Must love heights

October 12

On the heels of a partially washed-out weekend, a crew still was installing a tower crane Monday at the Student Innovation Center construction site on the west side of campus. The operator cab near the top rises above the 168-foot Marston water tower next door, which will mean quite a daily climb for its occupant. Work on the Student Innovation Center will continue into the early part of spring semester 2020.

Wintersteen touts familiarity with challenges, success as dean

By Dave Roepke
October 12

Citing her accomplishments leading the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS), Iowa State's current longest-serving dean said the university is facing too many pressing issues to hand the reins to an outsider who would need time to get up to speed.

In the fourth and final public forum Oct. 12 for Iowa State's presidential finalists, Wendy Wintersteen told the audience at the Memorial Union Great Hall that she's a compelling choice to lead Iowa State because she'd hit the ground running on the first day.  

"I understand the challenges we're facing. I know the people on campus we need to work with," said Wintersteen, a university employee for nearly four decades who received her doctorate in entomology from Iowa State.

It resonated with her when former President Gregory Geoffroy mentioned Wintersteen as a viable successor when he resigned in 2011, she said.

"I decided this time around that it was my turn to lean in," she said.

Wintersteen said she thinks Geoffroy recognized her ability to solve complex problems -- and her fundraising prowess. Since her promotion to dean in 2006, she said, CALS has raised about $250 million in donations, leading to more scholarships, major new facilities and an increase in endowed chairs and professorships in the college from 21 to 45.

In outlining her goals, Wintersteen said the university needs to seek continuous innovation in four areas: providing a student-centered experience, research and entrepreneurship, administrative efficiency and creating an inclusive campus climate.

After speaking for about 20 minutes, Wintersteen took questions for about a half hour. Here's what she said on a handful of topics:

Students

Wintersteen said students are the university's top priority, and it's important to maintain their access to high-impact educational experiences. Students in CALS -- where enrollment has climbed 90 percent during her tenure as dean -- have access to the nation's largest and second-largest career fairs and rank second in the nation in studying abroad, she said. 

She urged a university-wide emphasis on teaching business development skills, making entrepreneurship a key component of Iowa State's brand. 

"It's time to infuse into the curriculum a set of entrepreneurial skills for all of our students," she said.

Wintersteen said she also would look for ways to better reward faculty teaching success and improve graduation rates, which she said aren't competitive when compared to peer institutions.

Funding

Finding new forms of revenue is important as legislative appropriations lag in comparison to the university's growth, but Wintersteen also believes public support for more state funding and higher tuition depends on better communication about Iowa State's impact.  

"Iowans forget that we're out there with them every day trying to assist them in moving forward," she said.

Wintersteen said newly enacted differential tuition rates have helped retain educational quality. In the animal science department, for instance, it retained a faculty member who studies companion animal nutrition, she said.

She also endorsed saving through purchasing efficiencies, noting that the university coordinates with the state Department of Transportation to jointly purchase toilet paper.

Faculty

Becoming more efficient also plays a role in reducing the burden on faculty and staff, Wintersteen said. She vowed to review all processes and required paperwork in search of areas to streamline, freeing up more time for teaching, research and extension.

Based on feedback from faculty, Wintersteen said CALS beefed up its research ecosystem. The college added more assistance for grant writing and sent faculty to Washington to get a better handle on how to make grant applications competitive.

It's had an effect, she said. Since 2005, CALS has doubled its research contracts and grants.

Campus climate

Though CALS was Iowa State's first college, in 2013, to appoint an assistant dean for diversity, Wintersteen said college listening sessions held last year with multicultural students made it clear the environment isn't supportive enough. Some of the stories were difficult to hear, she said.

"We got behind on this issue," she said.

Wintersteen said she would institute intensive inclusiveness training for all administrators at Iowa State.

"This is something we need to work on every day," she said.

Next steps

Members of the Iowa State community are asked to provide the search committee with feedback on the presidential finalists. An online form to assess each candidate is available on the presidential search website. Responses are due by Oct. 16. Archived video of the public forums will be available Thursday night on the search website, after the final forum is held.

