Iowa State University Alumni Association| online edition | fall 2009

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AROUND CAMPUS

Putting the 'scholar' in scholar-athlete
Campus librarian breathes new life into historical book
Quote, unquote
Campaign impact felt across campus
Admissions recruiters set up shop on the trail
Community college partnership program leaves students ‘feeling like Cyclones'
Cyclone wrestling's Kevin Jackson era begins this fall

Putting the 'scholar' in scholar-athlete (Return to top)
ISU distance running star Lisa Koll (’08 biology), whom head coach Corey Ihmels (’97 history) described as “a great torch bearer for our school,” has added another distinguished honor to her resume: “2009 Academic All-American of the Year” for track and field/cross country from ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA. The U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s 2008 Athlete-Scholar of the Year who has thrice been named an academic All-American, Koll is currently enrolled in veterinary school after earning an undergraduate degree in biology last year. The Fort Dodge, Iowa, native is the 2008 NCAA 10,000-meter champion and was an All-American in the event in 2009 after winning the Big 12 Conference 5,000- and 10,000-meter titles.

Campus librarian breathes new life into historical book (Return to top)
The ISU Library recently came to the rescue of the State Archives by operating on a prestigious “patient” at the university’s book and paper conservation lab. ISU Library’s collections care conservator Katherine Swift Kelly performed the surgery, which took about 90 hours, on 1858 Laws of Iowa, a document the university borrowed for exhibition during its 2008 sesquicentennial. 1858 Laws of Iowa contains the original act that established the State Agricultural College, which later became Iowa State University.

When the book arrived on campus, Kelly said, it ended up being easiest to remove the pages of interest and display them without the rest of the book, but when it came time to put it back together Kelly was meticulous and reverent in her treatment of the document.

“Because of the value and unique nature of this object, I wanted to be very careful in how I approached the repair. No doubt, when the 200th anniversary rolls around in 2058, we will once again borrow this book and display it for the edification of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.”

Kelly says book conservators are people who take pleasure in the little things, like cleaning old adhesive off a book spine. “And it was an excuse to pull out and operate a little-used typesetting machine for printing labels in gold,” she said. “The icing on the cake!”

Quote, unquote (Return to top)
“Another person could come along and beat me out.”

– ISU plant germplasm curator David Brenner,
who has grown the world’s biggest parsley plant: 7 feet, 9 3/8 inches

“Producers that aren’t efficient will be hit first. Those are the operators that we will see exit the market. Not the big operators.”

– ISU livestock economist Shane Ellis, quoted in a June 22 Associated Press article about the effects of the economy and the H1N1 virus on the hog industry

“Favorite station at day camp: FREEZE POPS!!!”

– A June 10th tweet about ISU’s young basketball camp participants from head women’s coach Bill Fennelly (Follow him at www.twitter.com/ISUCoachFen)

“The shirt is something you have to earn; you can’t buy it. In my day, people would kill for a shirt.”

– Alumnus and former intramural basketball and curling champion Patrick Donovan (’84 leisure studies), quoted in a July 8 Iowa State Daily article about his company’s contract to print ISU’s coveted intramural championship T-shirts for the next three years

“I'm seeing an enthusiastic group of young people all across the country who want to get into farming.”

– ISU professor Fred Kirschenmann, fellow at the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture, quoted in the July 14 edition of USA Today about the national rise in interest in operating small organic farms

Campaign impact felt across campus (Return to top)
When Campaign Iowa State: With Pride and Purpose was officially launched Oct. 19, 2007, the focus of that celebration was on the future of Iowa State University.

President Gregory L. Geoffroy spoke for many that evening when he said, “The achievements of this campaign will transform Iowa State for many years to come. With the support of committed alumni and friends, there is no limit to the possibilities our future holds.”

For many Iowa State students, faculty, facilities and programs, the future is now, thanks to Campaign Iowa State.

Through the end of FY09 approximately 70 percent of the funds raised during Campaign Iowa State are already being put to use on campus. Campaign receipts total $474 million of the $698 million raised during the campaign.

This includes outright gifts, paid pledges from earlier in the campaign, realized bequests, gifts-in-kind and university gifts.

An additional $144 million in deferred gifts and $80 million in pledges have also been committed during the campaign.

Gift funds expended by Iowa State in FY09 alone topped over $59 million. That is up from $53 million in the previous fiscal year.

“Campaign Iowa State is succeeding because of the wonderful support of the many alumni and friends of Iowa State University,” Geoffroy said. “Thanks to them, the campaign is transforming Iowa State with support across the entire campus.”

The campaign’s impact is evident with the creation of nearly 600 additional scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students, and 60 endowed faculty positions.

