Annualreport2016 final

A Year of Transitions

One Story at a Time

Annual Report 2016

Editorial Staff

Table of Contents

Chet Rzonca, Associate Professor & former Dean of DCE Lon Moeller, Associate Provost Anne Zalenski, Associate Dean Marlys Boote, Assistant Dean & Director of Summer Sessions Maureen McCormick, Marketing & Communications Director Dawn Freerks, Registrar Services Manager Melanie Ostmo, Graphic Designer

Message from the Dean’s Office..................................3 Distance Education.......................................................4 Instructional Development.....................................5 Distance Education Advising.................................7 Scholarships ...........................................................9 Marketing and Outreach.......................................10 Exam Services.......................................................12 Data and Application Team...................................12 Distance and Online Data.....................................14 Partnerships................................................................17 Northwest Iowa Regents . Resource Center (NWIRRC)..............................17 Southwest Iowa Regents

Resource Center (SWIRRC)..............................17 Des Moines Programs...........................................18 Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regents Resource Center.....................................19 Summer and Winter Sessions....................................23 Center for Conferences..............................................24 Iowa Summer Writing Festival...................................25 Labor Center................................................................26

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Message from the Dean The academic year 2015-16 has been one of transitions for Distance and Online Education. Starting with the retirement of long-time Dean Chet Rzonca and at the beginning stages of Division’s merger with University College, one concept remains constant—the relationships we hold with the individuals we serve. Our service to students, our collaborations with faculty and staff both within the university and with our partner groups across the State of Iowa define who we are. We will keep this guiding principle in mind as we shape our future. Here are some of the hallmarks for the last year.

In response to recommendations from the review committee, we are focusing on additional marketing of the BAS/BLS programs, and finding new ways to support the academic success of our BAS/BLS students.

• Exam Services Growth. Distance and Online Education is taking the lead in providing more on-campus testing services growing 43.4% over the previous year. A new testing facility in a separate location on campus is in the planning stages.

• Expansion in Des Moines. New this year is the Iowa Center for Higher Education, the former AIB College of Business in Des Moines that was formally gifted to the University of Iowa by AIB on June 30, 2016. The university is working with the Board of Regents, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa to develop the campus. Current online degree programs will offer on campus courses at the center.

• Organizational review. In response to a university-wide effort to streamline processes and create greater efficiencies, Distance and Online Education is in the process of reviewing organizational structure within University College. One outcome thus far is the Labor Center and Iowa Young Writers’ Studio are now located in the College of Law and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. This move strengthens their respective positions within the University and allows for greater resource-sharing.

My thanks to all who work to make these programs possible. I invite you to review our annual report, recognizing as we do, each student has a story to tell—one we are proud to be a part of.

Lon Moeller

Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Dean of the University College

University College is currently undergoing an institutional review.

After the review is completed in fall 2016, there may be additional changes related to redefined roles and opportunities for growth.

• Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) and Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) Review. The BAS-BLS review was conducted during spring semester 2016. The review committee identified a number of program strengths including: talented staff, mission alignment, program flexibility, faculty interaction, cost effectiveness, specialized curriculum offerings, developed external partnerships and program administration.

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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.

In 2015-16, Distance and Online Education provided support for the following distance or online degree programs: Elvis with Distance Education students

Undergraduate

• Bachelor of Applied Studies • Bachelor of Liberal Studies • Bachelor of Business Administration • Bachelor of Arts in Social Work (Des Moines) • Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing • Radiation Therapy to Bachelor of Science in Radiation Sciences • Bachelor of Science in Sport and Recreation Management • Bachelor of Arts in Enterprise Leadership • Bachelor of Arts in Political Science

Graduate

• Master of Arts in Educational Leadership • Educational Specialist in Educational Leadership • Master of Arts in Educational Measurement • Master of Arts in Strategic Communication • Master of Science in Business Analytics (Cedar Rapids, Des Moines) • Master of Science in Nursing • Master of Social Work (Des Moines, Sioux City, and the Quad Cities)

Certificate

• Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management • Certificate in Nonprofit Management • Certificate in Public Health • Certificate in Online Teaching • Certificate in Leadership Studies