The state Board of Regents plans to meet Oct. 23 to interview the finalists and select Iowa State's next president. 

Whittaker calls for fighting hunger, boosting access

By Dave Roepke
October 12

Building on existing strengths, Iowa State should tackle world hunger and improve the availability of its high-quality undergraduate education, the University of Central Florida provost said at the third public forum for Iowa State presidential finalists.

Speaking in the Memorial Union Sun Room Oct. 11, Dale Whittaker laid out a three-prong approach to accelerating Iowa State's excellence, frequently emphasizing the transformative power of higher education.

"When a person gets a college degree it changes things -- for them and for society. It changed it for me. It changed it for my father," he said.

One of Whittaker's three broad university goals is ending world hunger and creating a sustainable future, a challenge he said Iowa State is uniquely qualified to take on.  

"This is an institution that is better positioned than any institution in the world -- and I say that in a clinical sense, not to schmooze you -- really, truly better positioned than any institution in the world to lead the addressing of hunger," he said.

Though many of its fellow top research universities in the Association of American Universities have paid less attention to undergraduate learning in recent years, Whittaker said Iowa State has "magically" maintained that focus while remaining devoted to research. One of his three aims for Iowa State is to provide the best undergraduate experience of any AAU school.

Unleashing the potential of all Iowans should be another goal, Whittaker said -- meaning he'd like to increase college access for low-income students with no family history of higher education. Eighty percent of children from families in the top 20 percent of income brackets graduate from college, but only 8 percent of children from the lowest 20 percent do, he said.

"That's not an issue about the people. That's not an issue about where talent lies in our society. It's a structural issue," he said.

Whittaker spoke for about 35 minutes before taking questions for about a half hour. Here's what he said on a handful of topics:

Students

At Central Florida, Whittaker said it was a struggle to increase first-year retention rates over 90 percent, despite numerous support programs. To exceed that mark took improvements in the classroom, which meant hiring more professors, he said.

"The role of talent and intellect and passion and drive in a research-based university is so dominant that focusing on our faculty and strengthening faculty becomes a high priority," he said.

Schools are just beginning to realize how often small financial obstacles can derail a college education, Whittaker said. At Central Florida, officials now reach out to students who have course registration holds due to unpaid bills. A program that offers small bridge loans to students also is important, he said.

"It has to be done with compassion, discretion and on an individual basis," he said.

Funding

Whittaker backed the plan proposed by Iowa State leaders to raise tuition 7 percent annually over the next five years to counteract diminishing state funding.

"It's an excellent proposal," he said, though he acknowledged it would shift a greater burden to students' families.

Being a voice for the value of higher education as a whole is the best approach to advocating for greater public investment in Iowa State, Whittaker said.

"I think it's doable, and I've seen it done at other institutions," he said.

Faculty

If a university does work that has impact, reputation and rankings will follow, Whittaker said. Efforts to increase a school's rankings for that sake alone often are short-lived, he said.

Solving problems that matter -- such as world hunger -- takes powerful partners and wide perspectives, making interdisciplinary research essential, Whittaker said.

"In order to do big work and make heavy lifts, at least in my experience, it has never been done alone," said Whittaker, whose academic background is in agricultural engineering.

Wider perspectives are also a natural product of diversity, which leads to better decision-making, he said.

"It's why every company -- every knowledge company -- focuses on diversity," he said.

In Whittaker's three years at Central Florida, the university has hired about 230 new tenure-track faculty. But it also has been careful to keep up with staff positions, hiring 25 professional and scientific employees for every 100 faculty, he said.

Campus climate

Without promoting inclusion, efforts to increase diversity are hollow, Whittaker said. A modern land-grant university must be inclusive, he said.

"Every student, every faculty member, everybody in this institution should know exactly where the leadership of the university stands in terms of inclusion. That means that everybody can learn. Everybody is welcome. Everybody has opportunity. Everybody has a story. Everybody has a gift to offer," he said.

