High places

June 19

Curtiss Hall provides a lofty perch and loftier view for this Canada goose. Photo by Barb McBreen.

Second forum on TIER review is June 24

By Diana Pounds
June 19

A second public forum on the state Board of Regents' TIER efficiency review will be held Tuesday, June 24, from 9 to 11 a.m. in the Howe Hall auditorium.

During the forum, regents, ISU officials and representatives of Deloitte Consulting will answer questions about the just-completed first phase of the Transparent, Inclusive Efficiency Review and plans for phase 2.

Among those attending the forum will be President Steven Leath, regents Larry McKibben and Milt Dakovich, and representatives from Deloitte Consulting.

The event will be livestreamed and archived online for later viewing at this site:
www.iastate.edu/efficiency/forum/jun24.php

Submit questions

The forum will include brief presentations followed by a question-and-answer session. Those who are unable to attend the forum can:

• Send questions to tierforum@iastate.edu, during or in advance of the forum
• Tweet questions, using #TIERforum during the event

Phase 2 

After 10 weeks of intensive data-collecting and interviews at the three state universities, the consultants have identified eight areas that they believe offer the greatest opportunities for efficiencies and cost savings. During phase 2, which begins this month, the consulting team will do detailed cost-benefit analyses of potential opportunities for cost savings in each of those areas.

Some phase 2 work begins next week. Consultants will be on campus not only for the forum, but to collect additional data and information from selected individuals and units.

Regents documents 

More details on the review thus far and the work to come can be found in several documents, recently released by the regents.

• Update: Phases 1, 2 (June 11): The  short report summarizes phase 1 work and lists the eight areas of focus during phase 2.
• News release (June 16): Study estimates $30 million-$80 million in annual savings, reinvestment.
• Catalogue and Prioritized List of Opportunities (June 16): This 80-page document lists potential opportunities for efficiency and cost-savings that originally were under consideration and the 17 opportunities (in eight areas) that ultimately were selected for Phase 2 analysis. These opportunities, which include such suggestions as creating a common student application portal across the three universities and improving use of classroom space through a scheduling policy, will be examined in depth in phase 2.

Focus shifts to academic programs in the fall

The consultants have noted that administrative functions will be the focus of their summer work. Once fall semester is underway and students and faculty are on campus, the reviewers' focus will shift to academic programs.  

More information about the review is available on Iowa State's TIER site.

Welcome

June 19

Adam Schwartz took over as director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory on June 2. He is the fifth director to lead the lab since it was established in 1947.

Schwartz previously served as a division leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, Calif. He also coordinated LLNL's projects for the Critical Materials Institute, a USDOE energy innovation hub led by the Ames Lab.

Schwartz succeeds Alex King, who stepped down to lead the Critical Materials Institute. Schwartz's office is in 105 TASF (Technical and Administrative Services Facility). You can reach him by phone (4-2770) or email (director@ameslab.gov). Photo by Bob Elbert.

ISURF/OIPTT is moving off campus

By Anne Krapfl
June 19

The combined staff in the ISU Research Foundation and Office of Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer will move from its Lab of Mechanics offices to the State Avenue office building June 25-26. The building, located south of U.S. Highway 30, formerly was used by Wiley-Blackwell Publishing and, before that, ISU Press.

All staff members will keep their phone numbers.

The move is not a permanent one for the ISURF/OIPTT offices. (In fact, they'll keep 310 Lab of Mechanics as their mailing address for now.) When the university completes its new building in the research park sometime in 2016, these units will join other ISU research and economic development services working under one roof.

The move frees up central campus space that will, also temporarily, keep College of Engineering graduate students, student organizations and communications staff in the west part of campus while Marston Hall undergoes a major, 18-month renovation.

Furnished and flexible

The office building on State Avenue features 7,500 square feet of office space, most of which is in two large, open spaces. Facilities planning and management equipped those spaces with new office furnishings that create a collaborative, flexible work environment, said assistant director of space planning and management Margie Tabor.

She said the long-term plan for the building isn't known yet. The flexibility of the office space means that another unit could use it temporarily when the ISURF/OIPTT team vacates it.

"The building is in good condition and advantageous to the university because of its location," Tabor said. "The way we're outfitting it, it could be a temporary or permanent office."

Those who need immediate assistance from the ISURF/OIPTT staff on June 25 or 26 should call 294-6344.

Summer visitors to campus

June 19

While Iowa State student numbers drop noticeably in the summer, our campus visitors data spikes. Here's a quick rundown of some of the larger groups heading our way -- and when.

Group	Date	Participants	Staying on campus
Iowa Funeral Directors Association convention	May 12-15	400	no
Alumni Days	May 15-16	275, senior alumni	no
Special Olympics Iowa Summer Games	May 22-24	2,700, all ages	yes
Odyssey of the Mind World Finals	May 28-31	8,000, youth elementary-college plus 7,000 family members	yes
Orientation: Fall 2014	June 2-July 3	5,500+ freshman and transfer students	yes
Future Problem Solving Program International Conference	June 12-15	2,500, youth grades 4-12	yes
USA Track & Field Iowa Association Junior Olympic Championships	June 21-22	1,000	no
Iowa Reading Association Conference	June 24-25	850 IRA members	no
Iowa 4-H Youth Conference	June 24-26	1,000, high school	yes
National Junior Disability Championships	July 5-12	200-250, ages 7-22, physical disabilities	no
BravO National Dance & Talent Competition	July 7-13	1,000, all ages	no
Iowa Summer Games	July 11-13, July 17-20 (main weekend), July 25-27	14,000 over 3 weekends, all ages, youth and adults	yes
Farm Progress Show	Aug. 26-28		no

 

If you have a large group (100+) coming to campus this summer, send a note to inside@iastate.edu and we'll add it to the list.