Annualreport2015 final revised2

A Life With Learning

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Table of Contents Chet Rzonca Dean

Anne Zalenski Associate Dean Marlys Boote Assistant Dean & Director of Summer Session Maureen McCormick Strategic Communications Director

Distance Education.....................................................................................2 Instructional Development..............................................................3 Bachelor of Applied Studies and

Bachelor of Liberal Studies.......................................................4 Scholarship Opportunities...............................................................5 Marketing.................................................................................................6 Registration.............................................................................................6 Exam Services/Data and Application Team............................7 Distance and Online Data...............................................................7 Partnerships..................................................................................................12 Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center (NWIRRC)....12 Southwest Iowa Regents Resource Center (SWIRRC).....12 Community Colleges.......................................................................13 Regents Alternative Pathway to Iowa Licensure...............13 John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center (JMPEC).........14 Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regents Resource Center.....15

Dawn Freerks Registrar Services Manager

Summer and Winter Sessions..............................................................16 Center for Conferences..........................................................................17 Iowa Summer Writing Festival............................................................18

Melanie Ostmo Graphic Designer

Iowa Young Writers’ Studio.................................................................19 Labor Center................................................................................................20

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Message from the Dean A life with learning means continuing to strive, excel, and create. In 2014-2015, thousands of students and adult learners at the University of Iowa took that first step toward creating the life they want. All types of students— traditional college-age undergraduates, working adults, practicing and potential writers, and lifelong learners—come to the Division of Continuing Education to study and learn in an environment that provides both depth and breadth.

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In Distance and Online Education, students from across Iowa and around the globe log online to attend distance and online degree programs. Designed for working adults balancing professional growth and busy lives, these programs combine leading edge technology and support with nationally recognized faculty to provide the best educational experience possible. In addition, a growing number of on campus students take online courses for their quality and accessibility.

The Division of Continuing Education works with the academic colleges to plan, develop, deliver, and evaluate a range of courses, certificates, and degrees to Iowans and students beyond the borders of our state.

Likewise, at the Young Iowa Writers’ Studio, promising high school creative writers come together to build a thriving literary community and receive instruction from some of the best young writers and teachers in the country—students and graduates of the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

The Labor Center provides a wide range of noncredit learning opportunities to Iowa workers and union leaders from 50 different Iowa counties. One special event to note in Fall 2014, a Workers Speak Out event helped low-wage workers find their voices in confronting workplace health and safety hazards, wage and payment violations, and discrimination.

Our participation in the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regents Resource Center provides learning and research opportunities on West Lake Okoboji. The University’s John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center provides formal and informal learning activities to the greater Des Moines area. Similar learning opportunities are provided by the Regents Resource Centers at Council Bluffs and Sioux City.

Lastly, the Center for Conferences, partnered with statewide initiatives such as the Iowa Women’s Leadership Conference expanding their reach across the state.

The center provides needed project management to large and small scale events, workshops, conferences, and symposia and has collaborated with the Office of Sustainability and others to increase event greening—the interest in making events as environmentally sustainable as possible.

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During Summer Session 2014, the first students were eligible for the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant, which funds one summer of up to 12 semester hours at no cost for Iowa residents, or 12 credit hours at in-state tuition rates for nonIowa residents.

Roughly 300 students decided to take advantage of the scholarship in 2014.

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I am proud of the Division of Continuing Education’s role in helping others create a life with learning. I invite you to review the Division of Continuing Education’s Annual Report and other stories of learning highlighted here.

My appreciation to all who work to make these opportunities a reality.

The Iowa Summer Writing Festival provides quality education to literary artists at all levels of literary practice. The festival brings together a community of adult learners with a desire to write and shares with the literary community at large the rich resources of the University and Iowa City, a UNESCO City of Literature in the Creative Cities Network.

Dean and Associate Provost Chet Rzonca 1

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Distance and Online Education The Office of Distance and Online Education is committed to meeting the academic needs of nontraditional, place bound, and distant students through innovative delivery approaches. We combine leading edge technology and support with nationally recognized faculty to provide the best educational experience possible.

Our centralized services create efficiencies, avoid duplication of effort, and provide a clear pathway for distance education students seeking information and services.

We provide opportunities and support for degree and nondegree course work. Registration and student services, coordination and course planning, instructional design and development, BLS and BAS advising, scholarship In 2014-2015, Distance and Online Education provided support for the following distance or online degree programs: opportunities, exam services, data and applications, and marketing Undergraduate are all areas within the •Bachelor of Applied Studies Of the 31,387 students enrolled • Bachelor of Liberal Studies Office of Distance and at the University in the fall of 2014, • Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing Online Education.

2,343 were distance education students completion program • Bachelor of Arts with a major in Social Work (Des Moines) • Bachelor in Business Administration with a major in Entrepreneurial Management • Bachelor of Science in Radiation Technology

Graduate

who could not attend a campus program.

Of the remaining 29,044 campus students, 4,582 or 15.8 percent took a combination of campus and online courses. While enrollments vary from term to term, the fall term is most representative and corresponds to enrollment reports provided by the Office of the Registrar.

