Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

July 5, 2002

Selected projects

Following is a brief summary of the eight projects selected for enhancement funding this year and their funding levels:

Add more functions to e-Library, the university's online library, $250,000. Funding will support at least one new faculty position in the library. Possible additions to e-Library include a cross-disciplinary index/abstract tool for research and a scholars portal page function being developed by a working group of the Association of Research Libraries and including the content of all participating ARL libraries.
Establish a joint initiative among the colleges of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and the Plant Sciences Institute to do science-based analysis of the risks and benefits associated with genetically modified agricultural products, $200,000. Funding will create at least two new faculty positions. The goal is to provide education and guidance to private entities, regulatory and policy groups, and the public to safeguard both consumers and the environment. This is the first step of a multi-year proposal.
Restructure and strengthen the College of Design to take advantage of the unique mix of programs and people within it, $200,000. Funding will support at least three new faculty positions. Components of the college's "envisioning" proposal include adding several graduate degree offerings and certificate programs; redesigning the freshman year as a "foundation" experience for all first-year students in the college; collaborating with the colleges of Agriculture and Liberal Arts and Sciences on a new Midwest Institute for Community Policy, Design and Development; partially funding a faculty position in landscape ecology (with the Experiment Station and the new department of natural resources in the College of Agriculture); expanding geographic information system course offerings, research and outreach; and adding more instruction in multi-media design and animation. This is the first step of a multi-year proposal.
Fund the NCORE/ISCORE project, $50,000. In recent years, about 15 ISU students and six to eight faculty and staff have attended the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity, the leading national forum on race and ethnicity in higher education. That group becomes the core planning group for the subsequent Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity. Funding covers costs for the ISU delegation attending the national conference.
Fund additional sections of supplemental instruction, an academic support program that uses peer-led study sessions to help students perform better academically, $30,000. The program targets difficult courses, rather than at-risk students, and is open to all students enrolled in a course. It has proven to improve student retention.
Create an Institute for the Study of Science and Society among the colleges of Liberal Arts and Sciences and Agriculture and the Plant Sciences Institute, $200,000. Funding will support at least three new faculty positions. Institute research will analyze how scientific advances potentially can improve the welfare of peoples' lives -- if the impacts, in fact, are positive. Researchers will study things such as how attitudes and ethics about science are formed, how understanding of previous discoveries and advancements affect views about the future and what's best for society, and the rate at which new technologies are accepted and adopted. This is the first step of a multi-year proposal.
Coordinate a security plan for biohazardous materials, as required by federal and state laws following Sept. 11, 2001, $100,000. This obligation is mandatory and includes review of research projects on campus involving potentially harmful biological agents.
Provide permanent funding for the multicultural learning community, $135,000. This learning community has existed since 1999 as a model for achieving goals in diversity and academic excellence. A special allocation from the President's Office funded the first three years of the project. The annual costs include faculty release time, teaching assistant and peer mentor wages, supplies, mailings and development/maintenance of a Web site.

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