Inside Update

Jan. 10, 2013
Announcements and news for ISU faculty and staff

New equal opportunity director on the job Feb. 4
Robinette Kelley will become the new director of equal opportunity on Feb. 4. She comes to Iowa State from The State University of New York, Buffalo.

New year updates from human resource services
Learn how increased payroll taxes and a new long-term care insurance provider will impact Iowa State employees in 2013.

Feed the meter with a smart card
Within six months, virtually all parking meters on campus will let you pay with a Smart Card or the traditional quarters, dimes and nickels. Parking staff began installing new meter heads in popular lots around campus this week.

Council to vote on modified representation areas
Proposed revisions to representation areas were introduced at the Jan. 3 Professional and Scientific Council meeting. The number of council representatives will remain the same, but their organizational areas will shrink from six to four.

Troxel Hall headed for late spring completion
Iowa State will add a much needed 400-seat auditorium to its classroom inventory next fall when Troxel Hall becomes available. Construction at the east campus site is on schedule to wrap up by late April.

Construction group buys into recycling
The construction staff in ISU's building maintenance services takes pride in recycling demolition and construction materials from their projects. During 2012, they recycled more than 40,000 pounds of concrete and plaster and more than 162,000 pounds of scrap metal.

More news: Inside Iowa State

The following announcements were added this week:
-- Spring semester begins Jan. 14
-- Live Healthy Iowa challenge begins Jan. 28; register now
-- Nominate outstanding alumni for awards
-- New scholarship available for nontraditional undergraduates
-- EAP provider offers personal development classes
-- University faculty and staff award nominations due Feb. 20
-- WSJ chart ranks ISU administrative expenses on lean side
-- Expect truck traffic on south half of Bissell Road

See: Announcements

CELT programs
Register via AccessPlus (click on Employee > HRS Training > Courses).
-- Blackboard (Bb) Learn: Communicating with Students, Jan. 11 (9-10:30 a.m., 1230 Communications)
-- Blackboard Users Group, Jan. 11 (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 1230 Communications)
-- BbLearn: Monitoring Student Learning in Blackboard Learn, Jan. 16 (10-10:50 a.m., 1230 Communications)
-- CELT Spring Semester Teaching Assistant Seminar, Jan. 18 (10-11:50 a.m., 2030 Morrill)

See: Descriptions and times

-- Mark Petri, Argonne National Laboratory (Illinois) and Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill., to director of the Iowa Energy Center, effective Feb. 25

Graduate College seeks faculty ambassadors
The Graduate College is seeking help from ISU faculty for a new program intended to bolster underrepresented graduate student recruiting. The college invites faculty to apply to be ambassadors to selected regional liberal arts colleges, regional universities and national minority-serving universities. Ambassadors will have a small annual budget to help coordinate contacts between ISU and the partner colleges. The deadline to apply is Feb. 15. More information, including a list of targeted partner colleges and an application, is online.

Ames Lab is hub for new research effort
The U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory is the home of a federal energy innovation hub that will develop solutions to U.S. shortages of rare earth metals and other materials necessary for the country's energy security. Funding is up to $120 million over five years.

Next week
Two ISU faculty members have been named finalists in CELT's search for its first associate director for online learning. The university community is invited to these open forums scheduled for them:
-- Ralph Napolitano, materials science and engineering, Jan. 15 (11-11:40 a.m., 2030 Morrill)
-- Annette O'Connor, veterinary diagnostic and production animal medicine, Jan. 17 (11-11:40 a.m., 2030 Morrill)

This week
-- Retirement: Gene Schaefer, IT Services, Jan. 11 (2-4 p.m., 206 Durham, program at 3 p.m.), rescheduled from Dec. 20

Upcoming
-- Retirement: Phil Spike, ISU animal science, Jan. 22 (9:30-11 a.m., Kildee atrium, program at 10 a.m.)

Details about these events are on the university calendar.

Gymnastics squad hosts faculty/staff night Jan. 11
It's both Youth Night and Faculty/Staff Night at Hilton Friday, Jan. 11, when the Cyclone gymnastics team plays host to Kent State. Tickets for these groups are $1 (faculty and staff should bring their ISU ID cards). The meet begins at 6:30 p.m. and doors open at 5:30 p.m.; come early for special youth activities on the Hilton concourse.

Opera auditions on Jan. 12 are open to the public
The Metropolitan Opera's National Council will hold its Iowa District auditions on campus Saturday, Jan. 12 (noon-5 p.m., Tye Hall, Music). Iowa is one of 40 districts in the council's network. This is the first in a three-tiered competition that could lead to a Grand Finals concert in New York City with the Met orchestra. The public is invited for all or part of the afternoon; admission is free.

Lunch with Coach Fennelly is Jan. 14
Cyclone women's basketball head coach Bill Fennelly will hold his next "Coach Talk" luncheon with fans on Monday, Jan. 14 (noon-1 p.m., MU Gallery). Feel free to bring your lunch and your questions about the 2012-13 team; all are welcome.

Jan. 16 carillon concert kicks off MLK events
The ISU community remembers Martin Luther King Jr. during several January events.

Foreign ambassadors, climatologist, cake baker are part of spring lectures
Lectures program guests this spring will address subjects as complex as global warming and as seemingly simple as cake. The lineup includes a variety of American guests, with a few foreign ambassadors in the mix, too.