Inside Iowa State

Aug. 24, 2007

Students, construction highlight busy summer on campus

by Anne Krapfl

For those who were off campus for a few months (and for those who were here but wonder what happened to those months), here's a short recap of some of the happenings at Iowa State since May:

Summer students

About 9,310 students attended summer school at Iowa State - roughly 235 more than last summer - and a jubilant 836 completed degrees at the end of the summer term. U.S. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Science Raymond Orbach addressed the graduates at an Aug. 4 ceremony.

New college name

The former College of Agriculture became the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in early June, following final approval by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa.

Opening next spring . . .

The Hub Café closed for an awaited renovation Aug. 4. A remodeled Hub Grill and Café is scheduled to reopen during spring semester and will feature grilled items, a made-to-order deli, soups and packaged salads and sandwiches. Negotiations to bring Starbucks Coffee to the Hub were unsuccessful, but work on a contract with another national coffee brand is ongoing.

The food court in the Memorial Union reopened in early August after a three-month remodel. New venues Cys and Fries and World Bistro join returning favorites Sunset Strips, Fresh Burrito Works, Subway and Panda Express.

Good job, recyclers

In June, the university participated in a free computer recycling program offered by the Apple Corp. to K-12 schools and universities. With ISU Environmental Health and Safety, Central Stores and ISU Surplus providing the lion's share of the footwork, campus units turned in enough stuff to fill 60 pallets (nearly 64,000 pounds worth). The loot included 1,059 monitors, 365 printers, 1,384 keyboards, 501 mice and 34 scanners.

Happy Birthday, ISU

Iowa State's Sesquicentennial celebration continued over the summer, with special events organized by ISU Extension teams in dozens of counties and a 150th theme for the university's presence at the Iowa State Fair Aug. 9-19. The official 150th birthday of Iowa State is March 22, 2008.

New budget year

Board of Regents members approved Iowa State's FY08 budget in August. Iowa State received about $33.7 million in new, recurring dollars to distribute. A 1 percent internal reallocation brings the total to $37.5 million. This compares to just $8.2 million in new recurring state appropriations or tuition a year ago. Faculty and staff salaries were a top priority for the new funds, including:

• $6.1 million for annual faculty salary and benefit increases
• $5.3 million for targeted faculty salary increases to boost ISU's competitiveness in the higher education marketplace
• $4.7 million and $2.5 million for compensation increases for P&S and Merit staff, respectively
• $780,000 to create seven targeted faculty positions, three in the broad area of biorenewables, the other four in high-demand disciplines in the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Business and Engineering

Progress at the MU

Work on a $21 million renovation continues at the Memorial Union. The entrance in the new south addition opened last month. The large meeting rooms that closed for remodeling late in the spring will reopen at various times this semester.

Work at the University Book Store is in phase II: remodel the former arts, supplies and textbook areas and create a new northeast entrance. This should wrap up in December. Phase I is complete, save for some lighting issues in the new retail area. In the final, third phase, the west end of the store will be remodeled, including a new main entrance to the store.

A separate project, a new access and pay system for the MU parking ramp, went into service in mid-June.

Should campus officers carry guns?

President Gregory Geoffroy will accept comments until Sept. 15 on a recommendation that police officers at the state's three regent universities carry firearms as standard equipment. The recommendation came in late July from the vice presidents and directors of public safety at Iowa State, the University of Iowa (UI) and the University of Northern Iowa (UNI). Geoffroy, UNI president Ben Allen and UI president Sally Mason will pass their separate decisions on to the Board of Regents, which will submit its recommendation to Gov. Chet Culver and state lawmakers by Oct. 15. Send comments to president@iastate.edu.

Iowa State's campus remained busy over the summer months. Here's a look back at the highlights.