• Master of Arts in Educational Leadership (with or without Licensure for Principal) • Master of Arts in Strategic Communication • Master of Science in Nursing • Master of Social Work (Des Moines, Sioux City, Quad Cities) • Educational Specialist (with or without Licensure for Superintendent) • Master of Business Administration (Des Moines) administered by Tippie College of Business

Certificate • Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management • Certificate in Nonprofit Management • Certificate in Public Health • Certificate in Online Teaching • Certificate in Leadership Studies 2 AnnualReport2015.indd 4

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Instructional Development (iDev) Distance and Online Education partners with the academic colleges to create new online courses, many of which will become part of an academic degree program now or in the future. Faculty designing an online course are provided with a team, including an instructional designer, a course coordinator, and a media specialist.

The instructional designer meets with the faculty member to discuss course goals, learning objectives, and pedagogical strategies for engaging students in an online environment. This provides an opportunity for faculty to look at their courses innovatively, and many times, faculty will choose to make similar changes to their on campus courses.

The course coordinator works with the faculty member to ensure the course is fully prepared for distance education delivery by the start of the semester. This may include providing support and identifying resources for media, technology, training if needed, and exam coordination. The coordinator provides the needed link between the designer, media specialist, and instructor. Together, the team allows instructors to focus on the learning experience.

Media specialists advise, facilitate, and support faculty on the creation and use of media assets. Media support is provided to prepare and train faculty on the use of technology and continues in the management of the virtual classroom environment.

Prerecorded content for classroom use may also be developed.

During 2014-15, Instructional Development provided development services for 514 courses. Approximately 77 of those courses were new or completely revised.

Additionally, iDev staff members provided an average of 87 hours of recorded content support each week per semester. A breakdown on services provided by semester follows.

Fall 2014 •New semester based courses: 33 • All semester based courses (including new): 75 • Guided independent study courses: 113 • Approximate hours of content recorded live per week: 94

Spring 2015 •New semester based courses: 25 • All semester based courses (including new): 72 • Guided independent study courses: 105 • Approximate hours of content recorded live per week: 93

Summer 2015 •New semester based courses: 19 • All semester based courses (including new): 78 • Guided independent study courses: 71 • Approximate hours of content recorded live per week: 76

“ The instructional designer’s expertise was instrumental in creating the new distance education class, Introduction to Health Care Professions. Logistically, this class was impressive in scope, with the inclusion of lectures from over 30 professionals in five colleges across the University of Iowa campus. We were also on a tight production schedule, and the designer I worked with was willing to work long hours to see this course to fruition. She excels at considering the student’s vantage point in the learning process. In sum, working with Distance and Online Education was a truly collaborative process. Because of this, the end result was remarkably better than it would have been.”

Natalie Denburg, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience AnnualReport2015.indd 5

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Bachelor of Applies Studies (BAS) and Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) The Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) and the Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) are two online undergraduate degree programs directly administered by the division, with the degrees being granted by University College. The BAS and BLS are degree completion programs geared towards community college graduates and students who have previous college course work to transfer.

One highlight of this past year has been the implementation of an improved process for outreach to prospective students and an expanded communication plan for new and current students. Both of these initiatives seek to provide superior service, assistance, and guidance to students pursuing online degree programs.

Prospective students hear about our online program in many ways: college fairs, marketing advertisements, website searches, referrals from campus and community college colleagues, and word of mouth from friends, to name a few. Our prospect process aims to ensure that all students, regardless of how they first approach our department, receive the same high quality information and support. We understand that our students lead very busy lives and the decision to return to further their education can be overwhelming. We recognize they may need to receive information multiple times and in various formats before they feel prepared

to make the best decision for their future. Our prospect process has a coordinated pathway for sending vital program information by both email and mail, a framework for checking in with students at timed intervals to assist with questions, as well as a reminder system set to disperse information at key dates in relation to application deadlines and university course cycles. Our hands on approach to assisting prospective students strives to convey a sense of the support system they will encounter as they proceed through our online programs.

Once prospective students have formally applied for admission and matriculated, our communication plan ensures that they are aware of vital program requirements and university policies at relevant times throughout each semester. Although most of our students do not set foot on the Iowa City campus, we want them to feel that they receive the same high quality advising service that is available on campus. We track students as they progress through their online degree program and alert them to information and opportunities to help them succeed and accomplish their goals.

We realize that many BAS and BLS students are balancing career, family, and education, and the purpose of our communication plan is to keep them informed, provide support, and give reminders to keep them on track to degree completion.

distance a wa nd Io

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BLS Student

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“I’m currently taking two courses, and my instructors are amazing to work with. I’ve had some crazy work schedules recently during fiscal year end, and both instructors were so helpful.

They were also understanding with the fact I haven’t been in school for many, many years. It doesn’t matter how old a person is. If you want an education, attempt to achieve that goal.”

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10 Years of the BAS The Bachelor of Applied Studies degree is now celebrating its 10 year anniversary!

