Five questions for the surplus guy

By Anne Krapfl
November 21

ISU Surplus is the only unit with decision-making authority to sell, recycle or dispose of used university property. Departments can't make that decision, nor can they sell items themselves. Mark Ludwig has been supervising the surplus unit since it was moved under the Central Stores umbrella 14 years ago. Inside recently talked with Ludwig about making treasures out of would-be trash.

Online public auctions are growing. How much does ISU Surplus use such websites?

What's on our sales floor is 75-80 percent of what we sell. I'm trying to do more online auctions because we get a better return on our assets -- you've got more of a national audience. Sometimes the local clientele don't know what something is or don't want to pay what it's really worth.

Last year (FY13), ISU Surplus took in $195,000 from online auctions. So, with a little bit of focus on it, we could bump that up even higher. We've used GovDeals.com with great results and PublicSurplus.com. They're both geared to selling only government agency equipment.

Is there such a thing as un-sellable?

I try to sell everything. Every day I'm surprised at what somebody will buy. Something will come through here and I think, "No one is going to buy that." And it's the first thing out the door. Or you get something in and think, "Someone will jump on that." And it's weeks before it sells.

We're here to try to get the best return for our assets, but we also have to keep moving them. We've got such a backlog. We've got the same issues everyone on campus has with space.

You have a huge warehouse. There's still a backlog?

People get restless because their excess property is sitting in the hallway or in dock areas, waiting for us to pick it up. We're about eight weeks backlogged. I don't like being behind like that, but my hands are tied -- we just don't have the space, especially since one of our top goals is to keep things out of the landfill. Not only do we take care of the main campus community, we have all the farms, all the county extension offices across the state. We take care of the state's special schools in Vinton and Council Bluffs, and Lakeside Laboratory in Milford. We've got semitrailers that are full. We have some things in the old ice arena. Behind our sales floor is an overflow area, and that's full.

The good news is that we are out for bid on a cold storage building that could go up in the spring. When that's up, we'll try to clean the whole campus up, get everything out here and sort through it.

But my advice is don't wait until you have a room full of excess property. We don't have a holding area big enough for five truckloads of stuff. If you can get it to us in smaller increments, we can handle that.

What were some of your most unusual sales?

We sold a university plane years ago, through sealed bids. We got about $151,000 for it. That was one of my first big sales. We've sold lots of what basically are antique tractors from university farms. We also sold an animal autopsy table, all stainless steel, with a garbage disposal built into it, full flushers. The unusual thing was that we got it in during the Halloween season and it didn't stay here very long. I think that had something to do with it.

(Reading from the current sales list): A wattmeter, an autostainer, a matrix switcher, an optical microtome. Do you know what any of those things are? Do you need to?

You learn as you go. We see some of this stuff over and over again. People ask me a lot: "How do you know about all of this stuff?" We don't. We rely on the departments an awful lot, when they fill out their excess property form (PDF), to give us a pretty good description. That's where online research helps, too, if you can Google a key word. You hope the people that are buying it -- and this is true, I'd say 75 percent of the time -- know what they're looking at.

Presidential graduate student initiative launched

By Rob Schweers, Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost
November 21

President Steven Leath has launched a graduate student initiative to build the impact of Iowa State's graduate and research programs.

The three-year initiative, established through the President's Committee on Enhancing Institutional Excellence, includes:

• A Presidential Scholars Program for new Ph.D. students
• Matching funds to the academic colleges for graduate student recruiting
• Bridge funding for Ph.D. students and post-docs working with faculty on research projects

"Providing a high-quality education to our graduate students is an important part of our work to enhance research and scholarship and, ultimately, build the international stature of the university," Leath said. "The future faculty members, industry and community leaders recruited through these initiatives will play an important role in expanding our service to Iowa and the world."

Senior vice president and provost Jonathan Wickert noted the initiative is beginning immediately and will supplement existing graduate education and research efforts.

"We're working with colleges and departments to increase the velocity around graduate recruiting, and securing research funding from agencies and companies," Wickert said. "We're already looking for Presidential Scholars who can begin their studies in January."

Presidential Scholars Program

The Presidential Scholars Program is a comprehensive, $400,000 effort to recruit top doctoral students in strategic program areas. Each student identified through the program will receive an academic year stipend of $20,000, plus benefits, for the first year of study. In addition, the student's college will provide a tuition scholarship, and the academic unit (program, college, department or principal investigator) will commit to providing a second year of support at the same level. Up to 20 Presidential Scholars will be recruited for FY14.

Graduate Student Recruitment Program

This two-year program will provide incentives to academic colleges to recruit and enroll additional graduate students in doctoral and research-oriented master's degree programs. The colleges will develop, fund and implement collaborative programs with departments, interdepartmental graduate programs and research centers.

Central funding will be provided to match new college investments to recruit additional graduate students beyond those who would normally be recruited. The central match will be $1 for every $2 invested by an academic college, up to a maximum match of $250,000 in central funds to a college per year for FY14 and FY15.  Central funds may be used to cover costs of graduate assistant stipends, benefits or tuition.

