Homecoming weekend will include Jack Trice centennial launch

By Anne Krapfl
October 27

Along with many timeless Cyclone traditions, Iowa State's 2022 homecoming celebration will include a few firsts. The homecoming parade downtown, revived in 2016 as a kickoff event, has been replaced with a student showcase Sunday, Oct. 30, near the Alumni Center. A reimagined ExCYtement in the Streets has moved from Friday to Thursday evening in the Greek neighborhood south of campus.

And, to build on celebratory homecoming eve events at the Alumni Center, the committee coordinating the centennial remembrance of animal husbandry student and athlete Jack Trice invites the university community to its opening ceremony Friday afternoon, Nov. 4, inside the Jacobson Athletic Building.

"CY Me to the Moon" runs Oct. 30-Nov. 5. The full schedule of homecoming events is online.

Sunday kickoff celebration

Sophomore construction engineering student Adam Wolf, who co-chaired the planning team for the first Sunday kickoff celebration, said the team had two goals: Showcase cool things Iowa State students are involved in, and bring the Ames community and the celebration back to campus.

More than 40 student organizations will participate in the kickoff celebration (11 a.m.-2 p.m.) in lots A-2 and A-3 east of the Alumni Center. Nine groups will take turns performing in two stage areas, everything from the Cyclone hockey pep band to line dancers, martial artists to a cappella singers. A handful will sell gift items or food -- cookies, cupcakes, ice cream -- and the rest will provide demonstrations and displays in the area. Free grilled hot dogs will be served while supplies last.

Weather allowing, music professor and university carillonneur Tin-shi Tam will display the scale campanile/carillon model at the celebration; at noon, she'll give a 30-minute concert of moon-themed music.

Building on the popularity of GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) aerobics during August's Welcome Weekend, Wolf said the kickoff celebration will include a petting zoo of miniature animals.

ISU sorority and fraternity chapters will be busy with their annual "painting of Victory Lane" in adjacent Iowa State Center lots, also from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Student performances

CyFactor, the homecoming student talent competition, opened Oct. 25 with several hours of auditions. The top six performances will face off Thursday afternoon, Nov. 3 (5-6 p.m.) on the stage at ExCYtement in the Streets, and the winner will perform Friday evening at the pep rally.

Yell Like Hell, the student spirit competition featuring original skits and gallons of body paint, opens Oct. 31 (3 p.m.) on central campus and continues with a second elimination round Nov. 2 (6 p.m.), also on central campus. The Yell Like Hell finalists will perform at Friday's pep rally.

Thursday ExCYtement

Wolf said ExCYtement in the Streets is moving to Thursday evening (4:30-6:30 p.m., south of Buchanan and Geoffroy halls between Ash and Gray avenues) to boost student participation and strengthen it as a stand-alone event. In the past, it was folded into homecoming's many Friday evening options. ExCYtement will include food trucks and a live stage featuring student clubs and the Cyclone volleyball team, which plays at Hilton Coliseum the next night. In addition to several large lawn displays by teams of two to three Greek chapters, 'ExCYtement' will include judging for numerous smaller pomping displays (picture tissue paper squares in chicken wire).

Trice observance

At a public program Friday, Nov. 4 (4 p.m.) in the Jacobson Athletic Building, university leaders and relatives of Trice will dedicate Breaking Barriers, a large interactive public art installation by artist Ivan Toth Depeña. City leaders will read a proclamation for the Jack Trice 100-year commemoration and officially rename a section of South Fourth Street as Jack Trice Way. The program has been moved indoors due to the weather forecast.

The commemoration marks the centennial of Trice's tragic death in 1923 from football injuries and features a year of events to honor him. The intent in sharing his story is to inspire conversations about race, personal character and doing one's very best.

Afterward, everyone is invited to the Alumni Center for a 5 p.m. homecoming happy hour, followed by the annual celebration and pep rally (6-9 p.m.), featuring food for purchase (free with 2022 homecoming button), cash bar, merchandise sale, kids activities, Yell Like Hell finals, alumnus and former Cyclone football player Seneca Wallace and the Cardinal Court announcement.

A button still gets you lunch

Homecoming buttons remain $5 each, available in the ISU Book Store while supplies last. The button covers a free lunch on central campus Monday-Thursday (11 a.m.-1 p.m., faculty-staff only line noon-1 p.m.), donuts and coffee on central campus Friday (8-11 a.m.) and pizza at the Friday evening pep rally. Buttons also can be purchased at the central campus food tent.

 

 

Open enrollment starts Nov. 1, alongside a benefits survey

By Dave Roepke
October 27

As employees review, adjust and select benefits during this year's open enrollment, they'll also have an opportunity to share their opinion about those benefits in a campuswide survey. 

Open enrollment is the one time each year when employees can add, drop or make changes to most benefits, other than adjustments allowed to accommodate qualifying life events such as job and marital changes, births and deaths. This year's open enrollment starts at 8 a.m. Nov. 1 and runs through 5 p.m. Nov. 18. Elections are made in Workday and go into effect Jan. 1.