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Scholarship Opportunities In 2014-15, scholarships were given to 25 students totaling $21,500. The Division administers the BAS and BLS Iowa Community College Transfer Scholarship, the Division of Continuing Education Scholarship programs, and the Robert F. Ray Staff Scholarship.

The BAS and BLS Iowa Community College Transfer Scholarship program provides fifteen, $1,000 scholarships each academic year to Iowa community college graduates admitted to the BAS or BLS degree programs.

This year, the DCE Data and Applications Development team created an online BLS/BAS student planning and scholarship application tool which has expedited the advisor authorization process.

The Division of Continuing Education Scholarship program offers a limited number of scholarships to be applied toward tuition for distance education courses. To be eligible to receive this award students must be admitted to the BAS or BLS degree program. Priority is given to Iowa residents who are making satisfactory progress toward their degrees. In addition to degree objective, financial need, and academic achievement are taken into account in awarding scholarships.

The Robert F. Ray Staff Scholarship supports one University of Iowa staff member who will be beginning or continuing their undergraduate studies at the University. The 2014 Robert F Ray Scholarship was awarded to Joshua Jacobs, an administrator for technology at the Belin-Blank Honors Center.

The Robert F. Ray Staff Scholarship supports one University of Iowa staff member who will be beginning or continuing their undergraduate studies at the University.

The 2014 Robert F. Ray Scholarship was awarded to Joshua Jacobs, an administrator for technology at the Belin-Blank Honors Center seen here with Dottie Ray.

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Marketing

Registration Services

The strategic communications director meets with new instructors to determine the target audience for new courses being developed. A variety of strategies may be utilized to market new courses and marketing plans are put into place for new degree and certificate programs.

Dedicated staff are available to assist students with enrollment and registration changes for distance and online courses. They inform students and faculty regarding university academic policies, procedures, and requirements specifically related to distance courses. For students new to the university, they provide guidance on the admissions application process, and then provide orientation to students in the use of the MAUI Student Record System for registration, student records and billing. Our staff explain the use of ICON, the university’s course management system, and refer students to appropriate offices or individuals to address specific academic, procedural, and billing concerns.

At the end of 2014-15, Distance and Online Education contracted with the Press Citizen Media consulting group (PC Media) to provide strategic placement of ads on social media sites (Facebook) and search engines(Google, Yahoo, and Bing). During the first quarter, there were 231,704 impressions made on search engines with 1583 clicks (0.68% CTR) to the Distance and Online Education website. In terms of social media advertising, there were 1,183,210 impressions and 5220 clicks (0.44% CTR) to the website. These advertisements focus on the Bachelor of Liberal Studies and the Bachelor of Applied Studies degree programs, as well as the RN-BSN program.

The Department of Journalism and Mass Communication is also working with DCE Marketing and PC Media in a similar manner to increase enrollment. However the figures above reflect only statistics for the BLS, BAS, and RN-BSN marketing. We continue to refine and optimize the end-user experience to ensure the information is easily accessible.

Working with central Strategic Communications and Admissions, Distance and Online Education developed a new brochure targeted at working adults. A marketing campaign was developed with two primary goals: 1) reaching out to former University of Iowa students who left without a degree, an 2) inviting University of Iowa staff members without a a baccalaureate degree to consider the degree completion programs.

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Exam Services

Data and Applications

DCE Exam Services administered a total of 19,387 proctored student exams in academic year 2014, which is an increase of 2.93% from the previous year. We are not only administering more exams—we are transitioning courses to online exams to make the exam process seamless and efficient for instructors and students.

The Data Management and Applications Development team is responsible for acquisition, development, implementation, maintenance, and support for various data management frameworks and software applications used by the division.

Major systems supported include: • Athena (Online course, enrollment, exam, and reports management system) • BLS/BAS advisory student planning and scholarship application web system • Division credit card online payment system • Lakeside Lab centralized event, housing and facility management, and reservation online system; • SOLAAR (Online conferences, Registration, and CEU management system) • Student email communication system

The DCE Data and Applications team worked with Exam Services to implement an entirely online automated process for exam service staff to print exam packets for off campus students taking paper-based exams. The packets are personalized with essential student data and unique barcodes. This new application has led to increased efficiency and accuracy when mailing paper exams to off campus proctors.

These teams also worked together during the 2014-15 academic year to make online exam self-scheduling available to local students in all distance education courses.

Allowing students to self-schedule exams during exam periods approved by course instructors, rather than assigning one exam date/time for an entire class, allows for fewer exceptions and more efficient use of our limited testing facilities.

Additionally the data and management group collaborate on the following: • Integration of division institutional data with UI central enterprise data system and collaboration with ITS, HR, and the Registrar’s Office • Management of division data for financial services, the Center of Conferences, lakeside lab, and writing programs

“Transitioning my four courses from paper exams to online ICON exams has eliminated time inefficiencies related to searching for and validating proctors and mailing paper exams and reduced requests for exams outside of the scheduled exam period to almost zero. It has also lightened my grading load considerably, which is a tremendous help especially around final grades’ submission time.