Graduate and Postdoctoral Bridge Funding Program

The Graduate and Postdoctoral Bridge Funding Program, a recommendation of the President's Committee on Enhancing Institutional Excellence, will help principal investigators and graduate/research programs manage projects in a complex environment for external funding.

Bridge funding may be used to provide a stipend and fringe benefit support during a delay in receiving grant renewal, to support a Ph.D. student in his or her final semester, or to bridge a gap between different funding sources. Funding normally will be limited to one semester, but could extend to a maximum of six months.

 

VP for research finalists announced

By Rob Schweers, Office of the Senior Vice President and Provost
November 21

Four finalists have been named in the internal search for Iowa State's next vice president for research. They are:

• Duane Johnson, professor of materials science and engineering
• Sarah Nusser, professor of statistics
• Jim Oliver, professor of mechanical engineering
• Jim Reecy, professor of animal science

"We are pleased that so many of Iowa State's top researchers agreed to be considered for this position," said Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who co-chairs the search committee with associate provost David Holger. "Our finalists all have very impressive credentials, and I am confident that each individual has the skills and motivation to move Iowa State's research programs forward."

The finalists will interview in early December. Each will meet with members of the university community and participate in a 9:30 a.m. open forum at the Memorial Union. The forum schedule is:

• Johnson, Monday, Dec. 2, Gold Room
• Reecy, Tuesday, Dec. 3, Gold Room
• Oliver, Friday, Dec. 6, Cardinal Room
• Nusser, Monday, Dec. 9, Cardinal Room

The open forums will be recorded and posted on the provost's website; a form will be available there to provide feedback on the finalists. Vitae and photos of the candidates also are available on the site.

About the finalists

Duane Johnson, F. Wendell Miller Professor of Energy Science in the materials science and engineering department and chief research officer at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory, joined Iowa State in 2010. Previously, he served for 13 years at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and nine years at Sandia National Laboratories. Johnson earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees in physics from the University of Cincinnati.

Sarah Nusser, professor of statistics, joined the Iowa State faculty in 1992. Previously, she served as a statistician with the Proctor & Gamble Co. in Cincinnati, and is a former director of Iowa State's Center for Survey Statistics and Methodology. Nusser earned bachelor's and master's degrees in botany from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and North Carolina State University, Raleigh, respectively, and master's and doctoral degrees in statistics from Iowa State.

Jim Oliver, University Professor and Larry and Pam Pithan Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of the Virtual Reality Application Program and interdepartmental graduate program in human computer interaction, joined the university in 1991. Previously, he served in appointments at the State University of New York, Buffalo, and Michigan State University, East Lansing. Oliver earned a bachelor's degree from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., and master's and doctoral degrees from Michigan State, all in mechanical engineering.

Jim Reecy, professor of animal science and director of the Office of Biotechnology, joined the university in 1999. Previously, he served as a postdoctoral research associate and faculty member at the Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston. Reecy earned a bachelor's degree from South Dakota State University, Brookings, a master's degree from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a doctorate from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., all in animal science.

About the post

The vice president for research leads Iowa State's entire research enterprise, including pre- and post-award administration and compliance; interdisciplinary research centers and institutes; ISU Research Foundation; and the offices of intellectual property and technology transfer, sponsored programs administration, responsible research and laboratory animal resources.

David Oliver, professor of genetics, development and cell biology, is filling the role on an interim basis.

Discrimination, harassment, Title IX online training starts soon

By Diana Pounds
November 21

President Steven Leath is calling on all faculty and staff to complete online training on discrimination and harassment and Title IX over the next couple of months.

"Iowa State has a fine reputation as a welcoming university," Leath said. "But we can always do better. We have a new training module that will help all of us understand what constitutes harassment and discrimination and what we can do to stop it."

Robin Kelley, director of the office of equal opportunity (OEO), in collaboration with Workplace Answers and campus stakeholders, customized an online training module, which covers both federal laws and university policies.

Training will be available beginning Dec. 3, when faculty and staff will receive an email from OEO with a brief statement about the program and a unique link to their assigned course or courses. To start sessions, participants will click on the link provided in the email from OEO. 

The training will cover:

• Title IX of the Educational Amendments Act of 1972, and Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• ISU's discrimination and harassment policy
• ISU's policy on sexual misconduct, assault and sexual harassment involving students
• What do to upon encountering discrimination or harassment, including sexual harassment, or prohibited conduct. Case studies, many based on real situations, will depict typical incidents that could occur on a university campus, and interactive exercises will help reinforce learning.

"Each training course takes about 40 minutes, but individuals can spread it over as many sessions as they'd like," Kelley said. "It's really convenient. You can start and stop the training at will. However, we do ask that everyone complete the training module within 60 days."

Periodic email reminders will be sent to those who haven't finished the training, she added.

"This training is important," Kelley said. "It's one of the ways that we can ensure that Iowa State is a supportive and inclusive working and learning environment for all.  Remaining open and welcoming to all is part of our land-grant mission."

