Many hands make harvest meal possible

By Jeff Budlong
November 21

Dining cook Ayel Lual (right) places turkey breasts into an oven while sous chef James Brenden coats one of 40 whole turkeys with herbed butter Monday at Union Drive Marketplace. Photos by Christopher Gannon.

Months of planning came to fruition Wednesday evening for ISU Dining staff when they welcomed diners at Seasons Marketplace and Union Drive Marketplace for the annual harvest meal. Thousands of students, plus some faculty and staff, passed through the doors to enjoy a homemade dinner with all the fixings:

• Herb-roasted turkey
• Roasted pit ham
• Mashed potatoes with turkey gravy
• Maple pecan sweet potatoes
• Garlic green beans
• Glazed baby carrots
• Cornbread stuffing
• Cranberry sauce
• Dinner roll with whipped honey butter
• Apple cranberry, pecan and pumpkin mini pies

"We know that many of our students are not able to make the long commute home for fall break so putting on this special dinner allows them to feel connected and celebrate with their ISU family," said Paige Ermer, residential dining associate director. "The harvest dinner demonstrates the hard work and dedication of our dining staff."

Dining areas received a fall feel with leaves and cornucopias throughout, as well as a couple of whole turkeys that were carved on location. The meal was served from three of the seven food stations in each of the dining centers -- but hard-working staff still had pizza, pasta, salad bar and deli offerings for diners.

Dinner prep

Ermer said preparation began in May with turkey orders to Ferndale Market, a family farm in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Ferndale is a free-range turkey farm that delivers the order each year. The 128 turkeys, averaging 23 pounds and including 32 slaughtered and prepared according to Islamic dietary laws, were brined on Nov. 14. Both dining locations then smoked or cooked the turkeys. The harvest meal required all 50 cooks, and more than 300 student workers helped in preparation or service.

"I think our staff enjoys the change up of it," Ermer said. "It breaks up the serving cycle and gives something completely different to the students."

All baked goods -- dinner rolls and pies -- are made in house by the bakery team. The overnight shift (9 p.m.-6 a.m.) began assembling pies Sunday before baking and transporting them to the marketplaces on Wednesday.

The bakery team made nearly 3,000 individual pumpkin, pecan and apple pies for Wednesday's harvest meal.

Changes to salary threshold for overtime pay are dissolved

By Brian Meyer, strategic relations and communications
November 21

A federal judge last week struck down a new rule governing overtime pay in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The decision applies to all covered employers and employees nationwide and nullifies changes first shared last spring.

In April, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a two-phase increase to the minimum salary threshold for employees to become eligible for overtime pay. To comply with the new rule, Iowa State implemented phase 1 changes on July 1 and was preparing to implement phase 2 changes to meet a Jan. 1, 2025, deadline. In phase 1, the minimum salary threshold for overtime eligibility rose to $43,888. In phase 2, the threshold would have risen to $58,656.

The university proceeded to comply with the new rule, despite the possibility that legal challenges might result in a court-ordered halt to its implementation. Last week, that halt was realized. The judge's decision means these changes no longer are in effect. In addition, updates to the salary threshold that were to take place automatically every three years no longer will apply.

Earlier this week, university human resources leaders notified impacted employees and managers of the court decision.

What does it mean?

The salary threshold for overtime eligibility reverts to the previous FLSA rule, which is $35,568.

Employees who moved on July 1 to nonexempt status -- in other words, became eligible for overtime -- will return to exempt status on Dec. 1. These employees will change back to an annual salary instead of a time-tracked hourly rate, but will remain on the semimonthly pay schedule implemented Oct. 1.

Employees who were preparing to move to nonexempt status Jan. 1 will remain exempt and will continue to be paid on a monthly basis.

Salary standard will hold for post docs

In September, the university notified postdoctoral scholars that their minimum salary standard would increase to align with the Jan. 1 salary threshold of $58,656. That new minimum salary will remain in place for post-docs.

Questions about FLSA can be directed to UHR classification and compensation at uhrcc@iastate.edu.

Nominations, applications are welcome in Business dean search

By Rob Schweers, office of the senior vice president and provost
November 21

The search for Iowa State's next Raisbeck Endowed Dean of the Debbie and Jerry Ivy College of Business has moved to the candidate recruitment phase. Current dean David Spalding will retire during the summer of 2025.

The search committee, co-chaired by College of Veterinary Medicine dean Dan Grooms and associate provost for academic programs Ann Marie VanDerZanden, recently finalized a position description with input from Ivy faculty and staff, including feedback received in two listening sessions.

The position description notes that preferred candidates will have a passion for student success and proven leadership, communications and fundraising skills; be able to foster strong relationships with students, faculty, staff and external stakeholders; and help the college contribute to Iowa State's land-grant mission, among other attributes.

Candidates must have a graduate or professional degree and a distinguished record of accomplishment in higher education, business practice or public service commensurate with the expectations of a tenured full professor in the college.