Additionally, ICON allows instructors to create a database of questions and provide each student with a randomized exam so that no student sees the exact same test during the same or across subsequent semesters. I am extremely satisfied that I have transitioned to online exams and I hope that I don’t ever have to go back to the paper method of administering the tests.”

Alexandra Nica Economics Department Tippie College of Business 7 AnnualReport2015.indd 9

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Distance and Online Education Data Five Year Distance Enrollment and Percent of Increase 35000

25000 20000

19913

21171

23691

27097

30000 25000

15000 10000 5000 0

35000

29936

Enrollment

Enrollment

30000

2010

Five Year Distance Enrollment

by Delivery Mode

20000 15000

6.32%

11.90%

14.38%

10.48%

10000

2011

2012

2013

2014

5000

Academic Year

0

In the five year period from 2010 through 2014, distance enrollment increased 50% from 19,913 to 29,936. This growth can be attributed to an increase in courses offered, more on campus students taking courses as well as development of several new distance degree programs during this period.

10343

6886

7894

7609

7330

6950

5418

5947

2010

2011

12665

15765

Web On‐Site Hybrid GIS

7254

6837

944

1051

6398

6234

6283

2012

2013

2014

Academic Year

Distance and Online Education supports three modes of delivering courses: web, on-site and guided independent study (GIS). In 2013 the division started tracking hybrid courses that utilize both on-site and web components. While enrollment in GIS and on-site courses have remained relatively consistent over a five year period, enrollment in web courses have increased 128% from 6886 in 2010 to 15765 in 2015. The decrease in exclusively on-site courses reflects the move to more web and hybrid modes of delivery. Technology drives much of the change in course delivery and will continue to do so.

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Five Year Distance Enrollment

by Course Administrative College 50000 45000 40000 35000

Enrollment

30000 25000 20000

2014 2013

15000

2012 2011

10000

2010

5000 0

Medicine

Nursing

Public Health

866

2081

455

University College 627

17

Liberal Arts & Sciences 9779

89

0

8875

657

2191

426

277

26

58

0

8489

616

2240

467

245

28

40

0

7819

631

1973

492

199

34

126

0

6669

601

2201

514

184

Business

Education

Engineering

2014

11732

4083

162

Graduate College 134

2013

11276

3244

62

2012

9128

2422

2011

8233

1756

2010

8107

1477

Law

Course Administrative College

This graph illustrates the number of enrollments per academic year by college.

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2014 Graduate & Professional Programs with Highest Distance Enrollment (Top 10)

2014 Undergraduate Programs with Highest Distance Enrollments (Top 20) Pre‐Business Psychology Bachelor of Applied Studies CIMBA Program‐‐Undergraduate Communication Studies Nursing‐RN Health and Human Physiology Interdepartmental Studies Bachelor of Liberal Studies Economics Continuing Education Distance Business Direct Admission Finance Human Physiology Leisure Studies Business Standard Admission Political Science Management English Social Work

2107

MBA for Professionals and Managers

1329 1101 969

Social Work

1004

Pre MBA Professionals and Managers

905 841 617 595 576 572 523 519 436 411 334 334

737

MBA International Executive Program

415

Continuing Education Distance

397

CIMBA Program‐‐MBA

363

Educational Policy and Leadership Studies

245

MBA Executive Program

240

MPH Program 157 0

333 328 250

1044

Nursing

930 924

0

2726

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

Enrollment 500

750

1000

1250

1500

1750

2000

2250

Enrollment

Data suggests that distance and online course work appeals to students in a wide variety of both distance and on campus undergraduate programs.

Three of the top five undergraduate programs with the highest enrollment are from students admitted to on campus majors in pre-Business, Psychology, and Communication Studies. The Bachelor of Applied Studies is an online degree program, and CIMBA is a study abroad program in Italy.

Enrollment in distance and online course work at the graduate level is predominately from students admitted to online and distance degree programs.

The Master in Business Administration, Master in Social Work, and the Master of Science in Nursing are all distance and online programs and account for the top five highest enrolled graduate and professional programs.

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2014 Distance Credit Hour by Program Level & Campus Status

10000

100000

9000

90000

8000

80000

7000

70000

6000

Headcount

Enrollment

2014 Distance Enrollments

By Program Level & Campus Status

5000 4000 1005

3000

5577

7071

30000

138

2000

20000

1000 0

10000

2966

1680

2281

2629

47

166

2429

3028

UG

GR/PRO

UG

GR/PRO

UG

GR/PRO

UG

GR/PRO

Summer

Fall

Winter

Distance Only

0

Spring

6000

Headcount

5000

4000

3000 782 2000 308 4274

1000 2067

1141

979

UG

GR/PRO

UG

Summer

Fall Distance Only

407 5397

1364

1068

GR/PRO

UG

1433

47

GR/PRO

UG

Spring Distance/On‐Campus

62502

942

165 GR/PRO Winter

3494

78915

4794

8976

4664

6779

7756

6924

8786

132

498

UG

GR/PRO

UG

GR/PRO

UG

GR/PRO

UG

GR/PRO

Fall Distance Only

Distance/On‐Campus

7000

118

5722

Summer

2014 Distance Headcount by Program Level & Campus Status

0

50000 40000

526

393

60000

Spring

Winter

Distance/On‐Campus

These tables examine enrollment for each semester of the 2014 academic year by undergraduate (UG) and graduate and professional (GR/PRO) programs. At the undergraduate level, a large number of students also take on campus course work.

