At a Glance: December 8, 2025
| Announcements |
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| Fall 2025 Grade Release |
| Final grades for the Fall 2025 semester are available to view in Student Self-Service on Wednesday, December 24. |
| Fall 2025 Digital Specialization Certificate Release Next Month |
| Gies Online is pleased to celebrate learners achieving milestones in their specialization coursework. Approximately four weeks after final grades are released, eligible learners who have completed a specialization area in Fall 2025 will be sent a digital specialization certificates via Accredible to their Illinois email addresses. Learn how to share your credentials with your network via Accredible. |
| Transform Ideas to Impact with Cozad New Venture Challenge 2026! |
| Have a great idea for a product or startup? Consider participating in the Cozad New Venture Challenge 2026, sponsored by The Grainger College of Engineering and the Gies College of Business. Cozad helps you advance that idea with mentoring, funding, and developing the skills you need to succeed. At the end, you can pitch your innovative startup at Demo Day in April and compete for a share of $550,000 in funding. This year, Gies students have access to the Business & Engineering Partnership Prize (up to $25,000) as well as several other specialty prizes. This experience is offered to all University of Illinois students, in-person or online. The Cozad New Venture Challenge 2026 is an optional opportunity. No specialization capstone or credit hours will be offered. All iDegree learners are welcome to participate in the experience, but on-campus participation will be required. For additional questions, please review the FAQ or contact Stephanie Faraci. Register by February 1, 2026 |
| Your Canvas Course Page Has a Time Limit |
| Canvas course pages are available for eight weeks from the end of the last course module, as stated in each course syllabus. After eight weeks from the end date, you will no longer have access to your course(s) dashboard in Canvas. Save any documents before that date for your personal archives. Your access to course content and videos in Coursera will not expire. |
| Virtual Workshop: From Auto-Pilot to Aligned |
| On behalf of the Gies Business Office of Access and Community, we are excited to share an upcoming virtual workshop that is available to our learners. A proud Gies Business alum, Deanna Brooks (ACCY '13, MAS '14) has dedicated her career to driving financial stability, enhancing operational efficiency, and maximizing profitability across organizations. Beyond her professional success, Deanna is deeply committed to her purpose – understanding the motivation behind what she does and the positive impact it creates. Her life mission is to empower and inspire women who follow in her footsteps, helping them find fulfillment and purpose in their own career journeys. Join us for an inspiring virtual workshop featuring Deanna Brooks, an impact-driven CPA and business financial consultant with over 11 years of diverse industry experience, to learn how women can reprioritize themselves and design a purpose-filled, passion-driven career. This workshop will be held on Friday, December 12, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm CT on Zoom. Register for the workshop here or join directly via Zoom. |
Gies Events
| Cape Town, South Africa Meet Up |
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| Friday, January 9 | 7:00 - 9:00 pm SAST Gies Business is looking forward to providing an opportunity for our iDegree learners and alumni in the Cape Town, South Africa area to gather for a meet up! Join Professor Steve Raquel and your fellow learners for an evening of networking and connecting. The event will take place at Grand Africa Cafe (1 Haul Road, V&A Waterfront, Granger Bay, Cape Town). Please register by Friday, January 2. Light food and refreshments will be provided. We look forward to connecting with you! |
| Register for the Cape Town Meet Up |
| Champaign-Urbana iConnect |
| Friday, January 16 | 5:00 - 7:00 pm CT Gies Business is looking forward to providing an opportunity for our iDegree learners and alumni in the Champaign-Urbana area to gather for an iConnect! Join your fellow learners for an evening of networking and connecting. The event will take place at Papa Del’s (1201 S Neil Street Champaign, IL). Please register by Friday, January 9. Light food and refreshments will be provided. We look forward to connecting with you! |
| Register for the Champaign-Urbana iConnect |
Gies News
| Study: Why ‘Mindful Gifting’ Should be the Next Big Thing in Holiday Cheer | |||||||||||
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| As holiday shopping ramps up and carts fill with wrapping paper and well-meant gifts, a team of marketing researchers is encouraging a shift in how we give. This new study, coauthored by Gies professor emerita Cele Otnes, titled “Defining and Delineating Mindful Gifting: A Review and Research Agenda”, suggests that gift-giving shouldn’t simply feel good — it should do good. Read more about the research here. This Week at Gies
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