Senior vice president and provost Jason Keith addresses the Faculty Senate during its Sept. 10 meeting. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
Senior vice president and provost Jason Keith addressed the Faculty Senate at its first meeting of the fall semester on Sept. 10, discussing some of the first issues he wants to work on. He and President Wendy Wintersteen currently are making in-person visits to each college.
"My first few weeks have been intense and busy, but I have been spending time immersing myself in the culture, campus and people of Iowa State," he said. "I also recognize the prior relationship that is in place between the Faculty Senate and the provost's office, and I appreciate it and want to support, foster and extend that relationship into the future."
Keith said faculty salaries and retention are two areas he plans to look at to see how they can be improved. He wants to work with campus leaders to determine how to deal with faculty salary compression.
Three-quarters of faculty who completed an exit survey prior to leaving the university rated their experience between fine and great, but culture in individual units and departments was not always as positive, Keith said.
"I want to determine how to identify when there is an issue in a unit or department and how we can find ways to address that," he said. "We want faculty to be supported and connected in a network of community."
Keith also said the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and how faculty want to – or not – use it is an important issue campuswide.
Student voting
Catt Center director Karen Kedrowski spoke to senators about recent Iowa State student voting history and how faculty can educate students about the voting process in a nonpartisan way.
Iowa State students voted at a higher rate than other students across the nation in both presidential and midterm elections dating back to 2012, but that trend changed in 2022 when the percentage matched the national rate at 30.6%.
"Sixty percent of Iowa State students are majoring in STEM fields, but at ISU and nationally, STEM students have a lower voter turnout rate than students in other disciplines," Kedrowski said. "It is not entirely clear why, but there is some belief that STEM students don’t see politics relevant to what they do."
Kedrowski presented six ways faculty could help students:
- Download the #CyclonesVote 2024 module from Canvas.
- Direct students to the Catt Center's voting FAQ page.
- Encourage students to read their emails from the Catt Center.
- Direct specific questions to the Catt Center.
- Work with student groups to research candidate positions relevant to your discipline.
- Provide Election Day accommodations when possible.
New sign-on dashboard
Amy Ward, identity services manager, information technology services, discussed the transition from Okta to the new Microsoft sign-on dashboard, which officially becomes the Iowa State dashboard on Sept. 16. Ward said the Microsoft sign-on offers more security factors for employees and has a new feature allowing them to reset a password.
"In the past, if you forgot your password you had to wait for the Solution Center to open," Ward said. "But by setting up the new feature you can reset your password on your own."
Other business
Senators approved:
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An interdisciplinary bachelor of science in integrated health science, a degree of the future. It focuses on developing holistic health care professionals who understand the biological, behavioral, environmental and social determinants of health. Five specialized tracks are available to students.
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An undergraduate minor in artificial intelligence in the computer science department. It's designed for undergraduates with a strong quantitative background to learn basic AI and machine learning techniques to help solve practical problems.
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The discontinuation of the rural agricultural, technological and environmental history doctorate program in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a five-year sunset period. Eliminating the program saves the college about $110,000 annually.
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The discontinuation of the master's degree in transportation in the College of Engineering. The degree was designed to attract students from the humanities and business but drew low numbers.
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Changes to the academic dismissal policy that require any student not meeting requirements of their academic probation to be dismissed. Students with extenuating circumstances can petition for early reinstatement.
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Changes to the reinstatement policy for students dismissed for academic reasons. It applies a consistent reinstatement process for all colleges.
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Changes to the course prerequisite policy with the move to Workday. Students are notified at the midpoint of each semester to review their present and future schedules to ensure they have not dropped or are at risk of failing a course that is a prerequisite for future courses.