Warm connections between college, Uganda

November 21

The fair-trade Ugandan coffee brewed in the new Global Café in Curtiss Hall's Harl Commons is an apt symbol of the rich relationship between the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Uganda. So is the college's pledge to pour 50 percent of the commission it receives from all café sales back into its programs to support Ugandan children and farm families.

Through the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, the college has a long history of work with Ugandan farmers, families, communities and schools. In recent years, many ISU undergraduates have journeyed to Uganda to work on a number of service learning projects, ranging from planting school gardens to digging wells.

Tuition, faculty professional development requests top regents agenda

By Anne Krapfl
November 21

Tuition and mandatory fee rates for next year and faculty professional development requests for FY15 are on the agenda when the state Board of Regents meets in Ames on Wednesday, Dec. 4. While officially a telephonic meeting, it will originate from the executive board room at the ISU Alumni Center. Live audio of all public portions of the meeting will be streamed on the board's website.

Professional development assignments

Iowa State will ask the board to approve professional development assignments (PDA) for 37 faculty members during the 2014-15 academic year (47 faculty members applied for a PDA). This represents 2.1 percent of eligible faculty members and is down slightly from the current year, in which 45 faculty members will complete a PDA.

The gender breakdown this year is 24 men and 13 women. Seven proposed assignments are for the full academic year, the others are for a semester. Thirteen of the faculty members previously completed a PDA.

The net cost of the 37 PDAs is about $131,000 ($403,000 in teaching replacement costs minus $272,000 in salary savings for the seven full-year assignments). Some assignments do not bring additional costs when the department can manage a faculty absence by reassigning courses among other faculty.

At Iowa State, any faculty member employed at least half time is eligible to apply for a professional development assignment. There is no requirement for length of service. Priority may be given to tenured faculty over adjunct and non-tenured faculty and to individuals who have not received a PDA in the past five years.

The board also will receive a summary report of 2012-13 professional development assignments.

Tuition and fees

As proposed, tuition for in-state undergraduates next year again would remain at 2012-13 levels, or $6,648. Nonresident undergraduates would pay $334 (1.74 percent) more in tuition next year, or $19,534. Resident graduate students would pay $142 (1.81 percent) more, or $7,999, and nonresident graduate students would pay an additional $646 (3.2 percent), or $20,804. College of Veterinary Medicine students, resident or nonresident, would pay 4.5 percent more next year – $20,014 and $44,768, respectively.

Mandatory student fees would go up $5.80, to $1,083.40 for Iowa State undergraduates and to $1,037.40 for graduate students, in 2014-15, as proposed. That includes a $3 increase for student services and a $2.80 increase for student activities. Student fees haven't changed for Iowa State students in three years.

New center, program-specific fees, bond sales

In other business, Iowa State will seek permission to:

• Establish a new center, the Center for Arthropod Management Technologies, in the entomology department. It would be a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center, following that program's consortium model. In this case, industry, government and universities would collaborate to develop technologies that better manage arthropod pests. Iowa State would be the lead university and the University of Kentucky would be a sister institution. Initially, the consortium would have seven industry members: BASF, Bayer CropScience AG, Bayer CropScience LP, Dow AgroSciences, DuPont Pioneer, FuturaGene and Monsanto Co.
• Approve the list of program-specific fees for 2014-15. Iowa State is proposing a $120 orientation fee for international students for services and activities that enhance their transition to the university.
• Undertake two bond sales: An estimated $8.8 million in dormitory revenue bonds to complete six new student apartment buildings in Frederiksen Court, and an estimated $6.3 million in academic building revenue refunding bonds to save about $420,000 in interest on two previous academic building bond sales (2003, 2004)

Any Iowan who wants to provide comments to board members on an agenda item may do so at one of six public hearings (PDF) this week. The public hearing at Iowa State is Thursday, Nov. 21 (6-7 p.m., Memorial Union Campanile Room).

Save the date: WinterFest is Dec. 6

By Paula Van Brocklin
November 21

You're probably still planning your Thanksgiving dinner, and there's no snow on the ground … yet. But it's not too early to plan for WinterFest 2013.

Mark your calendars for Friday, Dec. 6, and make plans to catch some WinterFest festivities. Events are free unless indicated. Here are some highlights.

• University Book Store holiday open house, (7:45 a.m.-6 p.m., Memorial Union)
• Open house at the Knoll, (3-5:30 p.m., Knoll), hosted by Janet Leath
• Cookie decorating and hot chocolate, (6 p.m., MU commons)
• Andy Albright Jingle Jog 5K, (4-5:45 p.m. registration, MU Gallery/Pioneer Room; run begins at 6 p.m.). Cost is $20. Register by Nov. 22 to receive a free T-shirt.
• Tree lighting ceremony, (6 p.m., inside Beardshear Hall on the first floor; enter via front entrance steps), includes live music

Look for more details about WinterFest 2013 in the Dec. 5 edition of Inside Iowa State.