The benefits survey will be open for a slightly shorter time period, Nov. 1-15. It's the university's first benefits survey in about 10 years, and it will be used to better understand employees' benefits preferences and how benefits programs impact their experience working at Iowa State.

Here are the details employees need to know about both open enrollment and the benefits survey:

Benefits survey

University human resources (UHR) has contracted an independent human resources consulting firm, Mercer, to conduct a benefits survey. On Nov. 1, Mercer will send all employees an email with a personal link to the survey and instructions for completing it. The email will be from ISUbenefitssurvey@mercer.com, and the subject line will be "Iowa State University Benefits Survey."

Employee participation is vital to making the survey a success. Responses are confidential, and the survey should take 15-20 minutes to complete. The survey includes quantitative questions gauging agreement, preference, prioritization and satisfaction as well as qualitative questions offering opportunities for open-ended comments. Questions cover several topics, including well-being concerns, views of existing benefits and how ISU benefit offerings are valued.

Survey results will help guide future improvements, program development, communications and service enhancements. For instance, the results of a benefits survey about a decade ago helped influence the creation of ISU Wellbeing, the UHR team that offers Adventure2 and other well-being programming.

Participants enrolled in Adventure2 will automatically receive points for completing the survey.

Employees who have technical questions about the survey should contact Mercer at ISUbenefitssurvey@mercer.com. For questions about the survey content, contact the UHR benefits team at benefits@iastate.edu.

Open enrollment

Premiums are remaining steady in 2023 for the eyewear discount plan and supplemental life insurance. An increase to health insurance premiums was announced last month, and dental insurance rates will be a bit higher, as well. Depending on family members covered, employees will pay $4-$33 more per month for the HMO health insurance option and $4-$19 more for the PPO option. Increases to dental premiums will range from $2-$6 per month for the basic plan and $1-$8 for comprehensive coverage. Basic employee-only dental insurance is still free.

If employees make no changes to insurance benefits such as the health, dental, life and vision plans, they will remain enrolled and coverage will continue. Employees who contribute to tax-free flexible spending accounts for health or dependent care expenses must sign up during open enrollment, as those elections do not automatically continue in the next year. 

The 2023 maximum for a health care flex account is increasing to $3,050, up from $2,750. The maximum health care flex rollover -- the amount unused in an account that can carry forward to the next year -- will increase to $610, up from the $570 that can be carried into 2023. The dependent care maximum remains $5,000 per household.

The third-party vendor who handles flex account reimbursements, ASI Flex, will offer a new reimbursement option for health care claims starting in 2023. Employees can contact ASI Flex to request a debit card to directly pay for health care expenses with flex account funds. If electing to use the debit card option, employees aren't eligible for automatic reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses on claims filed through ISU health, prescription or dental plans.

Faculty and staff who don't plan to modify their coverage or use a flexible spending account still are encouraged to review their benefits elections during open enrollment because it's the most convenient time to identify desired changes. The newly available virtual benefits counselor, ALEX, can help recommend what options are best based on an employee's circumstances, such as how much to put in a flexible spending account or what insurance plan to select. Using ALEX also can rack up points in Adventure2. Employees who wish to use ALEX's suggestions still must enter their choices in Workday during open enrollment.

For more information about open enrollment, see an online presentation by a UHR benefits counselor or contact the benefits team to set up an individual in-person or virtual consultation.

Campus leaders share guidelines for winter break, concurrent with winter session

By Anne Krapfl
October 27

Iowa State's third winter session (Dec. 19-Jan. 13, 2023) exactly matches the four-week semester break, and senior leaders last week shared two primary messages for those weeks: Maintain staffing levels that can support winter session students and a successful winter session, and it's also permissible to reduce services and allow employees to use accrued vacation time.

In an Oct. 21 memo to campus administrative officers, vice president for university human resources Kristi Darr and interim senior vice president for operations and finance Heather Paris directed leaders and managers to staffing guidance for university breaks (PDF), available from university human resources' time and absence website.

Darr and Paris encouraged supervisors to "work with staff to encourage and accommodate utilizing accrued vacation ... to support a healthy work-life balance" during the four-week winter break. And, they noted senior leaders may choose to physically close their offices Dec. 28-30, effectively creating a 10-day closure, if procedures are in place to handle incoming messages and any emergencies that arise.

The two winter holidays, Christmas and New Year's Day, fall on weekend days this year, but the three university holidays connected to them are weekdays, Dec. 26-27 and Jan. 2. Offices are closed and classes don't meet on university holidays.

Like its two predecessors, this winter session will be offered online, with courses selected for their usefulness to continuing undergraduates. While many students may not be present in Ames, student services and academic support will be available to them.

