Inside Iowa State for faculty and staff
Feb. 2, 2023
Inside news
About 550 admirers of alumnus George Washington Carver -- joined by more than 100 online -- celebrated the state's inaugural Carver Day Wednesday evening in the Memorial Union Great Hall.

Nine projects, an initial $10.5 million investment in the new strategic plan announced last June, are the lead-in to an annual competitive process that will prioritize and fund proposals from the university community. Here's an update on those nine.

The app is free to download and has safety features to use while walking on campus or when requesting a ride. It also provides one-touch links to key units across campus.

Since 1995 at Iowa State, the program has helped prepare first-generation, low-income or underrepresented juniors and seniors for graduate study, with the goal of increasing diversity among doctoral graduates. The fall cohort is being recruited now.

For Iowa State units that periodically need to lease land or building space for their academic, research or business operations, new "how to" documents help them complete those leases. The process isn't new, just the documents.
Announcements
The following announcements were added this week:
  • Nominations due March 1 for 2023-24 leadership academy
  • Town & Gown Musicale tickets are on sale
  • ISCORE registration is open
  • Horticulture club hosts Valentine’s bouquet sale
  • Undergraduate ‘research in the capitol’ applications due Feb. 6
  • Heart health for Iowa Staters
  • Food pantry wants your egg cartons and plastic grocery bags
  • Celebrate Black History Month during February
  • Ames is an overnight stop on July RAGBRAI route
  • Feb. 13 is faculty/staff appreciation night at Hilton
  • Feb. 8 Workday readiness workshop looks at academic planning and advising
  • Register for March Research and Innovation Roundtable
  • Faculty workshops focus on pathways to success, satisfaction
Around campus
Economics professor Joshua Rosenbloom, chemistry professor Aaron Sadow and genetics, development and cell biology professor Yanhai Yin were named fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their distinguished contributions to science. 

Marketing associate professor Samantha Cross' research showed customer service perceptions don't always align with the actual service provided. Results from three studies found consumers belonging to underrepresented racial and ethnic groups often rated poorer-quality service less negatively than White consumers.  

Researchers found that ruling out suspects in a lineup gives greater accuracy, provides more information and helps police better determine a suspect's guilt or innocence than standard lineups.

A team of ISU engineers received a second round of funding from the National Science Foundation for technology transfer on its smorphacade, a building facade system that uses artificial intelligence to change its own surface roughness and porosity to mitigate the impact of wind.

Horticulture extension specialist Aaron Steil gives how-to advice on propagating house plants, including favorites such as philodendron and African violet.
Appointments
  • Debra Sellers, associate dean and director of Human Sciences extension and outreach, to associate dean for academic personnel in the College of Human Sciences, effective Feb. 1
  • Sarah Francis, food science and human nutrition associate professor and food health extension and outreach state specialist, to interim associate dean for extension in the College of Human Sciences and interim director of Human Sciences extension and outreach, effective Feb. 1
Retirements and farewells
This week
  • Retirement, Tim Ashley, office of payroll, benefits and tax, Feb. 3 (no public event)

Next week
  • Farewell, Erin Thomas, university library, Feb. 10 (no public event)

Employees, their colleagues or supervisors are invited to submit retirements and departures to inside@iastate.edu. Inside doesn't receive this information from a central source.
Arts and events
Temple Grandin, author and speaker on both autism and animal behavior, will present a lecture, "Let's Talk About Pets," Thursday, Feb. 2 (7 p.m., MU Great Hall). Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, and a 2016 inductee to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The lecture is free and open to the public.
 
Iowa State's Orchesis I dance company, a student organization, holds its annual performance this weekend in Fisher Theater. "Barjche" performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. General admission tickets are $12 (students $10).
Learning opportunities
University library programming
  • Virtual forum, Open Scholar Café, Impact of August 2022 White House Office of Science and Technology policy memo on public access to scientific research that results from federal funding, Feb. 15 (9-10 a.m., via Zoom), register to receive link

University human resources programming
  • Virtual workshop, Ready, Set, Retire!, Feb. 9 (9 a.m.-2:30 p.m.) and Feb. 10 (11 a.m.-2 p.m.), via Zoom, register by noon Feb. 8, join sessions relevant to your situation
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Inside Update is published Thursday mornings by Strategic Relations and Communications. Questions may be directed to 515-294-7065.