At the graduate level, fewer students combine distance with on campus courses.

Summer session boasts the highest number of students who take exclusively distance education course work, demonstrating the demand from on campus students for online summer courses.

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Off Campus Partners Distance and Online Education collaborates with a number of off campus partners to extend the reach of the University of Iowa and provide external and online course offerings and degree programs throughout the State of Iowa.

Community College Partnerships Each of the 15 community colleges in the State of Iowa have signed agreements with the University of Iowa which allow place bound students from across the state to earn a degree while remaining at home. These partnerships have the advantage of offering students the value of a community college education combined with the opportunity to complete a bachelor degree from a highly ranked research institution.

Further, these agreements have the potential to keep community college graduates in their chosen area of Iowa, strengthening the community and creating further opportunities for business development.

Like the resource centers, one advantage of partnering with the community colleges is joint hiring of faculty. At Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC), a sociology instructor teaches courses at DMACC, as well as online courses through the University of Iowa. These courses meet distribution requirements as part of the online Bachelor of Liberal Arts (BLS) and Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) degree programs. Both the BLS and BAS are transfer completion degrees that allow seamless transition from community college to the University of Iowa.

Regents Resource Centers The Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center (NWIRRC) is located in Sioux City and Southwest Iowa Regents Resource Center (SWIRRC) is located in Council Bluffs.

The primary goal of these two educational consortiums is to increase access to high quality program opportunities online and on campus to undergraduate and graduate students in western Iowa.

The two directors at NWIRRC and SWIRRC work with both the community colleges in their region, as well as the three public universities, acting as a hub for programs and offerings. The Division of Continuing Education provides leadership, administrative, and marketing support to these centers.

One innovative approach to shared resources initiated by both resource centers is the University of Iowa’s small business information technology (IT) consulting services which was expanded to both Sioux City and Council Bluffs in January 2015. The IT centers were created to help small Iowa companies innovate and grow, using practical insights and ideas drawn from faculty, staff, and students to solve technology challenges.

Additionally, a shared business instructor has been hired at both NWIRRC and SWIRRC to teach both UI courses and courses through the community college.

NWIRRC Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center nwirrc.org

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Regents Alternative Pathway to Iowa Licensure The Regents Alternative Pathway to Iowa Licensure (RAPIL) program is a cohesive, integrated set of courses and experiences provided collaboratively by the three regents’ education programs to provide a nontraditional teacher preparation program for professionals wishing to enter the teaching field from other careers.

Participants in the RAPIL program move through the program in a cohort in approximately twenty-two months. All course work is threaded and integrated with core requirements and Iowa teaching standards. These are introduced in the first course at the observation level, moved to the application level in the second course, and refined through the remaining courses and internship.

The RAPIL program capitalizes on the strengths, talents, and passions of the candidates in the program. Every candidate is required to demonstrate competence in the program requirements, while being able to have the course activities adjusted to meet the unique attributes of the candidate.

The 15 community college partners include: • Des Moines Area Community College • Eastern Iowa Community College District • Iowa Valley Community College (including Ellsworth and Marshalltown community colleges) • Hawkeye Community College • Indian Hills Community College • Iowa Central Community College • Iowa Lakes Community College

• Iowa Western Community College • Kirkwood Community College • North Iowa Area Community College • Northeast Iowa Community College • Northwest Iowa Community College • Southeastern Community College • Southwestern Community College • Western Iowa Tech Community College 13

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John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center The University of Iowa John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center (JMPEC) is located in the heart of downtown Des Moines and serves the needs of several university academic programs and community groups.

The Tippie College of Business offers a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) at the center, and starting in the fall of 2015 it will offer its Certificate in Business Analytics.

The School of Social Work offers both its Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (BASW) and Master of Social Work (MSW). The College of Public Health plans to begin offering its Executive Masters in Health Administration EMHA) in the fall of 2016.

When not in use by university units, the JMPEC is available to outside groups. This past year more than a dozen companies and organizations held meetings and events at the center including Nationwide, Wellmark, Principal, Meredith, REMAX, the Girl Scouts of America, Strategic America, and Pioneer.

The number of employees at the JMPEC increased this past year with the addition of Tom Rice and Marissa Simplot. Tom is a senior administrator with the Office of the Provost and the Division of Continuing Education, and he is heading up several new initiatives in greater Des Moines. Marissa is a field representative with the Office of Admissions and oversees student recruitment in central and western Iowa.

Many other university units also use the JMPEC for various activities. An exciting new addition to the facility is the Lunch and Learn series sponsored by the Office of the Provost. Started in the fall of 2014, this series brings a noted UI faculty member to the JMPEC every month to give a noontime lecture that is open to the public.