More guidelines

In their memo, Darr and Paris shared these other guidelines for winter break:

• Units may implement office hours of 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. from Dec. 19 to Jan. 13.
• Staff should perform their regular responsibilities unless they've made other arrangements with their supervisor.
• Units should maintain services for students and clients, including any previously scheduled public service programs.
• Critical services, such as campus maintenance, public safety or research programs, also should continue to operate as necessary.
• Units in a building should coordinate with their building supervisor on access and for potential energy savings. Units should share building access details on websites, voice messages, office signage and other communications.
• If work is available for them, student employees may work more than 20 hours/week during these four weeks.

Winter break calendar

The key dates around winter break are:

• Friday, Dec. 16, Fall semester ends
• Monday, Dec. 19, Winter session begins
• Friday, Dec. 23, Additional holiday for all state employees
• Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 26-27, University holidays
• Monday, Jan. 2, University holiday
• Friday, Jan. 13, Winter session ends
• Monday, Jan. 16, University holiday
• Tuesday, Jan. 17, Spring semester begins

MobileConnect gives hearing devices a personal touch

By Jeff Budlong
October 27

Hearing well in a large classroom can be an issue for anyone trying to understand an instructor, but especially difficult for someone who is deaf or hard of hearing. Add in anxiety about asking for help and learning can go from hard to nearly impossible.

MobileConnect is assistive listening technology that streams live audio through a Wi-Fi connection to any smartphone in the room. It also is compatible with hearing aids and cochlear implants, something not always possible.  Information technology services (ITS) is testing it in three locations this academic year, including two large lecture rooms:

• Room 101 in the College of Design
• Room 1001 in Troxel Hall
• Soults Family Visitor Center in the Memorial Union

"With accommodations, students have to request the necessary equipment and go up to the teaching station to plug it in. With this you don't have to request anything," said ITS audiovisual technician Spencer Braly. "Anyone in our student body can use this without any special requests."

Student accessibility services (SAS) director Jamie Niman said MobileConnect not only helps students learn better, but allows them to feel like a student. SAS is assisting about 40 students with hearing accommodations, but many more -- for example, those with hearing loss from military service -- could benefit.

How to use it

MobileConnect uses a three-step process that takes seconds to complete:

A student:

• Connects to the "IASTATE" or "eduroam" Wi-Fi network
• Downloads the free Sennheiser MobileConnect app from the app store to their smartphone 
• Scans the QR code that has been placed around the room to connect

An instructor uses a microphone and the sound is fed into the app. Students with accommodations don't have to take a transmitter and microphone with them to each class or ensure it is charged. MobileConnect also has two output channels, allowing users to listen to just the lecture or the lecture and any other media playing in the room.

"That's really important because it's inclusive of all students," Niman said. "We are having more neurodivergent students identifying distracting noises around them as an issue to learning."

The app's personal hearing assistant modifies sound to users' needs. Users can adjust volume or gain to isolate certain voices or reduce the harshness of the sound. MobileConnect also regulates sound if a microphone is dropped or someone talks too close to it, avoiding a volume spike in the ear.

The MobileConnect station looks like a silver modem. It can accommodate 100 simultaneous streams, Braly said.

"There is a digital signal processor that takes all of the audio signals in the room and acts like a mixer," he said. "MobileConnect is hooked up to that and can be controlled by the instructor using the touchscreen on the computer."

Going forward

Braly and ITS audiovisual experience manager Mike Pedersen will monitor the use of MobileConnect for the remainder of the year. It could be added to campus lecture rooms with 100 or more seats, roughly 32 locations, according to Pedersen.

"We will look at metrics to see how much use it gets and the length of connection to judge if people like it," Braly said.

Premiere of student short film is Friday night

By Letitia Kenemer, Memorial Union
October 27

Iowa State junior Nathan Petrik will host the premier screening of his short film on Friday, Oct. 28 (7 p.m., 3560 Memorial Union). "Convenient," approximately 15 minutes in length, follows four girls who rent an Airbnb in the middle of nowhere with plans to rob a convenience store because they are pressed for cash. One of the girls discovers that not all their motives are the same, as things take an unexpected turn.

After the screening, Petrik and the film's four actors, also Iowa State students, will be available for an informal discussion with the audience. The actors are:

• Tracie-Lynn Lamoureux, sophomore in apparel, merchandising and design
• Elli Peller, senior in apparel, merchandising and design
• Grace Purvis, senior in graphic design
• Ella Voloshen, senior in apparel, merchandising and design

Petrik, a graphic design student, received a Focus grant to fund his film project. In his application, Petrik explained, "I hope to portray a caricature of individuals with immense financial privilege appropriating poverty by resorting to violence to obtain money. Being a student who has to work my way through college … I have noticed that the American college campus is a microscope to observe the wealth gap in America."

Petrik's project advisor for the grant was Clark Colby, arts, communication and design program specialist for ISU Extension and Outreach, who described Petrik as a student with "a passion for photography and videography, and a drive to try and learn new techniques outside of class projects."

Focus is a campus organization that has supported students in the arts since 1972. Twice a year, students may apply for up to $600 to support the creation and presentation of new work in visual art, apparel design, writing, theater, dance and musical performance. Student Government funds Focus grants, and awards are determined by a committee of students, faculty and staff.