Following a year as president-elect, Jason Follett leads the Professional and Scientific Council this year. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
Meet:
Jason Follett, president, 2024-25 Professional and Scientific Council
Position: Academic advisor, software engineering
Years at Iowa State: 13 (2005-10, teacher education program, College of Human Sciences; 2016-current, software engineering program)
What's top-of-list for the council this year?
Four goals emerged from the P&S Council executive committee's work session in July. The first two are carry-overs from last year because they remain important.
- Maximize the student experience. It can be as simple as offering directions out on the sidewalk.
- Assist with educating P&S employees about optimizing their benefits package.
- Advocate for equal and fair treatment of all P&S employees. An example could be the P&S employees impacted as the university implements changes due to SF 2435's restrictions on diversity, equity and inclusion.
- Review and advocate for P&S involvement in decisions that impact P&S employees, the largest employee group on campus.
What might surprise us about you?
I didn't graduate from Iowa State. I wear Iowa State clothing every day, often on the weekends, I even have a red suit coat. My license plate is Iowa State, my office is full of Cyclone trinkets, I work on the events crew at Hilton Coliseum. I live and breathe Iowa State. My bachelor's degree is from the University of Northern Iowa and my master's degree is from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake.
Listen in
The next meeting of the P&S Council is Thursday, Oct. 10 (2:10 p.m.).
What's important to you as council president this year?
- Recognizing and thanking P&S employees for their loyalty. People move around a lot, and not everyone is going to make it to the 25 Year Club, but 10-year employees can have impact, too. There are inexpensive ways to say "thank you" or "we appreciate you."
- We're the largest employee group on campus, so more supervisor training could have a big impact. This is always something we advocate for; it's just a slow boat. This year, there are two opportunities especially: We'd like to see a unified evaluation system on campus -- all P&S employees evaluated using the same process and document. And, with the changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act, it's important all supervisors understand what's happening and why.
Will the council host another professional development conference?
Yes. Mark your calendar: Feb. 27, 2025. I encourage everyone to look at the schedule when it's ready. If they're having trouble paying for their registration or must use vacation time to attend, we'd like to know about that. This goes back to fair and equal treatment for all P&S employees. Our first conference (2013) was the outcome of several years of council leaders advocating for an affordable professional development opportunity for all P&S employees, so we'd like to avoid hurdles that prevent interested P&S employees from participating.
Tell us about the council's new meeting format and what's behind the change.
Starting this fall, our meetings are based at the Launch Pad (room 4250) in the Student Innovation Center, which is set up perfectly to have council members join virtually on Microsoft Teams. We've had difficulty in the last few years getting P&S employees to run for council positions. During the pandemic, when meetings were online, we had representation from across the state -- our 99-county campus; it was terrific. We also hope more P&S employees will join the meetings (on the council's homepage), even if it's to have the audio on in their earbuds while they're working.
Virtual council meetings also allow committees to meet when it's the best time for them. That might not be immediately prior to the council meeting, which was the practice when we met in person at the Memorial Union.
