EIU President Jay Gatrell will hold office hours in the MLK, Jr. Food Court throughout the academic year. The next Community Office Hours session of the Fall 2026 semester is scheduled from 1 to 1:45 p.m. Friday, October 30, 2026. Come by the University Food Court to chat with Jay about whatever EIU issues are on your mind!

Location Information
Food Court
Martin Luther King Jr. University Union
1720 7th Street
Charleston, IL 61920

Contact Information
Office of the President
president@eiu.edu

The Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Mobile Mammography Bus will be on EIU Campus Tuesday October 27, 2026. The bus will be located between the Alumni Clock Tower and Lumpkin Hall. This is for all women age 35 and over. 

Call 1-800-639-5929 to schedule your appointment.

If you should have any questions, you may contact SBLHC Mobile Mammography bus at 1-800-639-5929, or EIU Benefits at 217-581-5825.

The Little Bluestem literary festival will kick off aturday, October 10 at 1 p.m. in Doudna and will feature writer Athena Dixon, author of The Loneliess Files, and poet Ae Hee Lee, author of ASTERISM. The writers will give masterclasses, hold a roundtable discussion, and do a reading at 5 p.m. featuring student readers Brenden Cash, Dan Moffett, and Pamela Zimmerman. The English club will be on hand with bookish activities like blackout poetry and bookmark making, and there will be coffee and refreshments beginning at 3 p.m. 

The Health and Counseling Services in partnership with other partners in student and academic affairs is hosting the Fall 2026 health and wellness fair! The health fair and flu shot clinic will be in the EIU MLK Jr. Student Union on October 7th (11 AM-3 PM). All events for students will take place within the MLK Union Ballroom.

Free Flu Shots for EIU! 

Seasonal flu shots will be available every fall semester. Students should bring their Panther Cards. This year, flu vaccines will be provided by the Sarah Bush Lincoln Student Medical Clinic and the EIU School of Nursing.

Interested in getting started with 3D printing? Thursday, October 1st's one-hour workshop will walk you through the basic process of taking a 3D model from a digital file to a printed 3D object. After this workshop, you will be able to reserve time with the CSI's 3D printers to print items for educational or personal use (with assistance from CSI staff). No previous experience required.

Sign up here

After 20 years at Consolidated (now Fidium) and 15 years in EIU's Telecomm/Help Desk/Panthercard Office , Becky is retiring! Please join ITS for refreshments, celebrating Becky, and wishing her good luck on Wednesday, September 30th from 2 to 3:30 p.m. in the Cougill Foyer of Old Main. 

NOTICE OF CIVIL SERVICE ADVISORY COMMITTEE SPECIAL ELECTION FOR EIU REPRESENTATIVE

Eastern Illinois University will hold a SPECIAL ELECTION  to begin the process of electing a representative from Eastern Illinois University to the State Universities Civil Service Advisory Committee (known as EAC) to serve out the remaining vacant term, October 6, 2026, through December 31, 2028.

If you are interested in representing Eastern Illinois University on this Advisory Council, in accordance with the election bylaws, Petitions and Statement of Candidacy Forms will become available for pick-up at the start of business beginning Friday, August 28, 2026. Paper forms may be picked up in the Human Resources office located in Old Main, Office 2020 or online here. The last day to submit the Petition and Statement Candidacy Forms will be by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, September 4, 2026. 

Candidates who wish to withdraw from the election ballot must do so by Wednesday, September 9, 2026.

To be eligible for nomination and election to membership on this committee, a Civil Service employee must meet the following qualifications:

1. have a full-time certified status appointment in the State University Civil Service System; and 
2. have at least three current consecutive years of civil service employment in an institution currently served by the system at the time the candidate picks up the petition and statement of candidacy.

The appointment term will be for the remaining vacant opening, from October 6, 2026 through December 31, 2028.