Nominations and applications may be submitted to the Buffkin/Baker search firm at isuivydean@buffkinbaker.com. Applications should include a cover letter, CV and three references. Preliminary screening of candidates is expected to begin in January.

More information about the search is available on the provost's office website.

Related stories:

• Spalding will continue as VP for economic development, industry relations, Oct. 31, 2024
• Search begins for next Business dean, Sept. 19, 2024
• David Spalding to retire in 2025, May 9, 2024

Volunteers sought for student prep week event

By Katy Cran, division of student affairs
November 21

The division of student affairs will host the second iteration of Cy's Finals Frenzy at the beginning of prep week: Sunday-Tuesday, Dec. 8-10. This once-a-semester event is designed to promote healthy study habits and personal wellness as students prepare for final exams. All events are free for Iowa State students and take place in the Memorial Union.

Volunteers are needed to help the event run smoothly, and faculty and staff are encouraged to sign up for a shift (or two).

Fan-favorite events and offerings for students are back, including Bingo, movie night, free snacks and wellness activities such as yoga. Academic support programs will be available for students seeking additional help with specific exam preparation and projects.

The first Cy's Finals Frenzy in May saw an attendance of more than 900 students, with most noting they appreciated quiet study rooms in the MU, free food and organized activities that offered a break from studying.

"I had a lot of fun and got some studying done in the meantime!" shared one student in May. "The Sunday schedule gave me motivation to get out of my room and actually work on something (when I might not have the motivation to do it)."

High school graduate numbers present a challenge for colleges

By Anne Krapfl
November 21

Iowa's pool of high school graduates will remain relatively stable in the next decade, which is good news for the state's three public universities. Historically, most of them stay in state for college, Jason Pontius told the state Board of Regents at its Nov. 7 meeting. Pontius serves as associate chief academic officer on the board staff and provides an enrollment report each fall.

He said the regent universities, like Iowa private colleges and out-of-state college options, have attracted Iowa's high school graduates at fairly consistent rates in the last decade. What is shifting is the number of high school graduates whose post-high school plans are to forego college and join the workforce. That moved from about 11% of Iowa high school graduates in 2016 to 18% last year. Responding to a question, Pontius said there's not much data on a fairly new subset of Iowa high school graduates: (mostly) males who aren't post-high school students and aren't employed.

Another predicted shift is in the ethnicity of Iowa's high school graduates. Over the next 10-12 years, graduation numbers will reflect a decline in White students and growth in Hispanic and Black student numbers, populations which historically showed lower college-going rates. Students who identify as Hispanic or Latinx (7.2% of all regent university students) comprise the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group, up from 4.7% a decade ago.

Where they studied: Iowa high school graduates

Source: Iowa Statewide Longitudinal Data System Postsecondary Report

Iowa will fare better than neighbors

Based on Iowa K-12 student data, Pontius said Iowa will experience a three-year slowdown in its high school graduate growth rate beginning in 2027, a recovery beginning in 2030, and a second slowdown beginning in 2035. Referencing economist Nathan Grawe's 2018 "enrollment cliff" prediction, Pontius declined to call either slowdown a cliff.

Carleton College faculty member Grawe theorized that, due to declining birth rates 15 years ago, the nation's college-age population would drop by up to 15% from 2025 to 2029 and then decline incrementally through 2039. Grawe said some regions will fare better than others, with the West perhaps experiencing an enrollment increase, not much impact in the South, and the Midwest and Northeast regions experiencing decreases of 15% or more.

Pontius said several border states the regent universities draw from, especially Illinois and Wisconsin, likely will see large drops in their high school graduate populations, driving up competition for those smaller student pools. Iowa is a net importer of college students, he said. A couple of years ago, he calculated that for every four college students who came to Iowa for college, one Iowa high school graduate attended college out of state.

He said closures of small private colleges with enrollments of fewer than 1,000 students -- for example, Iowa Wesleyan University, Mount Pleasant in spring 2023 -- or consolidations, such as the two-campus solution announced in August by St. Ambrose University in Davenport and Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids, may become more frequent in the decade ahead.

Conversely, large public universities seem to be holding steady, he said.

Fall 2024 enrollment: Where our students live

Pontius shared these challenges for Iowa regent universities:

• There will be fewer high school graduates nationally 2025-31, which increases the competition for students.
• International enrollments from China are in a ninth straight year of decline among the regent universities. The growth right now in international enrollment is among students from India.
• A decline in college-going rates, especially among males.
• Perception among some that college is a waste of money or the debt incurrred is too great.

He also cited a handful of trends that favor Iowa regent universities:

• A stable pool of Iowa high school graduates.
• Iowans largely stay in the state for college.
• Nationally, there's been growth in larger public universities; Pontius anticipates a few more years of growth for incoming classes.
• Regent universities have lower cost of attendance for out-of-state students than the in-state costs in Minnesota, Illinois and Wisconsin, which has created growth in out-of-state enrollments.
• U.S. economy needs more workers with a college education or technical training.