Presenters have ranged from President Sally Mason highlighting the university’s history of service and engagement to music professor Donna Parsons discussing the evolution of the Beatles and their music. Other lectures covered topics as diverse as Voyager 1’s incredible journey through space, the teenage brain and driving, and the artistic tale of UI’s famous Mural by Jackson Pollack. In 2014-15, 448 participants attended these lectures.

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Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regents Resource Center Lakeside Laboratory (ILLRRC) was the vision of former university President Thomas MacBride. A five acre site on the shores of West Lake Okoboji acquired by the Alumni Association in 1909 has grown to 147 acres and was renamed the Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regents Resource Center in 2006. Today, 106 years since its founding, Lakeside Laboratory offers classes and research opportunities to college students, public programs, exploratory experiences to local public school students, summer day camps, and serves as a research site for faculty.

In addition to science field courses, Lakeside’s expanded role includes courses in writing, art, education, and business. The highly successful Okoboji Entrepreneurial Institute is shared by all three regents universities, Buena Vista University and Iowa Lakes Community College and brings together 32 highly motivated students for a week long entrepreneurial experience each year.

New to Lakeside Lab this year are research projects of international significance: the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) buoy and prairie nutrient

network. GLEON conducts innovative science by sharing and interpreting high resolution sensor data to understand, predict and communicate the role and response of lakes in a changing global environment. For more information see http://gleon.org/about/gleon-in-the-news.

Lori Biederman from Iowa State University established research nodes for the nutrient network (nutnet.org) and drought-net (wp.natsci.colostate.edu/droughtnet) at the laboratory. These global research networks are answering important ecological questions by applying the same methods at sites dominated by herbaceous plants all over the world. The nutrient network examines the effect of nutrient enrichment (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) and co-limitation on grassland plant diversity and productivity.

ILLRRC has completed arrangements for a donation to renovate the limnology laboratory. Renovations will provide accessibility, a modern classroom, and outdoor learning space.

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Summer and Winter Sessions The University of Iowa conducts summer sessions of four, six, eight, and 12 weeks.

Classes also are offered outside these normal summer session terms. In addition, a short winter session is offered during the weeks between the fall and spring semesters.

Students may take undergraduate and graduate course work during the summer and winter sessions. Classes during these sessions are taught mainly by University of Iowa faculty members, so students receive the same first-rate instruction provided during the spring and fall semesters. Courses are offered in a variety of formats both on and off campus. They are open to University of Iowa students and to persons not formally admitted to a degree program. The University Summer Session also provides opportunities for pre-college programs through the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Journalism, and Music. Division of Performing Arts activities such as the opera, summer repertory theatre, and various touring ensembles are supported through summer for growth of students and outreach to the community and the State of Iowa.

opportunity, resulting in slight increases in enrollments and overall semester credit hours (SCH) for summer 2014.

In the last five years, Summer Session has seen a steady number of students (just over 11,000), enrollments (approximately 16,000) and semester credit hours (SCH) generated (approximately 42,000), with a gradual increase of activity in distance courses and decrease in on campus courses. Student preference for online courses over on campus offerings is a national trend, which is likely to become more pronounced in years to come.

Summer 2014 highlights: Schedule Change. The full academic session was extended from 11 to 12 weeks, with the 3-week May term becoming 4 weeks long, and replacing one (late-occurring) 6-week session with two 6-week terms—an early 6-I session and a later 6-II session.

Four Week Session May 19-June 13

Eight Week Session June 16-August 8

Six Week-I May 19-June 13

Six Week-II June 30-August 8

Twelve Week Session May 19-August 8

Summer Hawk Tuition Grant, funded by the Provost to increase student success and time to degree completion. Students admitted for the fall 2013 semester were eligible for the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant, which funds one summer of up to 12 credit hours at no cost for Iowa residents, or 12 credit hours at in-state tuition rates for nonIowa residents. While most students taking summer classes choose to do so following their second or third year, roughly 300 (of 4500 eligible) students decided to take advantage of the scholarship in 2014, at their first 16 AnnualReport2015.indd 18

In the last five years, Summer Session has seen a steady number of students (just over 11,000), enrollments (approximately 16,000) and SCH generated (approximately 42,000), with a gradual increase of activity in distance courses and decrease in on campus courses. Student preference for online courses over on campus offerings is a national trend, which is likely to become more pronounced in years to come.

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The University of Iowa Center for Conferences (UICC) The University of Iowa Center for Conferences (UICC) provides project management for large and small scale events such as conferences, workshops and symposia. From the inception to development and through the completion of the event, the UICC provides planning and coordination of all conference aspects including date and site selection, budget development, speaker arrangements, catering, transportation, acquiring necessary permits and permissions, and contract negotiations.

From summer semester 2014 through the completion of spring semester 2015, the staff of UICC coordinated 70 events, working with 30 unique departments. These events had a total number of participants greater than 10,000.

The UICC was involved in new collaborations with the Office of Sustainability, the Fundraising and Philanthropy Communication Certificate program, and the Iowa Department of Transportation throughout the year. It was a year that also brought new programming opportunities with current partners like the addition of a Siouxland Conference for Iowa Women Lead Change (IWLC). Many clients with whom the UICC have worked with in years past returned for assistance with new conferences and many long-standing collaborations continued as well.