Please review the SUCSAC website https://www.sucss.illinois.gov/pages/boards/eac.aspx which includes the EAC member’s manual and the by-laws for further information.

An official list of candidates and their qualifications will be made available on or before Tuesday, September 15, 2026, or when the number of candidates equals the total number of positions to be filled (1). The election will be held on Wednesday, September 30, 2026, via electronically through single sign-on voting link beginning 12:01 a.m. through 11:59 p.m. OR in-person voting, in the Human Resources office between 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Voting is for Civil Service employees only.

For questions, please contact Fantasy Sharrett, Director of Human Resources at (217) 581-5814 or fdsharrett@eiu.edu.

Please visit our website at eiuparking.t2hosted.com/Account/Portal and select "Get Permits" to purchase your permit.

Fall or yearly permits are available online. Please note yearly permits are only offered in the fall semester.  Yearly permits include Fall, Spring, and summer semesters.

Delivery 

 All faculty staff permits will be mailed to the campus departments. If you are currently displaying a 2025-2026 (red) staff hang tag permit, it is valid until 8/31/2026. Staff lots will be enforced starting on August 26th, 2026.

 Payment Options

Credit or debit cards or payroll deduction are available for online purchases. Cash or check payments are accepted only in the UPD lobby.

 Parking Permit Fees

• Staff/Faculty Permit  $60 Semester, $120 Year
• Motorcycle Permit: $5 Semester, $10 Year
• Replacement permits: $20
• One-day parking permits: $2 (may be purchased weekly)

EIU's Doudna has a week full of great performances to share with you. The recitals are free to attend for any audience members! The performances of Proof and the Wind Symphony concert will have Student Rush Tickets available the day of the event or the Friday before a weekend show. Your Student Rush tickets can be picked up at Doudna's Box Office from 11am - 5pm with your Panthercard!

Guest Percussion Recital, Andrea Venet

Monday, September 28^th, 7:30pm @ Doudna's Recital Hall
Free For All Audiences
Percussionist Andrea Venet will perform a concert of original and classic works for marimba and percussion. Dr. Venet is Professor of Percussion at the University of North Florida and an acclaimed composer and performer. Her work can be found at https://www.andreavenet.com. Support for this even is provided by the NEW AND EMERGING ARTISTS SERIES ENDOWMENT.

Trio Sorivoce

Tuesday, September 29^th, 7:30pm @ Doudna's Recital Hall
Free For All Audiences
Years of shared harmony - one unified sound. Blending the concepts of sound (Sori in Korean) and voice (Voce in Italian), Trio Sorivoce brings deep artistic trust and vibrant chamber music to the stage. Indiana State University faculty members Yunjung Lee (violin), and Dong Yeol Hong (cello), are joined by piano faculty from New Mexico State University Jung-won Shin to present a vibrant program featuring works by Schubert, Rubbra, Ireland, and Shostakovich. Support for this event is provided by the NEW AND EMERGING ARTIST SERIES ENDOWMENT.

Proof

7:30pm: Thursday, October 1^st; Friday, October 2^nd; Saturday, October 3^rd
2:00pm: Sunday, October 4^th
All showings @ Doudna's Black Box Theatre
$15 General Audiences | $5 EIU Students / Youth
Catherine has spent years caring for her brilliant but unstable father, Robert. When he dies she has more grief to deal with: There's her estranged sister, Claire, and Hal, a former student of her father's who hopes to find valuable work in the 103 notebooks that Robert left behind. And a further problem: How much of her father's madness - or genius - will Catherine inherit? In the Pulitzer and Tony-winning Proof, David Auburn has fashioned an exhilarating and assured play - a subtle and gripping exploration of loss, guilt, discovery, instability, and the elusive nature of truth. PROOF is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Dramatists Play Service www.concordtheatricals.com. Support for this event is provided by the NEW AND EMERGING ARTIST SERIES ENDOWMENT.

