Gazette Daily News Podcast: Wednesday, May 8, 2024

- Mount Mercy, St. Ambrose considering becoming ‘one institution’

- Second autopsy of David Schultz to proceed without body

- Reynolds signs new law to bolster early reading

- Consider taking our Daily News Podcast Survey

Episode Transcript

Welcome to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast for Wednesday, May 8, 2024. This podcast provides the latest headlines from the Gazette newsroom. I’m Becky Lutgen Gardner.

First, the presidents of Mount Mercy and St. Ambrose universities met for breakfast in January 2023. There was a mutual understanding that student needs are changing, public perceptions are shifting, and higher education — especially across the small private landscape — is facing an existential threat, at least in its current form.

What emerged from that and subsequent talks was both short-term programmatic collaboration and the prospect for a more significant and long-running “strategic combination.”

The immediate agreement — approved by the institutions’ respective boards in April — lets students take a range of in-person, online, or hybrid courses from either university starting in the upcoming fall of 2024. The goal is to create more flexibility and academic pathways for traditional and non-traditional students seeking a degree without debt and opportunities without obstacles.

St. Ambrose President Amy Novak said, “When we came together, it was really a conversation to say — are there ways, given our size, that we could be more agile, more responsive to the needs of our community partners, and build out a series of opportunities that we think improve access and affordability for students going forward?”

In addition to that arrangement, the two private Catholic institutions — situated about 83 miles apart — are considering a more systemic “strategic combination” aimed at strengthening them through a unified mission moored in both tradition and innovation.

Mount Mercy President Todd Olson told The Gazette, “We're announcing our exploration of that strategic combination, which — if it moves forward — would mean that we'd eventually join together to become one institution. We're not announcing that that's a definite outcome today. But we are announcing that’s something that we're seriously exploring.”

Although not yet final, the vision of a union would be to maintain two separate campuses and two separate athletics programs — and even two separate names — while also trimming redundancies, creating more options for students, and streamlining operations.

Olson said, “We anticipate that we may get some real clarity on that by sometime in midsummer, possibly end of June, possibly in July.”

Next, A second autopsy of Wall Lake trucker David Schultz will proceed even after his funeral services this week, a spokesman for the Schultz family said.

David Schultz, 53, was found dead April 24 in a field in rural Sac County, not far from where his semi-trailer truck was found abandoned more than five months earlier.

Preliminary autopsy results from the State Medical Examiner’s Office indicated "no signs of trauma or serious injury," and authorities said they do not suspect foul play. But final results of the autopsy are expected to take several weeks.

Jake Rowley, a leader in the volunteer search for Schultz who has since become a spokesman for the family, quickly countered that the family would seek out a second opinion autopsy, and said "I don't feel comfortable with the results of the initial autopsy."

Meanwhile, Schultz's funeral is scheduled for Friday in Wall Lake. Rowley said the funeral will proceed as scheduled, and that the body will not be needed for the second autopsy. He said, Schultz's remains have been released to his widow, Sarah, and were at a funeral home.

"Originally I thought that they would need the remains to do (the second autopsy)," Rowley said; but, in his conversation with forensic pathologists, he said he learned the second autopsy would be based on the examination, measurements and findings of the first autopsy. "The remains will be buried," he said.

Rowley said a forensic pathologist has not been selected for the second autopsy, which cannot proceed until the first is complete.

Finally, the importance of young students being proficient readers — and the dangers of what happens to them when they fall behind — was emphasized by Gov. Kim Reynolds and educators at a Central Iowa school district Tuesday as the governor signed into law requirements and supports for early readers and the college students training to teach them.

Under the new law, young students falling behind on reading skills will receive extra attention. Their parents will have the option for them to repeat a grade, and Iowa college students learning to become elementary school teachers will be assessed on their ability to teach young students how to read.

Reynolds signed the legislation at the Adel-De Soto-Minburn Community School District’s administration building, then visited one of the district’s elementary schools, where she sat with first graders during an early reading exercise.

Studies repeatedly have shown the importance of young students being proficient readers by third grade and drawn correlations between positive academic and social outcomes for proficient young readers and negative outcomes for struggling readers.

Roughly 34 percent of Iowa’s third-grade students were not reading proficiently in 2023, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Reynolds said, “Reading proficiency by the third grade is a critical marker that if not met can put a child’s future at risk. Thankfully, the performance of districts like ADM shows what’s possible when teaching techniques draw on proven practices grounded in an evidence-based approach known as the science of reading, while also emphasizing tailored interventions for students that are struggling.”

Hey listener! We're considering some changes to the Gazette Daily News Podcast, but we want to hear from you before doing so. This episode's description has a link to a brief survey, or you can visit thegazette dot com slash survey. We hope you take a few minutes to share your thoughts on this show. Thank you!

Wednesday’s weather:

Will bring a chance of showers with thunderstorms possible after 4pm. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 77. Wednesday night showers are likely and possibly a thunderstorm. High around 51. Thursday will have a chance of a shower, otherwise mostly cloudy with a high near 62.

Thank you for listening to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast. I’m Becky Lutgen Gardner.

Comments: becky.gardner@thegazette.com