For university leaders, inclusiveness requires engaging and supporting students without marginalizing them, he said.

While campuses must allow divergent ideas to stimulate intellectual growth, they also must have plans and act quickly if they expect speech could lead to violence, he said.

"I believe that at the end of the day, inclusion will always win," Whittaker said.  

Next steps

Members of the Iowa State community are asked to provide the search committee with feedback on the presidential finalists. An online form to assess each candidate is available on the presidential search website. Responses are due by Oct. 16. Archived video of the public forums will be available Thursday night on the search website, after the final forum is held.

The state Board of Regents plans to meet Oct. 23 to interview the finalists and select Iowa State's next president. 

Whitten urges bold aspirations at pivotal moment

By Dave Roepke
October 12

Iowa State is at a critical juncture that demands bold, ambitious goal setting to elevate the university from excellent to exceptional, the University of Georgia provost said in the second of four public forums for Iowa State's presidential finalists. 

Speaking in the Memorial Union Great Hall Tuesday, Oct. 10,  Pamela Whitten said Iowa State should acknowledge and take pride in what it's already doing well but also reach higher.

"The university is very good, and it's really moved up in a lot of ways, and yet it's at a crossroads," she said.

Whitten outlined specific metrics that would indicate enhanced stature and educational quality. She said Iowa State should aim to:

• Lower its faculty-to-student ratio from 19-to-1 to 18-to-1
• Increase the six-year graduation rate from 74 percent into the 80th percentile
• Increase the four-year graduation rate from 44 percent into the 60th percentile
• Increase student retention from 88 percent into the 90th percentile
• Grow its endowment, now just shy of $800 million, to well past $1 billion

Citing a desire to be "direct and candid," Whitten said she was concerned about Iowa State's continued inclusion in the American Association of Universities, the prestigious 62-member group of top U.S. and Canadian research universities. "Iowa State needs to do a little bit of work to put itself in a place where it doesn't have to worry about that," she said.

Expanding graduate enrollment, faculty collaboration, economic development and research enterprise should all be goals, Whitten said.

She endorsed a new initiative at Georgia that offers more than 100 programs for simultaneously earning bachelor's and master's degrees as a "large-scale, difference-making" opportunity for students entering a workforce that increasingly requires a master's degree.

After 20 minutes of prepared remarks, Whitten took questions for about 40 minutes. Here's what she said on a handful of topics:

Students

In explaining the motivation for encouraging timely degree completion, Whitten noted extended time in the classroom hurts students by delaying their careers and saddling them with more debt.

"This is important not just because it will make Iowa State look good, this is important because it will address important values and goals for the university, as well," she said.

Given the rising cost of higher education, fundraising for need-based scholarships is a high priority, as is establishing an emergency fund to make sure students don't drop out over a cash shortage of a few hundred dollars.

"We have discovered that's more common than people are willing to admit," she said.

Mental health also is a booming concern for college students, said Whitten, who has an academic background in communication technology in health care.

"It is ramping up so quickly that everyone is struggling, frankly, to keep up with the need across the board," she said.

Funding

Flagging state funding is a challenge for nearly all public universities, Whitten said, and she doubts that will change.

"Creative revenue generation is just part of standard operating procedure for higher education today. We really live in a different time," she said.

An important strategy to create revenue opportunities is to do a better job communicating the university's return on investment and public benefit, she said -- an impact well-known on campuses that over time have become too insular.

"We smiled, and we felt very good about it, but we forgot to make sure everybody else knew about it," she said.  

Faculty

Given the sharp increase in Iowa State's enrollment in the last decade, Whitten said it makes sense to "catch our breath now" and study the impact of a much larger student body. Faculty-student ratios might be of particular concern in specific programs, she said.  

"It sounds like that's a really significant issue in engineering," she said.

Asked how she would bolster educational quality despite dwindling state support, Whitten acknowledged that tuition at Iowa State is "the lowest I've seen it," though she added she wouldn't take a position on tuition rates without a thorough examination. 

