Student Innovation Center readies for August opening

By Chelsea Davis, news service
July 16

When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Iowa State community to migrate online for the remainder of spring semester, the Student Innovation Center's April grand opening was put on the back burner.

However, construction, landscaping and equipment installation pushed forward. Today, students, faculty and staff are working to ensure the building is ready to open to campus when fall semester begins Aug. 17. Facilities planning and management announced in late June the building had received a certificate of full occupancy from the state of Iowa.

Stepping up to meet a need

To comply with physical distancing and 50% capacity requirements, a few areas of the building will not be used as intended when it opens. Two areas on the ground floor -- the exhibit and 'makerspace' areas -- will be repurposed into classrooms to help the university's room scheduling staff find instructional spaces. Machinery that was meant for the makerspace will be held in various locations on campus until it can be installed for the space's intended use.

"There is a huge crunch on campus for large gathering spaces that will accommodate social distancing," said Jim Oliver, director of the Student Innovation Center and Larry and Pam Pithan Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Innovative classrooms -- such as the "learning-in-the-round" classroom on the third floor -- that initially were going to be assigned through a competitive application process will, for the time being, also be used as traditional classrooms.

Tenants moving in

Departments and student organizations have begun to move in to the Student Innovation Center. The ISU Gaffer's Guild successfully blew glass in its new furnaces over the weekend and staff from the apparel, events and hospitality management department are setting up and testing equipment in Sparks, the department's student-run café. Other building staff are developing traffic flow plans, adjusting furniture configurations and deploying cleaning and disinfecting supplies in all open meeting rooms for widespread use.

"In keeping with our spirit of innovation, flexibility and agility, we were pleased to respond quickly to broader needs of the university by repurposing some of our spaces -- and we are very excited to welcome students, faculty and staff to experience this unique resource next month," Oliver said.

ISU Foundation donor branding and signage throughout the building is complete, and wayfinding is nearly complete. This fall, Oliver said, environmental branding in line with the "Innovate at Iowa State" campaign will be installed.

Oliver said a rescheduled grand opening event is in the planning stages, but a date has not been set.

 

Is your new P&S job profile the right one?

By Anne Krapfl
July 16

Professional and scientific (P&S) employees -- or their managers -- have another week to reflect on the accuracy of their job profiles in the new P&S classification and compensation system. Requests for a title review must be submitted online by Friday, July 24.

Local HR service delivery teams will evaluate the requests for a review and send managers' final decisions to the classification and compensation team in university human resources (UHR) for a final review and resolution. UHR will email decisions to employees; managers and HR partners receive a copy, too. The project is on target for completion by late August.

For those who are uncertain about the "fit" of their new job title, UHR classification and compensation director Emma Mallarino Houghton offered a few suggestions about what is -- and isn't -- a good reason to request a job title review. It's important, she noted, to not make comparisons between the new market-based classification system and the 28-year-old system the university will retire at the end of August. The new system reflects best practices in classification and compensation and will help Iowa State as an employer adapt to job market changes, she said.

 

Observation: The education and experience requirement in my job profile doesn't match my experience and skill set.

The minimum qualifications on the job profile are just that: the absolute minimum required qualifications (lowest level of acceptable education and/or experience) to successfully perform the job duties. It may not have any bearing on the person who ends up in the title, and it's likely their qualifications exceed the minimum qualifications. We also use preferred qualifications on a job posting to find the right candidate. Preferred or desirable criteria enhance a person's capacity to do the job. For example, in some fields, 10 years of valuable work experience better equip a candidate to be successful in a job than a bachelor's degree could. If the degree is not part of the minimum requirements, the manager still has the option to prefer it.

Requirements shouldn't be so restrictive they present artificial barriers or exclude candidates who reasonably have the ability to do the job. They need to be practical and obtainable in the general labor market.

 

Observation: The job description section (summary, examples of duties, level guidelines) addresses less than half of the work I do.

