Articles Tagged: Iowa State University

Recap of news from across the state

Bolstered by tens of millions in federal stimulus and COVID aid, both of Iowa’s public research universities busted external funding records in fiscal 2022 – by $49 million at the University of Iowa and $42.6 million at Iowa State University.

Responding to the criticism from Iowa’s Native American community about the land statements, colleges said they were taking more concrete steps.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When drastic increases in food costs spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic left Andrew Caplinger struggling to find fresh catfish for his restaurants, he decided to try “an experimental” solution — growing his own.

Most years, Iowa corn is far taller than “knee high by the Fourth of July,” but this year’s crop -- set back by late planting and too little rain -- fits the old adage.

Members of Iowa’s current Board of Regents have made monetary and in-kind political donations totaling nearly $339,500 since 2019 — primarily to Republicans, with the majority going either to Gov. Kim Reynolds or the Republican Party of Iowa.

Grant Hilbert, 21, of Ankeny, made enough money from YouTube videos of him playing the Farming Simulator video game to help him buy 250 acres in Mahaska County that he now has planted in corn and soybeans.

Tuition for in-state undergraduates attending one of Iowa’s three public universities will increase 4.25 percent in the fall under a rate proposal the Board of Regents will consider for a first reading next week.

Iowa State and the University of Northern Iowa have resurrected their fully in-person orientation programs this summer — including offering students the chance to spend the night in a residence hall. The University of Iowa is offering a hybrid model.

The requests from Reps. Hinson, Miller-Meeks and Axne seek funding for nearly $100 million worth of projects through what once was known as “earmarks.”

In the aftermath of the pandemic, higher education challenges remain — and in some cases are more prevalent — although COVID, with all the discomfort it brought, might have forced to the forefront one potential solution: online education.

Both University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson and Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen are getting 8.3 percent pay raises this summer — bumping up their annual base pay from $600,000 to $650,000.

Although social media has proved beneficial in many ways, Iowa’s public universities are facing a surge in mental health needs – like other campuses nationally following the COVID-19 pandemic – and they’re looking at social media as contributing to the problem.

Over the next 30 years, Iowa State University is planning to renew or replace 2.3 million square feet of buildings on its Ames campus and build 700,000 square feet of new construction, according to a facilities master plan presented to its governing Board of Regents on Wednesday.

The Iowa Legislature wants to spend $1 million next year to revise the state’s long-standing nitrogen fertilizer calculator used in seven corn-growing states. Some water quality advocates fear the update will mean more fertilizer applied to fields and more runoff into streams and lakes, but two Iowa State professors welcome the opportunity for new research into the nitrogen question.