Campus climate

Proactive conversations among students, faculty and administrators are key to making a campus welcoming and inclusive, Whitten said.

As a provost, Whitten said she hires two undergraduates to identify and create situations where she can interact with students. As a former resident assistant in a dormitory, she especially likes meeting with RAs, she said.

Programs to assist students who are historically disadvantaged are important, she said, but so is getting the word out about those resources.

"We're such big places, a lot of times there's a lot of noise and we don't even understand all the activities and services that are going on," she said.

Next steps

Members of the Iowa State community are asked to provide the search committee with feedback on the presidential finalists. An online form to assess each candidate is available on the presidential search website. Responses are due by Oct. 16. Archived video of the public forums will be available Thursday night on the search website, after the final forum is held.

The state Board of Regents plans to meet Oct. 23 to interview the finalists and select Iowa State's next president. 

Ramaswamy highlights scope of land-grant mission

By Dave Roepke
October 12

The head of a federal agency responsible for awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in annual agricultural grants touted his appreciation of land-grant ideals, and their wide application, in the first public forum for Iowa State's four presidential finalists.

Speaking Oct. 9 in the Memorial Union Sun Room, Sonny Ramaswamy, director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), repeatedly highlighted the service mission of land-grant universities such as Iowa State, the main recipients of the federal agricultural research funding his agency administers.

Land-grant status means Iowa State has an obligation to combat obesity, poverty and opioid addiction in Iowa, using science and creativity to improve the human condition, Ramaswamy said. It also means the university must work to improve the Iowa economy and give students a broad-based education that includes the humanities, experiential opportunities like internships, and leadership instruction, he said.

"The best part of this institution is you're totally unapologetic about being a land-grant university," said Ramaswamy, who has worked at land-grant universities in seven states, most recently as the dean of the agricultural college at Oregon State University, Corvallis.

After opening with a hat tip to the Cyclones for upsetting Oklahoma in football two days earlier, and a joking suggestion that two-way star Joel Lanning might be a fine presidential candidate, Ramaswamy spoke for a half hour and then answered questions for a half hour. Here's what he said on a handful of topics:

Students

Ramaswamy singled out Iowa State's graduation rates as needing improvement. Seventy-four percent of students graduate within six years, but black students, he noted, have a six-year graduation rate of just 45 percent.

"I think, to me, seriously, that's wrong. We've got to collectively come up with a way to make sure that the students are graduating -- on time," he said. An overall 90 percent graduation rate would be a success, he said.

Ramaswamy said he would support leadership education for students, saying he started a similar program earlier in his career.

"In many, many institutions we've been remiss. We've given up on it," he said.

He also mentioned class attendance as an issue worth tracking and recommended adding more online courses and student scholarships.

Funding

Ramaswamy pointed to his experience with federal research grants, as well as fundraising and advocating as a college dean, as demonstrations of his ability to generate revenue. He said the key to convincing legislators, donors and funding agencies to invest in Iowa State is to reiterate a compelling rationale for its benefits.

"I've used the term value proposition over and over. We have to make that value proposition to everybody," he said. That pitch should emphasize the university's purpose, outcomes and preeminence, he said.

At Oregon State and NIFA, Ramaswamy said he managed budget cuts of 20 to 30 percent. In Oregon, he added, he used collaborative meetings with stakeholders across the state to formulate a plan that staved off further possible cuts from legislators.

Faculty

Asked why he'd want to leave his federal post, Ramaswamy said his six-year appointment expires in May, and he'd prefer to return to a campus.

"My heart lies in academia," said Ramaswamy, whose academic background is in entomology. 

Iowa State has "a very significant issue" with lagging faculty and staff salaries, and needs to boost investments in facilities such as classrooms and labs, he said.

Asked if he'd commit to hiring administrators with the same process used for faculty and staff, Ramaswamy said he would.

"We've got to make sure we're completely transparent in everything we do," he said.