Recent conference trends include a significantly increased number of events throughout the State of Iowa including Sioux City, Des Moines, Dubuque, and Decorah. Green eventing, the interest in making events as environmentally sustainable as possible, is a national trend the UICC has seen increase significantly here in Iowa.

As a self-funded department, the UICC relies upon satisfied clients and their referrals for the revenue necessary to continue operations. The ability to continue to contract the volume of conferences necessary to sustain the UICC budget is one simple measure of success. Repeat conferences, new conferences from referrals, and faculty and staff engaging the department for new ventures are also sure signs of the department’s effectiveness and relevance.

The UICC also serves as the approved provider of general continuing education units (CEUs) for the University of Iowa and is responsible for maintaining the CEU database, which stores all credits awarded to individuals. In addition to the conferences, the UICC also provided 83 CEU-only programs general CEU credit resulting in continuing education awarded to over 600 participants.

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Iowa Summer Writing Festival The Iowa Summer Writing Festival provides quality education to literary artists at all levels of literary practice; brings together in a community of adult learners with a desire to write; and shares with the literary community at large the rich resources of the university and Iowa City, a UNESCO City of Literature in the Creative Cities Network.

Now in its 29th year, the festival is a short-term noncredit writing program for adults and is far and away the largest program of its kind in the nation. In 2014, the festival brought 1,114 writers to campus to participate in 102 all new workshops. The program welcomed participants from 45 states and eight countries. In addition to week-long and weekend workshops, the festival offered courses in two new formats: intensive two-week workshops in novel and poetry for writers at work on book-length projects, and a special round robin multi-genre generative week.

The festival explored the genres in their reaches and offered workshops in novel, short story, flash fiction, fabulist fiction, gothic fiction, historical fiction, prose poetry, playwriting, long poems, documentary poetics, essay, memoir, family history, humor, writing from the body, writing about art, food writing, review writing, hybrid forms, unwriting, and more.

In 2014, the festival brought 1,114 writers to campus to participate in 102 all new workshops.

The program welcomed participants from 45 states and eight countries.

“[The class] was absolutely and unequivocally fantastic… The workshop gave me far more than I expected—the other participants gave me the encouragement I needed to finish the first draft as quickly as possible and [the instructor] gave me the enthusiasm and, more importantly, the tools to begin redrafting it. [Her] careful and engaging presentation of novel structure, character development, and story arcs was exactly what I needed to figure it out.”

“I loved being a student again, focusing on learning and re-experiencing campus life—lectures, seminars, readings, the shops and restaurants around the campus, new friendships; what a privilege to participate in the festival. I’ve made my pilgrimage to the writer’s mecca!

Sydney Avey

Groveland, CA

Ursula Werner

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Washington, DC

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Iowa Young Writers’ Studio (IWYS) The Iowa Young Writers’ Studio (IYWS), a summer, residential creative writing program for high school students at the University of Iowa, welcomes applications from high school age writers anywhere in the world. Applicants must be enrolled in school and must submit a writing sample in English. There are no geographical restrictions or requirements.

Every year the studio accepts students from about 25 American states and several foreign countries and is committed to attracting and funding applicants from Iowa and minority applicants from low-income and underserved communities.

The Iowa Young Writers’ Studio was formed to give promising high school creative writers the opportunity to spend two weeks living at the University of Iowa, a thriving literary community, and receive instruction from some of the best young writers and teachers in the country—students and graduates of the renowned Iowa Writers’ Workshop. The studio believes the process and study of creative writing to be essential not only to students who want to pursue writing as a career, but to any student hoping to function effectively in a writing-centric world. Studio students share their writing with teachers and peers, receive constructive critique, participate in writing exercises and activities, and attend readings and literary events.

The studio’s core purpose, bringing adolescent writers together to share work and develop their craft, contributes to the larger goal of enfolding these students, many of whom do not have access to creative writing resources, into the larger community of writers, on which they can draw for information, expertise, and support. Young writers should be encouraged, validated, and liberated to explore all kinds of genres and approaches. Students are encouraged to express themselves without censorship and to be

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“ During my two weeks in Iowa, I was overwhelmed by something I didn’t even realize was missing from my life: sincerity. It blew me away how sincerely everyone was fascinated by literature and art and whatever else they chose, and didn’t try to mask it in layers of fakery.” “ My friends at the studio have already learned the most important lesson for our generation.

Going forward: the best way to murder irony is empathy, and the best way to nurture empathy is writing.”

Milo Davidson

Left his glasses at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, Session 2, 2014. He’s a rising senior at Hunter College High School in New York City.

Summer 2014, 133 students from over 25 American states and several foreign countries attended the Iowa Young Writers‘ Studio. Since the program begin in the summer of 2000, 1,641 students have become alumni of the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio.

generous, respectful critics. The studio strives for variety and breadth in course offerings, both in subject matter and in content, and does not favor any type of writing over any other with a focus on fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.

