Seven teams that received strategic plan funds for the budget year that ended June 30 either completed their work or requested a time extension to wrap up their project. They are:
Complete or nearing completion
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Creating a Strategic Approach to Support Students' Mental Health, Melanie Reed, student wellness, FY24 funds: $47,418
Funds covered a four-year partnership with the national JED Campus program to collect data and create a comprehensive mental health promotion and suicide prevention plan for Iowa State students in 2024 (and implement, evaluate and improve in subsequent years). -
Enhancing Student Academic Success in Gateway English Courses, Abram Anders, English, FY24 funds: $23,665
A faculty team was able to adopt and pilot (fall semester 2023) a free online writing component to the curricula of ENG 150 and ENG 250 (ISU Comm foundation courses) aimed at retaining all students and particularly first-generation and multicultural students. In it, students read stories that emphasize the normal and temporary nature of common academic and social challenges and then complete writing assignments to internalize messages that they belong in college. -
Enhancing Student Learning through Visual Literacy, Adrienne Gennett, university museums, FY24 funds: $13,123
Funds supported museums staff efforts to explain and promote visual literacy among faculty as a learning method, including a part-time STEM faculty affiliate at the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, workshop series and introductory video series. -
Strengthening Agriculture's Role in Addressing Carbon Issues, Lisa Schulte Moore, natural resource ecology and management, FY24 funds: $300,000
Funds purchased four analytical instruments to replace aging equipment used in measuring biomass and biochar. They 're critical to three externally funded current projects at the Bioeconomy Institute and would support several pending research proposals.
Projects with a time extension
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Enhancing Infrastructure to Address Students' Basic Needs, Brian Vanderheyden, student wellness, FY24 funds: $74,100
Expand the size of the SHOP food pantry in Beyer Hall to address students' basic needs in a more coordinated and comprehensive way. -
Expanding Support for Individualized Student Success, Adriana Gonzalez-Elliott, Academic Success Center, FY24 funds: $81,615
Expand one-on-one academic coaching and peer-led accountability groups for neurodivergent students -- those whose brains process information differently than others. -
Next-generation Battery Technology Research Education, Cary Pint, mechanical engineering, FY24 funds: $400,000
Develop and equip a dry-room facility for fabricating and testing batteries for battery-oriented research and education that would establish leadership in the field.