Campus climate

Responding to questions about how he'd handle controversial research topics and provocative campus speakers, Ramaswamy said universities should be a bastion of inquiry where differing viewpoints are valued.

"We should not shy away from controversial topics just because it's not OK for the rest of the community," he said.

But it's essential to balance speech rights with other rights, he said. Ground rules must be set to avoid violence and obscenity.

Universities sometimes must respond to events in the current political climate, but it's important to be purposeful and thoughtful about it, he said. 

"I really like how y'all have done it here, by the way. Take a deep breath. Don't be tweet for tweet. You're never going to win," he said.

Next steps

Members of the Iowa State community are asked to provide the search committee with feedback on the presidential finalists. An online form to assess each candidate is available on the presidential search website. Responses are due by Oct. 16. Archived video of the public forums will be available Thursday night on the search website, after the final forum is held.

The state Board of Regents plans to meet Oct. 23 to interview the finalists and select Iowa State's next president. 

Regents opt to delay 2018-19 tuition discussion

By Anne Krapfl
October 12

The state Board of Regents' October meeting agenda perhaps is as notable for what's not on it -- tuition proposals -- as what is. When the board meets Oct. 18-19 in Cedar Falls, it will not complete its traditional first read of proposed tuition rates for next year.

Board president Michael Richards said board members need additional time to consider tuition levels for the 2018-19 year. He said the board is committed to addressing tuition increases one time this year, a "key message" delivered repeatedly during tuition discussions around the state in August.

"We do not have a timetable for when we will do a first reading of tuition, but we will do it as soon as we have a proposal with which we are comfortable," Richards said in a statement.

"We will not revisit 2018-19 tuition levels once they have been established," he added.

The 2004 Iowa Legislature removed a statutory deadline on the board to set tuition rates for the following year. Previously, the board needed to approve any tuition changes by November. For the last decade-plus, the board reviewed tuition proposals in October and approved rates in December.

University leaders presented their 2018-19 tuition proposals to the board in August as part of five-year funding plans. The Iowa State and Iowa proposals for resident undergraduates are 7 percent and 7.1 percent increases, respectively; for nonresident undergraduates, 4 percent and 2.1 percent increases, respectively. Northern Iowa's 2018-19 proposed tuition increase ranges from 3.9 percent to 11.7 percent, dependent on the size of the university's state appropriation.

Discussion items

Following are a few items the board is scheduled to address.

Board members will interview one finalist, current chief operating officer Mark Braun, for its executive director post Wednesday afternoon. An announcement about the next executive director could follow on Thursday afternoon.

Iowa State will seek permission to begin planning an estimated $750,000 of renovations at the Knoll, the president's residence. Possible improvements could be door repairs, replacements and modifications; hardwood floor and carpet replacement; kitchen updates; rear deck replacement; hall and bathroom fixture and finishes updates; and painting. Funding sources would be private gifts and university funds. With the goal of completing this work before the next president moves in, this proposal should receive committee and full board attention this month.

The board will be asked to endorse naming the Business college the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business, in recognition of a $50 million gift from the Ivys announced last month.

Two Iowa State projects presented to the board's property and facilities committee last month will go to the full board next week. The first is a request to begin plans for improvements (flexible, multisport layouts; lighting; irrigation and support facilities) to 37 acres of recreation fields east of Jack Trice Stadium. The estimated cost, $8 million to $12 million, would be funded by recreation services funds. The second is to begin planning for an estimated 50,000 square feet (one or more new buildings) for poultry teaching and research at the Poultry Science Farm on South State Avenue. The estimated cost, $5 million, would be paid with private gifts.