The year, 2014-15 was a vibrant and productive one for the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio. Highlights include: • achieving a high rate of ethnic diversity at the studio— currently about 34% of our students are minorities, •partnering with two new organizations, Evanston Scholars in Illinois and The National Society for Arts and Letters in South Carolina, who will fund students at the Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, •receiving a record-breaking $15,000 from the UI Chief Diversity Office to support our minority and low-income students this summer.

One future trend in creative writing pedagogy is hybrid genres—that is to say, not strictly categorizing work as fiction, poetry, or nonfiction. The Iowa Young Writers’ Studio is trying to incorporate this less rigid view of genre into courses and events by hiring teachers and inviting readers/speakers who write in hybrid or multiple genres.

At the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference in April, IYWS staff attended several panels with other high school writing program directors and high school teachers who were trying to bring more diverse creative writing courses into school curriculum. We learned more about the state of creative writing pedagogy in U.S. high schools, which helped us figure out what students were getting and not getting in the way of instruction. This will strengthen the studio experience by tailoring our offerings to round out students’ knowledge and experience.

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Labor Center Since 1951, the Labor Center has provided a wide range of noncredit learning opportunities to Iowa workers and union leaders. This year over 2000 people attended Labor Center classes including residents of over 650 different Iowa counties.

More than 70 off campus classes reached workers in their home communities, and over 300 participants spent one to five days at 11 different intensive noncredit courses on campus. This included the 64th Annual Labor Short Course, which drew 30 new leaders to campus in April for a week of intensive work on communication, leadership, and representation skills, along with classes on labor history, economics, and labor policy issues.

Off campus programming included programs co-sponsored by central labor councils in communities including Burlington, Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Iowa City, Keokuk, the Quad Cities, and Waterloo. These community-based classes brought new and experienced leaders from multiple industries and unions together to learn about subjects such as collective bargaining, workplace legal rights, labor history, and many others.

struggles, and personal experiences. ILHOP is a joint project of the Labor Center, Division of Continuing Education, the Iowa Federation of Labor, and the State Historical Society of Iowa, and since the 1970s has become widely recognized as one of the most important state labor history collections in the country.

Iowa Labor History Oral Project Highlights from 2015 • Labor Center oral historian John McKerley recorded over 50 new oral history interviews, with an emphasis on covering dramatic changes in Iowa workplaces in recent decades and expanding the collection’s attention to voices of women and workers of color.

• The Labor Center was awarded a Library of Congress Archie Green fellowship to support collection of oral history interviews with immigrant workers in Iowa’s meatpacking industry. This project began in summer, 2015.

• Work has begun to pursue possibilities for making ILHOP audio recordings and documents from the State Historical Society’s vast labor collections available in digital formats to provide all Iowans with access to these rich stories of work, struggle, and historical change.

The Labor Center also continues to coordinate the statewide Iowa Labor History Oral Project (ILHOP), which preserves Iowa workers’ stories about important events,

2479 total attendees, including residents of over 60 different Iowa counties

71 off campus classes reached workers in their home communities

308 participants spent one to five days at 11 different intensive noncredit courses on campus

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The Labor Center offered a host of special events during the year.

• Injustice on our Plates: How Conditions of Food Workers Affect Us All A one-day conference in February that brought together dozens of scholars, workers, employers, students, and community members to learn about conditions facing workers throughout today’s globalized food production system.

• Workers Speak Out A forum coordinated last fall that allowed the public to hear directly from local low-wage workers about experiences confronting workplace health and safety hazards, wage payment violations, and discrimination, along with a panel of academics, policy-makers, public agency representatives, and faith and labor leaders who shared their perspectives on worker testimonials.

• Voice Lessons Premiered in May, this play sparked rich audience discussion about the growing epidemic of wage theft (the underpayment or nonpayment of legally owed wages). Working with Labor Center staff over the past year, UI MFA playwright Janet Schlapkohl and leaders of the Center for Worker Justice used participatory research to develop the short play based on stories and survey data collected from Iowa low-wage and immigrant workers who had experienced wage theft and sought ways to recover unpaid wages.

The project builds on ongoing Labor Center research (stretching back to the 2012 report Wage Theft in Iowa, which has been widely cited in Iowa media), while using live performance to connect new audiences with human stories that lie behind published statistics and media accounts. The project is part of a UI Center for Human Rights (UICHR) Working Group initiative to foster partnerships between human rights advocates and performance artists.

• Workers’ Memorial Day observance This annual public event, co-sponsored with the Iowa City Federation of Labor, seeks to remember and honor Iowans who have lost their lives on the job in the previous year, and draw attention to the importance of struggles to improve workplace health and safety.

Other campus community events included documentary film screenings, free education workshops on issues like health care and basic workplace rights.

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Division of Continuing Education The University of Iowa 250 Continuing Education Facility 30 S. Dubuque Street Iowa City, IA 52242

250 Continuing Education Facility • 30 S. Dubuque Street • Iowa City, IA 319-335-2575 • www.uiowa.edu/dce/ • distance.uiowa.edu • dce@uiowa.edu

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