If the job summary, duty examples or level guidelines match just a small portion of your work, this is a valid reason to request a job title review. The appropriate job profile (as a whole) should reflect 50% or more of the work you do and the responsibilities you have on a day-to-day basis.

 

Observation: My new job title doesn't go far enough to describe MY job.

In Workday, the job profile is not intended to be like a position description in the old system. From a classification perspective, we don't need to know everything you do at the granular level. The job profile is a very, very high-level description of a job and reflects the essential functions of the job, but it doesn't lay out everything you do. It should reflect a 50% fit -- or more -- with the work you do.

The "examples of duties" listed in a job profile are just that: examples that help describe what it means to be in that classification. However, an employee doesn't have to do everything on the list.

We want employees to understand that they will grow through the levels of their job series. The growth takes time, experience and an ability to acquire the skills that define the next level.

If a manager and an employee want a document that lays out expectations in greater detail about day-to-day responsibilities, we have a template, called the position description responsibility document, that looks similar to the old position description in which percentages of duties are spelled out. But in the new system, no one needs that document to classify or promote an employee. Contact your HR service delivery coordinator to request the document template.

 

Observation: My job title isn't helpful and provides no insight to what I do.

When we built this system, we developed job profiles that better describe the work P&S employees do, but we never intended to create job profiles for individual employees -- and that's actually a good thing. We don't want a system with 3,200 job profiles.

For those who are interested, we are allowing P&S employees to use business titles -- also called working titles -- as long as the proposed working title doesn't misrepresent the level of an employee's job or duplicate an actual job title in the system. If a group of employees all do the same thing, it's appropriate for them to have the same working title for some consistency across the organization.

It's up to unit leaders to approve working titles, which then go to the HR service delivery team for final approval. We're trying to be quite flexible with working titles. The aid we created helps P&S employees decide if they need one.

 

Observation: The examples of duties in my job profile (level II) match what I do; however, I've worked here a long time and feel I should be at level III.

A job title includes the job level; they don't live separately. For example, grants specialist II identifies a grants specialist at individual contributor level II. If you want to be at the next level (grants specialist III), you have to be doing the work described for that level and your unit must have a need for that level of work. Simply working at the university for a long time doesn't guarantee the next level. In this scenario, if the summary, duty examples and level accurately reflect the work the employee does, it's the right job profile assignment. Grants specialist III should be the aspirational, promotion opportunity as the level of responsibility grows.

Keeping Cyclone hands clean this fall

By Anne Krapfl
July 16

Another university initiative to help employees and students stay healthy when the academic year begins is to provide hand sanitizer on campus -- lots of it. Using a map of administration and academic buildings, a team from facilities planning and management developed a plan for placing and restocking free-standing hand sanitizer dispensers in about 95 buildings.

Over two phases between now and Aug. 17, FPM crews will install an estimated 250 units, said Cathy Brown, manager of FPM planning services. FPM custodial crews will restock the dispensers as part of their cleaning and disinfecting responsibilities this year.

Phase 1, which has begun, focuses on buildings with summer employees and adds about 100 hand sanitizer dispensers. Phase 2 puts additional dispensers in many of those same facilities (Bessey, Gilman, Town and Agronomy, for example) and others in buildings closed for the summer, for example, Troxel Hall, Farm House Museum and the Hansen Student Learning Center. Phase 2 adds about 125 dispensers around campus.

Brown said their plan places dispensers in similar locations in buildings across campus -- for example, at building entrances and in lobbies -- so students and employees become quickly attuned to where to find them. This also makes it easier for custodial crews to locate and restock them, she said. The goal is to have one or two in every building, with dispensers available to add as needed in buildings with high student traffic. By selecting a pedestal model, dispensers can be moved according to use patterns, she said.

Other campus facilities

Auxiliary units that operate central campus facilities also are making plans to have plenty of hand sanitizer visible and available when the semester begins. They include:

• The Memorial Union is providing hand sanitizer at about two dozen high-traffic locations on its lower levels, including entrances, information desks, study lounges, student office spaces, parking pay station and the food court/commons area. MU staff intend to add hand sanitizer locations as building traffic demands it.
• The residence department purchased 575 hand sanitizer dispensers to place in all residence halls, community buildings and Frederiksen Court apartment buildings. Locations generally are by entrances, in laundry rooms, next to elevator doors and in or near meeting rooms.
• Recreation services, which always has provided hand sanitizer at its facilities (in locations such as the check-in desk, help desk, fitness rooms, yoga studios), has nearly doubled its number of hand sanitizer stations, installing portable shelving units to hold additional containers.
• ISU Dining, which also has a history of offering hand sanitizer in its campus locations, will add more than 60 dispensers in dining center, café and market entryways, serving areas and other high-touch areas. It also is installing additional dispensers in its kitchen areas and adding signage in dining areas to remind everyone to sanitize their hands before eating.

Local needs

Brown said departments may order hand sanitizer dispensers for use in local offices and conference rooms on central stores' COVID-19 web site. Departments will need to refill and maintain the units they order.

Corporate internship climate impacts summer enrollment

By Anne Krapfl
July 16

In a summer session offered 100% online -- a very different picture from the usual 35% or so -- Iowa State enrolled 9,845 students, a decrease of about 9% from a summer ago. That figure includes 6,841 undergraduates, 2,853 graduate students and 151 fourth-year doctor of veterinary medicine students.

Pandemic impacts

Two-thirds of the 771-student decline from 2019 summer undergraduate enrollment occurred in the College of Engineering. Associate dean for academic affairs Sriram Sundararajan said the pandemic's impact on corporate internship programs is the biggest factor behind that change. Historically, about 70% of Engineering undergraduates complete at least one corporate internship or coop, often during the summer, and register for an internship course that records feedback and assessment of their experience. Sundararajan said 537 Engineering students registered for internship courses this summer -- less than half of last summer's 1,108.

"A recession-type environment and COVID-19 combined in a perfect storm," he said, "and companies made changes to their internship offerings."

A reluctance to risk infection from the coronavirus in locations away from home may have prompted some students to postpone their internships, too, he said.

The Ivy College of Business achieved enrollment growth this summer of 4% compared to last summer. Associate dean for undergraduate programs Valentina Salotti said college leaders, anticipating fewer internship and job opportunities for students due to the pandemic, decided to offer additional upper-level courses for juniors and seniors. In addition, she said the accounting and management departments contacted non-degree seeking students and students who left the college before completing their accounting degree to encourage them to enroll in summer courses.

Business associate dean for professional masters programs Jackie Ulmer said several of the college's graduate programs -- such as the Professional MBA program in Des Moines -- allow students to start in the summer. She also pointed to program-specific recruiting initiatives launched recently that are starting to show results and the pandemic's canceling effect on summer travel and vacations.

"Students may have decided to get some additional coursework completed instead," she said. "In any case, we are thrilled to have all of these students as part of our Ivy and ISU family."

 

Summer enrollment by college: all students

College	2020	2019
Agriculture and Life Sciences	1,242	1,318
Business	1,236	1,187
Design	367	424
Engineering	2,677	3,312
Human Sciences	1,422	1,592
Liberal Arts and Sciences	2,455	2,512
Veterinary Medicine	247	248
Graduate interdisciplinary	199	213
Total	9,845	10,806

What our students are studying

In a summer that's far from normal, one thing is: Many of the historically popular summer course offerings made the 2020 list, too, including Calculus I and II, Principles of Microeconomics and the perennial chart-topper, Business Communication.

 

Summer 2020: 15 highest enrolled undergraduate courses

Course	Summer enrollment
Business Communication (ENGL 301)	353
Technical Communication (ENGL 314)	236
General Physics (PHYS 111)	182
Fundamentals of Public Speaking (SP CM 212)	154
Principles of Finance (FIN 301)	144
Summer internship (ME 396)	143
Principles of Microeconomics (ECON 101)	138
Engineering Economic Analysis (IE 305)	131
Written, Oral, Visual and Electronic Composition (ENGL 250)	124
Calculus II (MATH 166)	120
Calculus III (MATH 265)	114
Supply Chain Management (SCM 301)	112
Principles of Marketing (MKT 340)	112
Calculus I (MATH 165)	111
Engineering Statistics (STAT 305)	110

Iowa State's summer census day is the 10th day (June 26) of the second session. The count reflects all registration through that day, including classes that concluded prior to it and even a few that hadn't started yet.

Iowa State sets federal research funding record

By Mike Krapfl, news service
July 16

Iowa State attracted a total of $494.7 million in external funding for the fiscal year that ended June 30, including a record amount of federal funding for research projects.

That total is an increase of $25.6 million, or 5.5%, over the 2019 fiscal year's $469 million. Federal support for Iowa State research hit a record $186 million, an increase of $4.9 million, or 2.7%, over the previous record of $181.1 million in FY19.

A major contributor to that record was support from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which jumped from $23.6 million in FY19 to $47.8 million this past fiscal year. That USDA support included five awards of more than $1 million from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, including a $10 million grant to expand the Iowa State-based Consortium for Cultivating Human And Naturally reGenerative Enterprises (known as C-CHANGE) and $2.9 million to build on the Genomes to Fields Initiative that's studying the interactions of plant genomes and crop environments.

Another major federal grant -- $20 million over five years from the National Institute of Standards and Technology -- will support the Center for Statistics and Applications in Forensic Evidence based at Iowa State.

"I really believe the 2020 fiscal and academic year is a study in both perseverance and relevance," said Guru Rao, interim vice president for research. "Our research community as a whole, persevered through the COVID-19 pandemic -- and continues to do so -- to deliver relevant research that further builds on Iowa State's legacy as a trusted and valued partner to both federal and non-federal sponsors alike."

External research funding

Iowa State attracted a total of $253 million in external research funding during the last fiscal year. That's $7.9 million, or 3%, below the $260.9 million record set in FY19. A portion of this funding is supporting several research projects related to the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Those projects include development of a paper-strip urine test for the virus and statistical modeling and prediction of deaths caused by the disease.

In addition to grants supporting research, external funding also provides academic support, scholarships and more. The funding can include contracts, gifts and cooperative agreements from federal, state and local governments, as well as from corporations, nonprofits and other universities.

While federal research jumped to record levels this past fiscal year, non-federal research funding was nearly $67 million, down $12.9 million, or 16.1%, from FY19's record of $79.8 million.

"Research," Rao said, "plays a critical role in supporting Iowa State University's mission to create, share and apply knowledge to make Iowa and the world a better place."

 

ISU external research funding sources: FY20

Federal	Funds
Department of Energy	$65.4 million
Department of Agriculture	$47.8 million
National Science Foundation	$31.7 million
Health and Human Services	$18.6 million
Department of Commerce	$5.3 million
Department of Defense	$5.0 million
Department of Transportation	$4.4 million
Other federal	$7.8 million
Federal subtotal	$186 million
Non-federal
Industry/corporate	$19.3 million
State of Iowa government	$19.3 million
Higher education	$14.4 million
Nonprofit organizations	$8.0 million
Commodity	$4.3 million
Other non-federal	$1.7 million
Non-federal subtotal	$67 million
Total external research funding	$253 million

 

A decade of external funding totals

FY20	$494.7 million
FY19	$469.0 million
FY18	$509.2 million
FY17	$503.6 million
FY16	$425.8 million
FY15	$424.9 million
FY14	$368.4 million
FY13	$326.4 million
FY12	$360.2 million
FY11	$342.3 million

 

ISU Creamery's ice cream flavors pay homage to colleges

By Alice Pareti, food science and human nutrition communications
July 16

The ISU Creamery announced this week the eight winners of its ice cream flavors summer contest. In late May, students, faculty, staff and alumni were asked to describe and name a flavor unique to each of Iowa State's eight colleges, including the Graduate College. Winners were selected by a college's dean or assistant dean with some staff assistance. The competition received 52 entries judged on name, college representation, flavor appeal, description and feasibility of its ingredients and production process.