Committee action

These Iowa State requests will be presented to regent committees next week for recommendation to the full board in December:

• Open a Center for Multiphase Flow Research and Education (CoMFRE) in the College of Engineering, to formalize a three-year-old interdisciplinary research venture involving 18 research leaders. No state appropriations or tuition would support the center, which would be funded by external grants.
• Offer a new master of professional practice in dietetics (MPPD), an online, non-thesis program in the food science and human nutrition department. Beginning in 2024, a master's degree will be required to take the Registered Dietitian national exam.
• Close the Center for Advanced Host Defenses, Immunobiotics and Translational Comparative Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine, due to diminished external funding and research activity.
• Replace all windows and blinds in Friley Hall over the next two summers when the building is unoccupied, an estimated $4.8 million project for the residence department.
• Increase, by $1.2 million, the residence department's window replacement project at Wallace and Wilson halls, due to rising labor and product costs. The new project budget would be just under $4.5 million. Work began last summer and should be completed in summer 2018.
• Increase, by $950,000, the budget for the College of Veterinary Medicine stereotactic radiation therapy addition, in order to purchase different oncology equipment than initially proposed, add patient recovery space and accommodate higher-than-anticipated bids. The revised project budget is $3.7 million.

 

Input sought on new student onboarding

By Erin Rosacker
October 12

A committee examining new student onboarding procedures at Iowa State is seeking feedback from faculty and staff during a pair of open forums next week.

"The intent is to better help all new students -- more than 8,000 undergraduates, in addition to 1,300 graduate and 150 professional students -- make a successful transition into our community each year," said Keith Robinder, committee co-chair and associate dean of students.

The committee, a collaboration of the student affairs and academic affairs divisions, will share its findings since beginning work in March and welcomes feedback and discussion. Open forums will be held Oct. 16 (1-2 p.m., Memorial Union Gold Room) and Oct. 17 (11 a.m.-noon, MU Cardinal Room).

In its first six months, the committee reviewed current practices at Iowa State and mapped onboarding processes during workshops co-facilitated by experts from Boeing. Last month, project teams were established to examine specific areas of the new student onboarding process.

The project teams will study and develop:

• Unified collaborative communications
• New student onboarding core curriculum
• A digital onboarding portal/repository of resources
• Effective onboarding for graduate and professional students

Recommendations from the committee will be submitted next spring to senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert and senior vice president Martino Harmon.

Related story

• Collaborative study examines new student onboarding, March 2, 2017

Workshops offer intro to Workday

By Erin Rosacker
October 12

The WorkCyte team is taking its show on the road, scheduling workshops to introduce employees to the Workday enterprise system that will replace Iowa State's decades-old "legacy" software. Two workshop topics are planned, with multiple sessions offered for faculty, staff and student employees.

The "Employee Self Service and General Navigation" workshop kicks off with the first of three sessions Oct. 31. WorkCyte team members will introduce Workday basics, such as terminology and a brief overview of the system. They also will demonstrate some tasks all ISU employees will perform in Workday, including personal data management and payroll options (direct deposit, payment election, etc.).

The "Financial Management and Reporting" workshop will provide an introduction to Workday's financial transactions and reporting tasks. Participants also will learn about Workday's foundation data model (FDM), the bedrock on which the system is being built for Iowa State's specific needs. Three sessions of the workshop are being offered, beginning Nov. 28.

Everyone is welcome

All faculty and staff are welcome at both workshops. Employees who regularly handle financial transactions -- such as expenses, payroll or procurement/purchasing -- are strongly encouraged to sign up for the "Financial Management and Reporting" workshop.

Workshops are free, but registration is requested via Learn@ISU. Search the WorkCyte catalog for the desired session. Capacity is limited, but a waiting list is available for automatic enrollment if space becomes available.

WorkCyte workshop sessions

Registration opens 30 days in advance and closes four days prior to each course date. Workshops will be held in 0198 Parks Library.

Topic: Employee Self Service and General Navigation

• Oct. 31, 1:30-3 p.m.
• Nov. 1, 3-4:30 p.m.
• Nov. 8, 10:30 a.m.-noon

Topic: Financial Management and Reporting

• Nov. 28, 1:30-3 p.m.
• Nov. 29, 3-4:30 p.m.
• Dec. 5, 10:30 a.m.-noon