The University is launching a Public Engagement Portal to inform the campus community of upcoming events and programs in the campus district.

The database, at engage.illinois.edu, comes after almost two years of planning and support from the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Public Engagement. The Office for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in the College of Education maintains the Portal.

“The Portal is one tool we provide that helps to connect the community with the University’ s resources and expertise,” said Steve Sonka, Interim Vice Chancellor for Public Engagement in a press release.

Since its creation, the portal has displayed more than 4,600 events.

“Through the Portal, we hope to provide a single database for members of the community wanting to find out about public engagement activities,” said George Reese, director of the Office for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in a press release.

The Portal contains contact information and descriptions for a variety of University-related events, including workshops, seminars, summer camps and festivals. Most of the information is collected directly from online calendars and individual program pages, reducing the amount of effort needed by campus staff to keep the information up-to-date.

Though the individual program pages are still the main source for specific information about an event, Portal entries receive almost 2,500 hits a month.

“We hope that individuals outside the University who are looking for information about a particular engagement topic area will use the Portal,” Reese said.

An information session about the Portal will be held on November 15 at 505 E. Green St. To register, visit http://engage.illinois.edu/signup