*Photos from event*

Life Long Learning Day has become an annual tradition at the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs. It's a day to return to school and learn from faculty, practitioners, and fellow alumni about current topics and skills pertinent to the fields of planning and public administration. Please join us and your colleagues for another enriching day.

8:30-9:00 a.m.: Registration

9:00-11:45 a.m.: Hands-On Stats Refresher

Sharon H. Mastracci, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Public Administration, will instruct a statistics refresher course using Microsoft Excel for basic and more advanced statistical analysis. Professor Mastracci’s current courses include Data Analysis, Research Design, and Applied Economics, among others.

Noon-12:45 p.m.: Networking and Lunch

12:45-2:30 p.m.: What Works, What Doesn’t: Learn from the Experience of Practitioners

Professor Allyson Holbrook will begin the panel with a presentation on surveying, and an overview of the UIC Survey Research Laboratory’s 40 years of service. Following the introduction, she will moderate a discussion among experts from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

Moderator and Panelists

Moderator:  Allyson Holbrook, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in Public Administration, UIC Survey Research Laboratory and Psychology Department. Professor Holbrook teaches courses in methodology and statistics, and conducts research on survey methodology and attitudes and persuasion. Her publications include research on public opinion and media, individual political behavior, and presidential campaigns.

Kevin Patrick Gibbs (UIC MUPP '99) is Coordinator of Geographic Information Systems for the Chicago Department of Public Health. In his role he is responsible for improving the City’s ability to use GIS for statistical analysis and respond to and plan for the City’s public health and emergency planning needs, by developing predictive models, working with health and emergency planning specialists in Chicago, and developing and delivering GIS training for more than 40 analysts in the department. His work has been used to improve the City’s understanding and surveillance of diseases such as human West Nile virus, breast cancer, and asthma, as well as to coordinate health agencies' exchange of disease outbreak GIS information in emergency situations. The analysis he developed for West Nile virus was recently published in the Centers for Disease Control’s Emerging Infectious Diseases (May 2004) and presented at the 2004 ESRI Health GIS User Conference. Before working for the Department of Public Health, he was GIS Project Manager for the Technology Division of the Chicago Police Department where he used GIS to build statistical reports for local command.

Richard Day, Ph.D., Richard Day Research, Inc. (RDR). RDR performs research and data analysis for government units, nonprofit organizations, and other public and private clients. Over the past 25 years, the firm has provided pre-election and exit polling research as well as election night and public opinion commentary for Channel 7 ABC-TV in Chicago.

Amy Rynell serves as Director of the Mid-America Institute on Poverty of Heartland Alliance (MAIP). She received her Master of Arts from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Amy has worked for MAIP since 1997, and currently oversees the Institute's research, policy and coordination activities. Included in MAIP's portfolio is management of the Illinois Poverty Summit, a project that blends research with policy in order to raise awareness of poverty issues with elected officials. During her time at MAIP, she has conducted numerous research projects, including an evaluation of transitional jobs programs for welfare recipients, a study of programs serving chronically unemployed homeless adults with multiple employment barriers, documentation of a public housing relation pilot program, applied research focusing on people who are homeless and impacted by HIV and AIDS, and numerous policy research projects. Ms. Rynell coordinates the Regional Roundtable on Homelessness of Northeastern Illinois, a body of public and private Continuum of Care leaders, and is on the board of directors of The Employment Project, an agency working with homeless shelters and programs to help prepare their participants for employment.

For more information or to register, please contact Andrea Traudt at (312) 996-2569 or atraud2@uic.edu.
Space is limited, so register TODAY!

Location: Registration and the morning training session will be held in Computer Lab 270 of the Education, Performing Arts, and Social Work Building, 1040 West Harrison Street (at Morgan Street). Lunch and the afternoon panel will be in the Faculty and Staff Dining Room in the Behavioral Sciences Building, 1007 West Harrison Street. Go here for transit and parking information.

Program Fee: $45. University of Illinois Alumni Association members, students, and groups (two or more from the same organization) receive a discounted rate of $35. Fee includes lunch and materials.

If you need disability accommodations to participate in this event, please contact Andrea Traudt at (312) 996-2569 or atraud2@uic.edu at least one week in advance.

Please join us for the CUPPA Alumni Association Holiday Party on December 8, 2004 at Jak’s Tap, 901 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago.