Watch The Mockingjay Part 1 Online
Janet Denzel
Students waiting to purchase textbooks and school supplies queue up in front of the checkout counter at the University Book Store in the Memorial Union Monday morning. The official student count for spring semester will be taken on Jan. 25, the 10th day of class, and posted to the registrar's website later that week. Photo by Christopher Gannon.
Each finalist will interview on campus over two days and participate in a one-hour public forum in the Memorial Union. At each forum, the candidate will make a brief presentation, then answer questions from the audience. The public forum schedule is:
Search co-chairs Mike Crum, vice president for economic development and business engagement, and David Harris, senior associate athletics director, noted that a highly qualified group of finalists will come to campus to interview for "this critical position."
They encouraged the university community to take advantage of the opportunity to hear from the candidates, ask questions and provide feedback to the search committee. An online feedback form will be available on the search site site later this month.
Lori Reesor has served as North Dakota's vice president for student affairs since 2011. She also served as associate vice provost for student success at the University of Kansas, Lawrence; associate dean, assistant dean and adjunct instructor in the School of Education at the University of Missouri, Kansas City; and dean of students at Wichita State University, Kansas. In a previous stint at Kansas, she served as associate director of admissions, acting director and assistant director of new student orientation, assistant to the dean of educational services and residence hall director. She also served as a financial aid counselor, academic adviser and women's center program assistant at Iowa State.
Reesor earned a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater; a master's in higher education from Iowa State; and a doctorate in educational policy and leadership from Kansas.
Al Thompson has served as vice chancellor for student affairs at UW-Stevens Point since 2011 and chief diversity officer since 2012. Prior to that, he served as associate vice president for student affairs and dean of student life at Eastern Washington University, Cheney. He was assistant to the chancellor for affirmative action and diversity at the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse, where he also developed and taught graduate courses in education professional development and organizational theory. At the University of Wisconsin, Platteville, he served as assistant to the chancellor for minority affairs, director of multicultural services and director of the ethnic studies program. He also was coordinator of minority student programs and residence hall director at Luther College, Decorah.
Martino Harmon has served as Iowa State's associate vice president for student affairs since 2013. Previously, he served as executive director of student success and retention at Cincinnati State Community College, Ohio; dean of student development at Rhodes State College, Lima, Ohio; and dean of admission, retention and student life at Washtenaw Community College, Ann Arbor, Mich. At the University of Toledo, Ohio, he held several posts -- interim assistant dean of students, director of the African American student enrichment office, director of freshman admission, associate director of admission and multicultural recruitment and coordinator of campus visits and admission counselor.
Iowa State will seek an additional $9.7 million in state operational support next year from a legislature that went to work on Monday. The funding request includes an $8.2 million increase (4.5 percent) to the general university appropriation and 2.7 percent increases (totaling about $1.5 million) to university units or programs that receive their own state appropriation. Examples of the latter include the veterinary diagnostic lab, cooperative extension, Leopold Center and the livestock disease research program.
For the second time, the three regent universities (Iowa State, University of Northern Iowa, University of Iowa) are requesting differential state support. An increase to Iowa State's general university appropriation would be used to maintain quality and address capacity needs associated with growing student enrollment. Examples include additional faculty and academic advising positions; investments in more student learning analytics; expanded opportunities for online learning; additional campus safety services; and more support for student experiences such as internships, study abroad, learning communities, undergraduate research and student organizations.
"As the state's land-grant university, we want to be accessible to students, but we can't let the quality of their experience suffer as more enroll at Iowa State," said chief of staff Miles Lackey, who oversees the budget development process.
Northern Iowa is requesting an 8.1 percent ($7.6 million) "equity adjustment" to its general university appropriation that recognizes its focus on educating undergraduate Iowa students and the limitations this puts on tuition revenue. Iowa is requesting a 1.9 percent increase ($4.5 million) to its general university appropriation for additional student support programs as its enrollment grows.
As they do each year, the regent universities also asked to have their employees included in the appropriations bill that provides salary increase funding for employees in state agencies. The last time regent university employees were included in the salary bill was FY09.
None of the regent universities are seeking funding for new building projects during this legislative session. Iowa State will receive more than $20 million in state support during FY17 for multiyear projects approved by previous legislatures. They are:
In the meantime, Iowa State's FY17 budget development process is underway. Last month, President Steven Leath outlined his budget planning priorities to the three senior vice presidents. They remain the four broad priorities Leath first presented during his fall 2012 installation:
"We have made great strides and established a lot of momentum in moving Iowa State to the next level," he wrote in a December memo to the three leaders. He asked them to again organize their unit budgets around the four priorities. Preliminary budgets are due to Leath on Feb. 1 and updated budgets on April 10.
The executive committee of the Professional and Scientific Council is requesting clarification from university administrators about the use of vacation/leave policies and the flex hours program during a partial campus shutdown over winter break in a motion introduced at the council's Jan. 7 meeting.
"We received several contacts just prior to winter break from employees who did not feel they were being fairly treated by their departments, their supervisors or their college or units," said council president Tera Lawson. "They were being required to take vacation as part of the university's partial close. Upon getting into that further, it appears that it is actually a conflict between these three policies, which is why we are asking for clarification on the interpretation and application of these three policies."
The committee motion asks for clarifications and, if needed, changes to the flexible hours program and two policies (flex time and vacation leave) to "provide employees and administrators with a common interpretation and acceptable applications" during partial closures. An amendment added a request to clarify the definition of "essential employee."
"The flexible hours program is the one that pertains specifically to break periods," Lawson said. "According to Warren Madden, the intention of the policy was to allow people to be gone for those several days."
Lawson said the flexible hours program doesn't work well with the vacation leave policy, which allows departments to require P&S staff to take vacation leave "whenever, in its judgment, such action will be in the interests of the department."
Also at the council's Jan. 7 meeting, the compensation and benefits committee introduced a motion with recommended changes for the tuition reimbursement program. Currently, eligible merit and P&S employees can apply for tuition reimbursement of up to three credits per semester through the program.
Ames police officers and volunteers from the Campustown Action Association took to street corners along Lincoln Way Monday to launch a "Bike Walk Drive SMART" education campaign. The intent is to remind pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers to look out for each other and make choices that keep everyone safe.
"We hope this is a shared effort, because it is all of us. It's about respecting others who are crossing where we are," said Ames police chief Charles Cychosz, who handed out SMART cards at Welch Avenue and Lincoln Way at midday. "Conflicts can be resolved with a little respect and thoughtfulness. Anybody can make a mistake, but if we're looking out for each other, we can avoid a tragedy."
While city and university leaders have talked about safety along Lincoln Way for some time, Cychosz said the death last month of an Iowa State student brought some urgency to the discussion. A predawn hit-and-run accident at the intersection of Lincoln Way and Ash Avenue on Dec. 14 killed Iowa State freshman Emmalee Jacobs.
ISU police officers predict that, in the cases of the arguing couple, angry visitor and sobbing student, most of us wouldn't make that call because a) it's none of our business, and b) we don't want to bother police.
Campus police encourage faculty, staff and students to set aside their reluctance to call police (911 for emergencies, 294-4428 for non-emergencies). The earlier police hear about concerns, the better chance they have of keeping them from turning into real problems.
While an arguing couple may not seem like much of a problem, a timely report to police might bring a simmering domestic situation into the open. Similarly, closer looks by police may reveal that the sobbing student is suffering from undiagnosed mental illness or that the angry individual has a history of such flare-ups.
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