Host Gwen Macsai breaks down some of the technology that the University of Illinois System is using to implement its COVID-19 mitigation plan. She takes a tour of the Veterinary Diagnostic Lab to follow saliva samples through the full process, then talks with Nigel Goldenfeld about the computer modeling the school and state are using to develop its testing protocols. She also talks with Rashid Bashir, the Dean of the Grainger College of Engineering about a test that can detect COVID-19 with your cell phone, then takes a ride with the Bryan Rives, Director of the University of Illinois Springfield Sangemon Performing Arts Center on his 26th trip driving samples from UIS to UIUC.

The University of Illinois Springfield is the latest state school to see an enrollment decline, part a recent trend for the campus.  

Tenured and tenure-track professors at the University of Illinois Springfield are on strike starting today.  Nearly 170 professors belong to the union that will take to the picket line this morning. 

Gov. Bruce Rauner is scheduled to deliver his budget message to the Illinois General Assembly this Wednesday. In advance of that, interest groups are lining up to plead their case for state funding. On Monday, representatives of the state’s colleges and universities made one such pitch.