After a 51-year hiatus, the ISU Creamery opens Aug. 13 on the second floor of the Food Sciences Building with several of its traditional flavors: Two Swans, Cardinal Tracks, Wintersgreen, 1858, Legacy and Campanile Kiss.

These new college flavors will be available in November:

Graduate College: Alma Mater Baklava

A pistachio-praline ice cream with bits of pistachios and granola, submitted by alumnus Kris E. Spence, who earned master’s and doctoral degrees in food science and technology. The flavor was inspired by the "Bells of Iowa State" anthem. The nut and granola 'baklava' is intended to represent the rich diversity in the Graduate College. 

College of Design: Lunar Lavender

Lavender-flavored ice cream with honey swirls, created by Daniel Vandersteen and Aaron Born. The industrial design students created the ice cream to satisfy late-night cravings of Design students working in the studio. The honey will be sourced from the ISU Bee Lab.

Ivy College of Business: Business Brew

Espresso and vanilla ice cream with chocolate-covered almonds and fudge swirls, submitted by Business students Justin Brtek, Rohan Brahmarouthu, Andrew Simon, Daniel Burke and Ani Yam. The team said it had several sources of inspiration: the Gerdin Business Building, Business Cafe, the Ivys' "never settle" mindset and Dean David Spalding's "Donuts with the Dean" events.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences: Lemon Berry bLASt

Lemon frozen yogurt (full-fat froyo) with raspberry swirls and bits of raspberries, created by 2017 graduates Kristen (Turnquist) Fox and Shelby (Ullrich) Zomermaand. The duo challenged the status quo in proposing a sweet twist on the sour ISU tradition of lemon drops (which no longer exists). Tradition said that women became true Iowa Staters by kissing someone under the campanile at midnight. If a young woman hadn't "campaniled" by the time she reached her senior year, people put lemon drops on her doorstep to signify that she was sour. This flavor signifies that all members of the ISU community are considered true Iowa Staters.

College of Engineering: Marston Mash

Sea salt caramel ice cream with brownie bits and fudge swirls was created by Engineering alumni Ezra Iliff, Luke Lawson and Connor Kennedy. The flavor honors former dean (1904-32) Anson Marston, who supervised work on two campus landmarks, the campanile construction and Lake LaVerne restoration. It also represents the collaboration between all Engineering majors to make a project successful.

College of Veterinary Medicine: White Chocolate Squirrel

White chocolate ice cream with swirls of hazelnut spread and hazelnut pieces, submitted by Kipp Van Dyke and staff colleagues in the dean of students office. This entry honors one of Iowa State's campus creatures, the elusive leucistic squirrel.

College of Human Sciences: Human Sci Sweet Cherry Pie

This sweet corn custard features swirls of cherry pie filling and pieces of pie crust. It was created by Human Sciences alumni Amy Matthies, Deb Nilles and Samantha Nilles, representing two generations of a family that made cherry pies in the Joan Bice Underwood Tearoom during their years on campus. The flavor represents the traditions of the college while highlighting the adventurous spirit of its students and alumni.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences: Pasture Bedtime

Mocha custard with chocolate chips and caramel swirls, created by 2018 food science graduates Evan McCoy, Timothy Lott and Mikaela Galdonik. The winners noted that, as students, they especially needed coffee when preparing for the CALS career fair. This flavor also portrays the richness of Iowa soil and the diversity of the CALS community.

(This same team won a signature ice cream contest in 2017 with its entry, Legacy, now featured in the ISU Creamery. Legacy is a scotcheroo-inspired ice cream and honors two ISU alumni, Mildred Day, who created Rice Krispies Treats; and George Washington Carver, who is famous for peanut research.)