New and renovated facilities including Morrill Hall, the ISU Alumni Center, and the Dr. W. Eugene and Linda Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center are already complete and are impacting campus, thanks to contributions made to Campaign Iowa State.

Admissions recruiters set up shop on the trail (Return to top)

When it comes to attracting new Iowa State students, the university’s Office of Admissions is increasingly reaching beyond Iowa’s borders through a recruitment process that has been a labor of love and legacy.

The Office of Admissions employs three full-time regional recruiters who live and work in the areas of Chicago, Ill.; Dallas, Texas; and Sioux City, Iowa, to share the Iowa State story with prospective students in those areas – areas that have lots of high school students and lots of Iowa State alumni.

Legacies (children of ISU alumni) are a natural place to start, associate admissions director Maura Flaschner (MED ’08 education) says. “For our alumni, we want to keep the Cyclone connection going strong,” she says. And there’s no better way to reconnect a family with the university than by sending a child to college there. One way of reaching out and pulling back has been the “Return to Iowa – Generations” scholarship, which provides $1,500 annually to nonresident children and grandchildren of Iowa State alumni.

Flaschner says it’s a plus that two of the regional recruiters are themselves ISU alumni.

“Iowa State is a place that’s perceived as being a very good school,” said Kelly Allen, a 1990 ISU alumna who recruits in the Chicago area. “It’s not like introducing an unknown school. [Being able to recruit for] Iowa State is a ton of fun. I’m ridiculously lucky.”

The annual Legacy Migration event, jointly sponsored by the ISU Alumni Association and ISU Office of Admissions, allows all legacies who are juniors and seniors in high school to visit campus with their parents or grandparents. This year’s Legacy Migration events are scheduled for Sept. 25 and Nov. 30 and include tours, panel discussions, academic information sessions, and a reception at the ISU Alumni Center.
But as high school graduating classes in Iowa continue to shrink in size, the regional recruitment program makes more and more sense for a university that hopes to continue to attract the best and brightest undergraduate students, regardless of any past connections to ISU.

“We’re very interested in attracting students from those areas,” Flaschner said. “Texas, for example, is just booming. The message is really simple: Look at us for your higher education.”

ISU Office of Admissions regional recruiters
• Kelli Allen (’90 family and consumer
sciences journalism), Chicago
• Tom Becker (MS ’94 education), Dallas
• Wendy Stevenson, Sioux City

Return to Iowa Generations Scholarship
www.admissions.iastate.edu/generations/

ISU Legacy Migration
www.isualum.org/legacymigration

Community college partnership program leaves students ‘feeling like Cyclones’ (Return to top)

It seems to be doing what we’re wanting it to do,” said ISU director of transfer relations Laura Doering (MS ’99 education) about the university’s admissions partnership program (APP) with Iowa’s community colleges, which now has a full year of data available for university officials to analyze. Doering said the program seems to be increasing the number of community college students who transfer to Iowa State, which enrolled the most of any school in the state even before the program was introduced.

The APP has had a positive impact on student satisfaction and retention because of its efforts to connect community college students with ISU early and make them, as Doering says, “feel like Cyclones before they ever enroll at Iowa State.”

Students from the program’s 15 participating community colleges who enroll in the APP have access to ISU’s academic advisers, student services, and library while attending community college, and Doering said two dozen APP students even lived on ISU’s campus last spring (with more expected to take advantage of the benefit this fall). As of this summer, the program had about 430 participants currently in community colleges and about 300 who have enrolled at ISU.

“We’re excited by that number,” Doering said.

Cyclone wrestling’s Kevin Jackson era begins this fall (Return to top)

Iowa State’s newest head coach has barely been able to contain his excitement about his new gig, but the winning refrain (complete with plenty of “Beat Iowa” talk) seems to be resonating with Cyclone fans.

Kevin Jackson, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist and ISU Hall-of-Fame wrestler, was named head wrestling coach April 30 following the departure of Cael Sanderson (’01 art and design). Jackson hit the trail during the spring and summer to drum up support among alumni, fans, and recruits using his enthusiastic leadership style.

“You guys know why I’m here,” Jackson said at his introductory press conference. “Our goal is to be the best. Our goals are to win every match, win every tournament, to win every dual, to beat our cross-state rivals. I can’t wait until we perform at Hilton Coliseum in that Iowa-Iowa State dual. That is going to be a great experience for everyone. You are going to see a change in our tactics, in our scoring, in our aggressiveness, and [in] the things that we are going to do to win matches.”

Jackson has hired the Cyclones’ 1996 NCAA 157-pound champion and former Bobby Douglas assistant head coach Chris Bono (’97 exercise and sport science) and former Fresno State All-American Yero Washington to serve as his assistant coaches. “Both understand exactly what it takes to be an NCAA champion and a successful international competitor,” Jackson said.