Inside Iowa State for faculty and staff
Feb. 25, 2021
Inside news
A mandatory syllabus similar to Iowa State's for all regent university courses, annual training for all students and employees, and a new standing board committee on free speech are among 10 recommendations the state Board of Regents approved Feb. 24.

A pilot project that launches in the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center next week could lead to used paper towels feeding campus plants instead of filling up landfill space.

A disaster recovery team from Servicemaster is cleaning soot and smoke damage throughout Ross Hall caused by a custodial closet fire Monday morning.

With no time to waste and no electronic system in place to process applications, the student financial aid team worked nights last summer to review applications and disburse $10.8 million in federal CARES Act dollars to Iowa State's neediest students.

Iowa Go-To-Market will fill a gap in the state's startup support network, working with businesses that already have been through a development program such as an accelerator and are looking to build on an established but still emerging foundation.

Starting next week, vice president and chief information officer Kristen Constant and agricultural and biosystems engineering chair Steve Mickelson will lead the implementation of Workday Student and Workday Receivables.

A trio of Iowa State leaders will participate over the next year in a nationally renowned program designed to diversify the loftiest ranks of higher education administration by preparing qualified individuals from underrepresented populations to be presidents and chancellors.
Announcements
The following announcements were added this week:
  • Applications due March 4 for undergraduate research symposium
  • Johnny's COVID-19 testing site halts Saturday hours
  • Goldfinch Room announces March 23 show
  • Applications being accepted for undergrad research mentors
  • Nominations for supplier awards due March 12
  • Sidewalks closed around Ross Hall
  • Reminder: Retirement incentive application closes March 1
Around campus
ISU researchers found certain kinds of ultraviolet light are able to stop the spread of the infectious swine disease PRRS, which cost producers around $580 million in 2016. The light also is far more cost effective than expensive air filtration systems.

Twenty-five years after learning communities began at Iowa State, they remain an integral part of the first-year student experience. For some of the nearly 93,000 students who have joined a learning community, the relationships and connections extended beyond their college years.
Appointments
Retirements
Next week
  • Allen Knapp, agronomy, Feb. 28
  • Mary Dubberke, office of admissions, March 1
  • David Frisk, Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, March 1
  • Rhonda Jay, residence department, March 1
  • Robert "Carl" McCarley, building maintenance services, facilities planning and management, March 1
  • Gary Oja, building maintenance services, facilities planning and management, March 1
  • Wanda Martin, facilities services, facilities planning and management, March 3

Upcoming
  • Mary Davis, agronomy, March 10
Seminars and conferences
Arts and events
ISU Theatre's "On the Horizon: Festival of Student-Produced Work" is a show of first-time writers, first-time designers, first-time stage managers and first-time producers. Nearly 40 students collaborated to create 10 original pieces that include a music video, puppetry, a Zoom play, a song cycle and an animated short film. The show will be livestreamed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 25-27 and 2 p.m. Feb. 28.

Maquoketa artist Rose Frantzen returns to campus March 3-6 to paint six students recognized for their resilience during the pandemic, additions to university museums' "Faces of Iowa State" portrait series. The portrait sittings will be livestreamed. Frantzen also will give a talk March 4 in conjunction with the mural she's creating for the Gerdin Business Building addition.
Learning opportunities
Provost office programming
  • Workshop, Preparing for a Successful P&T Review, for new tenure-eligible faculty, with associate provosts Dawn Bratsch-Prince and Ann Marie VanDerZanden and associate vice president for research Surya Mallapragada, March 17 (10-11:30 a.m. via Zoom), register in Learn@ISU

Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) programming
 
Center for Communication Excellence programming
Seminar series on job application materials, register online, all sessions 1-2:30 p.m.
  • Compiling Your CV/Resume, March 8 
  • Building a Professional Network, March 9 
  • Composing the Cover Letter, March 10
  • Crafting Your Teaching Philosophy Statement, March 15
  • Writing the Research Statement, March 17
  • Creating your Diversity Statement, March 22
  • Preparing for the Interview, March 24
Previous Inside coverage
About us
Inside Update is published Thursday mornings by Strategic Relations and Communications. Questions may be directed to 515-294-7065.