Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Even though we are still a relatively young research institute (only seven years old), we encompass programs that have become true traditions of engaged research. One of these programs is the Faculty Scholars program, which to date has attracted 59 UIC scholars from 29 different disciplines. Eight scholars will be chosen to spend a year in residence at GCI. Please contact us if you have any interest in the program, we would enjoy the opportunity to introduce you to the Institute, the program, and most importantly, to discuss your work. Applications for UIC faculty and staff interested in next year's Scholar program can be found on our website. A second tradition of interdisciplinary urban study at GCI is our Great Cities Faculty Seed Fund. We want to encourage faculty and researchers at UIC to apply for one of these grants. Past awardees have been extremely successful in generating sustained support for their work through external grants and contracts.

Speaking of the Faculty Scholars, this year's group of awardees is inaugurating what we hope will be a new tradition at the Institute, The Scholars' Seminars. The Scholars will work together to make the seminars new, exciting, and worthwhile events focused on dynamic issues of research. The first seminar will be conducted by Sarah Ullman from UIC's Department of Criminal Justice and will be held from 9am to 11:30am on October 16 in the main conference room at GCI (see description below). You are most welcome to attend.

Let us know how we may work together now or in the future or just drop us a line at gcities@uic.edu or 312.996.8700. All the best to you.

David Perry Professor and Director	Lauri Alpern Associate Director

UIC Team Selected for Near North Redevelopment Initiative
A joint proposal by the UIC Nathalie P. Voorhees Center for Neighborhood and Community Improvement and the City Design Center has been selected by the Cabrini Green Local Advisory Council to become its development advisor/consultant in the implementation of the Near North Redevelopment Initiative. Major redevelopment activities are taking place in the subject area with some phases already underway and more at different planning stages. The UIC team has been engaged for an initial period of two years to assist the Local Advisory Council to play a meaningful role in its capacity as co-developer and as a member of the Working Group that overseas redevelopment activities in the entire Near North Redevelopment area.

Yittayih Zelalem, Associate Director, Nathalie P. Voorhees Neighborhood Center, 312-996-6674, yittazel@uic.edu

Calendar
Thursday, October 10, 8am - 5:15 pm, Chicago Circle Center
ARE WE CAPABLE YET? Assessing and Building Organizational Capacity.
A One-Day Conference for and about Nonprofit Organizations. UIC Great Cities Institute will host this one-day event to address nonprofit capacity building. The conference will feature an exciting mix of panel presentations and idea-packed breakout sessions. To learn more go to
http://www.spertus.edu/college/mshsa/conference/index.html

Faculty Scholar Seminar
Wednesday, October 16, 9 am - 11:30 pm, GCI Large Conference Room
Sarah Ullman will conduct a seminar on collaborative research methods. Topics include: current debates in and about qualitative and quantitative research, models of collaboration, what does a model mean and does one have to have one, power relations in collaborative research--reconciling the goals
of knowledge creation and practice, the role of theory in research and evaluation and ethical issues in collaborative research.

Ninth Annual Great Cities Winter Forum - T H E O P E N C I T Y
Friday, December 6
The theme of the Ninth Annual Great Cities Winter Forum is T h e O p e n C i t y. The forum will be held on Friday, December 6 at Chicago Circle Center from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The morning plenary, The Open City - Defining Where We Stand Today, will be moderated by Steve Edwards, Host, Eight Forty-Eight, Chicago Public Radio and will be broadcast live on WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio, 91.5 FM at 9:30 am. For more information and to register, please go to:
http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/gci/events/wf2002/index.htm.

People
Welcome to the new and returning GCI Graduate Research Assistants for 2002-2003.

Congratulations to Becki Retzlaff, GCI Research Assistant and Urban Planning and Policy PHD student, has received a scholarship to attend the National Preservation Conference of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Details on the award can be found at http://www.nthp.org/news/docs/20020327_epl.html.

Former GCI computer tech, Anupam Rath has been offered a full time position with the Technology Team at CNA. He will be working with the Business Intelligence Team as an Application Development Analyst starting at the end of September.

Rachel Weber, Assistant Professor of Urban Planning and Policy and former GCI faculty scholar, has been named recipient of a 2002 Postdoctoral Urban Scholar Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. The award, sponsored in part by the National Research Council, will support Weber's research on the impact of tax increment financing on residential property values in Chicago. The complete UIC press release can be found at
http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/index.cgi?from=Rel

Faculty Scholar Spotlight
Each month we are pleased to introduce you to one of the GCI faculty scholars spending the year with us.

Rebecca Hendrick, is an Associate Professor of Public Administration. During her year at GCI, she will be working on her research project, Fiscal Strategy Making in Chicago Suburbs: How Suburban Municipalities Balance Their Budgets and Manage Fiscal Stress. Her areas of research and teaching are budgeting and financial management, organizational behavior, and management with an emphasis on strategy and decision-making. Currently, she has two major research projects underway. One focuses on explaining the financial strategies pursued by local governmental officials, including the impact of fiscal stress and financial structure, and examining how strategies and stress are related to characteristics of the government and its environment. The second research project examines the impact of organizational characteristics on strategic planning processes in government organizations, and the impact of planning and organizational characteristics on the performance of the organization.

Rebecca has taught a variety of courses on both the Master and Ph.D. level including research methods, statistics, financial management, strategic management, decision-making, program evaluation and performance monitoring, budgeting, and policy analysis. She is also very active in the national Association of Budgeting and Financial Management, and has conducted numerous training seminars for local and state government officials in the areas of teaching in the areas of strategic management, evaluation, and monitoring.