Wind Symphony

Friday, October 2^nd, 7:30pm @ Doudna's Recital Hall
$10 General Audiences | $5 EIU Students / Youth
Join the EIU Wind Symphony and Concert Band for an evening of Spanish and Latin American inspired music. Works by Ticheli, Markowski, Texidor, McAllister, Navarro, Biedenbender, Brittin, Rose, Vargas, and Fernandez. Featuring guest conductor, Dr. Gerard Morris. Support for this even is provided by the NEW AND EMERGING ARTISTS SERIES ENDOWMENT.

The EIU Student Impact Grant for Faculty Mentors support faculty who engage in high impact mentoring practices. Full time faculty (Unit A or B) who will be mentoring at least one student during the academic year are eligible. Eligibility is now annual; faculty may apply each academic year, however, special consideration will be given to applicants who did not receive the award in the previous year. The application submission deadline is noon, Tuesday, October 13, 2026. Program details, including application submission instructions can be found at the ORSP Student Impact Grant Website.

The MyBenefits website was recently updated to integrate multi-factor authentication into the login process for members.

Beginning September 11, 2026, members logging into the MyBenefits.Illinois.Gov website will be required to complete two-factor authentication as part of the login process. This added security measure will help protect personal information and make the MyBenefits website more secure.

Please see the accompanying screenshots below for guidance on completing the new authentication process.

From the MyBenefits home page, members will also have access to the ‘My Account’ page, where they can set up security and enrollment alerts as well as set preferred contact information. Members can choose to receive alerts either by SMS text message via cell phone or by email.

If you have any questions, please contact Benefits at 217-581-5825 or benefits@eiu.edu

Intramural Programs are BACK! Registration for our Fall 2026 IM Programs is open, Spring 2027 will open up on December 12, 2026.

Anyone who is a member of the SRC can join in on the fun! Students, faculty, staff, alumni -- we want everyone to connect, compete, and enjoy IM Programs.

Find a list of programs and schedules at Eastern Illinois University :: Campus Recreation - Intramural Schedules.

Part of your responsibility in driving a University-owned vehicle is to report any accidents involving that vehicle to Mike Hutchinson, the University Risk Manager. You will need to come to Old Main - Room 1140 within 48 hours to fill out a claim report. If there is a police report, please bring it with you. Incidents involving damage to University property must also be reported. If you are unable to come into the office, call (217) 581-2921.

EIU Marketing & Communications is working through a significant number of website updates related to the beginning of the semester and the academic reorganization. We know it is important for our websites to accurately reflect EIU’s current structure, and we appreciate your patience as we address these changes as quickly as our capacity allows.

Our web team currently includes two developers, whose work is focused primarily on applications and web development, and two web specialists who complete most content updates and site moves manually. These four staff members serve the entire University, supporting the website and web-related needs of academic, student support and administrative areas across campus in addition to this academic work.

Updating the full academic web presence is also part of the Strategic Enrollment Plan, with work scheduled throughout the academic year. While we will prioritize inaccurate, outdated, or time-sensitive information, broader site reorganizations and improvements will take additional time.

You can help us complete this work more efficiently by coordinating within your department, school, college, or other academic area before submitting a request. We have received multiple requests from the same areas that include conflicting information or different plans. When that happens, we must pause the work to determine which direction has been approved, and we may need to redo changes that have already been made.

Below, you will find some helpful information and tips.

Requesting a Site Move or Update

Before requesting a site move or significant update, please:

• Confirm the proposed changes with the appropriate department, school, and college leadership.
• Designate one person to coordinate the request whenever possible.
• Provide final, internally approved content rather than multiple drafts or separate sets of instructions.
• Identify any information that is inaccurate or time-sensitive, along with the date by which it is needed.
• Clarify which existing pages should remain, be revised, be redirected, or be removed.
• Submit the request through the Marketing & Communications job request form, rather than emailing an individual team member. This creates a record of the request, makes it visible to the full team, and allows someone else to respond if the usual contact is unavailable.

Confirm/Update Your Area's Info

It would also be extremely helpful for each academic area to provide an updated organizational chart or similar overview that identifies:

• The official name of your department/area
• Current departments, schools, programs, and leadership structure
• Department chairs, school directors, deans, associate deans, and other primary contacts
• The person responsible for coordinating website content
• The primary marketing and communications contact
• The primary admissions or recruitment contact

Having this information will allow us to develop a coordinated plan for each academic area rather than addressing individual requests piecemeal and potentially having to revise the same work more than once.

Majors/Minors Database + Program Page Upgrades

As we complete the updated majors/minors database, much of the prospective-student content related to academic programs, admissions, and recruitment will be managed through the new program pages. Department and school websites can then focus more heavily on information for current students, faculty, staff, and other internal audiences.

Josh Norman and Josh Northam have met with nearly every academic area to discuss these upgrades, and a meeting with one remaining area will be scheduled soon, so it is likely you are aware of those upgrades, but if you have any questions about it, please reach out to me or one of The Joshes™.

Job Request Form

Please use the job request form for all new website projects and updates, even if you have previously worked directly with someone in Marketing & Communications. Once the request has been assigned, you can continue working with that team member as needed.

If you have submitted a request and have not received a timely response, contact me at ckilgore@eiu.edu so I can follow up.

Thank you for helping us coordinate this work!

The Academic Program Innovation (API) Grant is now the Academic Program and Career Readiness Innovation (APCI) Grant.

The API grant supported projects that were designed to foster curriculum innovation, enhance the academic reputation of EIU, and impact enrollment. The APCI grant will continue to support those projects and will now also support projects that bridge the gap between academic education and workforce success. Projects should seek to improve EIU student career readiness by addressing National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career readiness competencies.

Projects can develop a new program or transform an existing program at either the program level, or as part of an interdisciplinary or interdepartmental collaboration. The ideal project will seek to increase enrollment and improve student career readiness through curriculum innovation.

Just as with the API grant, applicants must be a full-time EIU faculty member (either Unit A or Unit B) or a department chair. Applications are due by noon, Friday, October 30, 2026. The APCI application, program details and application submission instructions can be found at the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) APCI Website.

AN UPDATE FROM FACILITIES PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Seventh Street Traffic Pattern Changes Begin Monday, August 10, 2026

BUILDINGS OR AREAS INVOLVED: 7^th Street between Doudna Circle Drive and Roosevelt Drive
DATE/TIME: Beginning Monday, August 10, 2026, until further notice
PURPOSE OF CHANGE: Safe roadway passage for EIU & Community Members   

DETAILS:

• Beginning Monday, August 10, 2026, 7^th Street between Doudna Circle Drive and Roosevelt Drive will be reopened but only to southbound* traffic.
  • *Andrews Hall residents will still have access to the Andrews Hall Parking Lot from the south via the lot entrance west of 7th Street. 
• Signage and barricades will be placed accordingly for traffic control.
• Expect heavy CUSD1 bus and personal vehicle traffic on this stretch of road between 7 and 8:30 a.m. and from 2:15 to 3:30 p.m. on traditional school days.
  • Between and outside these times, expect increased construction traffic associated with the ongoing utility tunnel repairs and Thomas Hall remodel.

Facilities Planning and Management personnel thank you in advance for your awareness and adherence to these safety precautions.

Beginning March 16, 2026, parking lots between the Student Services Building, the Old Steam Plant, and south of Blair Hall will be closed as part of a comprehensive upgrade to EIU's campus infrastructure. NOTE: ADA parking spaces immediately south of Blair Hall will remain open, and an ADA‑compliant ramp will be installed to accommodate east–west pedestrian traffic at the northwest corner of the Student Services Building.

Please review a map of the parking lot availability HERE, noting the additional details below.*