee every semester, but it is a very good deal. Take advantage of it.) You can pick up a bus schedule on most buses, call MTD at 384-8188 or check their home page http://www.cumtd.com for information.
If you're going to live far from campus you can rent a parking space in the south lots and take the campus bus in to class, but it's really not worth it, because you end up having to ride one of the campus buses anyway. Instead, take the MTD city bus--most of the routes seem to be designed to go by campus shortly before each hour.
There are cabs in Champaign-Urbana, but you won't get very far by standing on the street and waiting for one to drive by. A cab will generally be found at the airport, bus, or train station whenever passengers arrive. If you want a cab to take you to the airport, be sure to call at least twenty-four hours ahead of time.
Amtrak trains arrive and depart from downtown Champaign. You have two directions to choose from: north toward Chicago or south toward New Orleans. Call 1-800-USA-RAIL for train information. With the new Amtrak cuts, on some days there is only one train a day.
MTD will get you to the train station, or it's about a 15 minute walk from campus.
Call 352-4150 (or 1-800-231-2222 after 6 PM) for information about Greyhound buses. MTD connects campus with the bus station. If several of you are driving to Chicago, renting a car one way (see below) might be an option.
The new Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) being built in downtown Champaign provides a central transfer point for the MTD buses, and it also incorporates facilities for Greyhound, Illini Swallow bus lines, Amtrak, and local cab service.
The University of Illinois Willard Airport is located south of town on Route 45. From Willard you can fly nonstop to several hub cities, including Chicago, St. Louis, Detroit, Indianapolis, and Minneapolis. Contact a travel agent for further information. MTD does not serve Willard, so to get to the airport you'll have to take a cab; furthermore, Corky's Limousine Service apparently has a monopoly on cab travel from the airport to Champaign-Urbana.
Parking in Champaign-Urbana is clearly the largest incentive to not own a car. If your apartment has off-street parking, well and good. If not, forget about it. You're not supposed to park on the street overnight in Urbana in the rectangle bordered by Wright and Lincoln and Florida and Green unless you buy a magic sticker for $135 a year. Call the Urbana Finance Department (384-2345) to buy one of your very own.
You can park for free on the street in parts of Champaign, but they're usually so crammed full of cars that you'll drive around for blocks before finding a spot.
U of I students have an incredible propensity for walking out directly in front of automobiles, to the point where motorists are sorely tempted to run them over. On the other hand, it seems that Chambana motorists are completely ignorant of the Illinois law that states that cars must come to a complete stop whenever a pedestrian is standing in a marked crosswalk. This is especially true on Springfield avenue, immediately in front of our building.
Several commercial establishments will rent you a car. This can be a cost-effective way to take a short trip to Chicago, especially if several people are splitting the costs. You will need a credit card to rent a car, and some (but not all) rental agencies require you to be 25 years old. National offers good deals for U of I students/faculty/staff (like cheap one-way rentals to/from Chicago). Check them out.
There are around 10,000 bicycles on campus. Here are a few campus bicycle regulations to be aware of.
The University of Illinois has a extensive system of bicycle paths connecting almost all parts of campus. You can tell a bicycle path by the dashed yellow line down the middle, similar to a street. Bicyclists stay on the right side of the bike path, just like cars stay on the right side of the road. Those white triangles painted on the bicycle path that appear to point against the direction of travel are actually yield signs--watch out for pedestrians!
The Division of Campus: Parking and Transportation (201 Public Safety, phone 333-3530) registers bicycles on campus. You should get your bicycle registered and write down the registration number in a safe place. If your bicycle is stolen and later recovered, the University Police will use the registration number to contact you.
The University Police will also use the registration number to fine you if you lock your bicycle improperly. They might add their lock to yours, making your bicycle immovable, or even remove your bicycle and lock altogether. To avoid these entanglements, lock your bicycle at a bike rack designed for that purpose. There's a really nice bike rack just north of DCL. Bringing bicycles into University buildings is a violation of safety rules and fire codes, so don't do it.
In addition to welcoming you to the University of Illinois, the CSGSO also welcomes you to the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. While most people are likely to refer to this community as Champaign-Urbana, you will notice that the University refers to Urbana-Champaign. There's just no pleasing some folks. The dividing line between the two cities is Wright street, with Champaign to west and Urbana to the east. City regulations are not identical (especially with regard to parking), so you would do well to remember which city you're in and how the regulations differ.
Perhaps one of the first things you will notice upon arrival is the large number of churches near campus. Indeed, nearly all the major denominations are represented. One can find congregations of Roman Catholics, Episcopalians, Baptists, United Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, and Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In addition, the Jewish, Greek Orthodox and Islamic faiths are well represented. Not to mention the United Church of Christ, Disciples of Christ, Christian Science, Jehovah's Witnesses, Salvation Army, and Quakers (Friends).
Check the News-Gazette Answer Book, local phone book, or just drop by--you'll discover another reason why Champaign-Urbana is considered part of the American heartland.
Grocery shopping is an important aspect of apartment living. You'll want to visit several stores and figure out which is most convenient for you.
From May through October, the best place to buy fresh produce is at one of the local farmers' markets. Area farmers bring all kinds of fruits and vegetables, many raised organically, and sell them at reasonable prices. You will also find flowers, plants, and crafts. Be sure to get there early in the morning.
As with the rest of the United States, Champaign-Urbana is plagued with a disease known as ``Convenience Stores.'' Sporting names like ``White Hen,'' ``Kwik Shop,'' and ``Colonial Pantry,'' these stores offer a small selection of junk food, magazines, and a few essentials like milk and eggs. Even the most minimal attempts at comparison shopping will reveal that these stores are charging much more than a regular grocery store.
Following you'll find a list of bigger and better known names with stores in the area. Included is a list of small local stores where you may find items not available in chain supermarkets, or common food at better prices.
Following are reviews of the restaurants in the area. As you may expect, they can't be more than personal opinions, but we hope they'll be useful. The initials at the end of each review indicate the author. Keep in mind though that restaurants open and close at an alarming rate, so this list may not be very up to date.
| [IC] | Ian Chai |
| [DLH] | David Hull |
| [LI] | Ledi Imeraj | [DI] | Deb Israel | [DEL] | David Lemson |
| [DEL] | Mario Medina |
| [LT] | Luis Tavera |
| [WFW] | Bill Walker |
| [DB] | David Bunde |
| [HR] | Hari Ramasamy |
| [PGSGTL] | Physics Graduate Student's Guide to Life |
Prepare to be crammed into small booths, sometimes a little too close to some sweaty students who just pulled an all-nighter. Most of the food is over-priced, but consistent. On campus, on Green west of Fourth. [DEL]
It is located south on Neil Street, past Windsor. There is a good variety of food, and the wait is not long. [HVZ]
Don't try to go there for lunch or dinner. They close weekdays at 2:30 PM, Sundays at 3 PM. Late riser that I am, I still haven't been able to sample the Apple Pancake. [MM]