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Certificates and Endorsements Undergraduate

• Certificate in Entrepreneurial Management • Certificate for Interscholastic Athletics/Activities Director • Certificate in Leadership Studies • Certificate in Nonprofit Management • Certificate in Public Health • Certificate in Writing

Graduate

• Certificate in Business Analytics (Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, Quad Cities) • Certificate in Online Teaching • Certificate in Public Health • Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Endorsements

• Licensure and Endorsement Programs in Educational Leadership

Instructional Development (iDev) Distance and Online Education partners with the UI academic colleges to create new and revised online courses, many of which will become part of an academic degree program now or in the future. Faculty designing an online course are assigned a team including a lead instructional designer, a course coordinator and media specialists. One of the many courses the iDev team worked on this year was Medical and Technical Terminology, taught by Corey Hackworth, visiting assistant professor in the department of Classics.

Picture of Corey Hackworth

Corey Hackworth

This course draws students from many disciplines including pre-medicine, biology, psychology, athletic training and radiation sciences, to name a few.

Mark Hamilton

Nina Prozzo

Use of pop culture images make the learning fun while reinforcing key concepts and is especially effective in delivering content. According to Hamilton, “The bigger the visual dissonance between what the student expects and what they actually see—the better the learning.”

Using Media to Teach the Classics

Hackworth was faced with updating the course using a new textbook and sought the help of the iDev team. Mark Hamilton, DCE media specialist, Nina Prozzo, lead instructional designer, and Hackworth collaborated on ways to leverage visual technology to reinforce learning—they wanted to make the online experience both more functional and more fun. They worked as a team—starting with a script, but relying on a back and forth discussion to ensure that the words and images worked well together, not just for clarity’s sake, but with the goal of aiding retention.

Medical and Technical Terminology offers a systematic approach to learning medical and technical vocabulary by focusing on the Latin and Greek elements in English words. Knowledge of Greek and Latin elements can help students determine the meaning of a scientific word by breaking down its structure in terms of prefix, stem or stems, and suffix. An example of this structure would be the suffix “pathy” which comes from the Greek root pathos which means feeling, suffering, but in medical terms indicates a type of disease. By visually inserting different prefixes (tele, sym and em) on the screen, students see how the words telepathy, sympathy and empathy are formed--words that the student is already familiar with, but likely did not yet appreciate on an etymological level. Hamilton makes use of visual imagery when switching out each prefix or suffix with each root stem to reinforce the learning.

“Millennials are very visual,” says Hackworth. “One strategy we use is helping the student realize what they already know.” With that in mind, Hamilton looked for images that would create a web of references that were familiar to students. Many references are from modern culture and include the musical group Lady Antebellum; television shows and movies including The Simpsons, Big Bang Theory, Star Trek and X-men; and the games, Operation and Legos.

Course content is presented in a number of ways to appeal to a variety of student learning styles. Some information is relayed during short videos (2.5-7 minutes each). The decision to include several very short clips per chapter, rather than a longer lecture was deliberate. “Brief, concise, high-content clips are more watchable, not unlike media students are accustomed to consuming on the web, says Hamilton.

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Instructional Development (iDev) continued “Given this, editing was done to condense the video in a meaningful way.” These short videos provide the most critical information that is reinforced with other learning activities on Canvas and on the parallel textbook site.

Medical and Technical Terminology is just one of approximately 117 new or completely revised courses that the iDev team partnered with faculty to develop in 2015-16. In all, the iDev team provided development services for 238 courses in this same period and provided an average of 100 hours of recorded content support each week per semester. Data is provided by semester to the right.

Fall 2015

• New semester-based courses: 50 • All semester-based courses (including new): 399 • Guided independent study courses: 78 • Approximate hours of content recorded live per week: 100

Spring 2016

• New semester-based courses: 48 • All semester-based courses (including new): 367

• Guided independent study courses: 61 • Approximate hours of content recorded live per week: 100

Summer 2016

• New semester-based courses: 19 • All semester-based courses (including new): 253 • Guided independent study courses: 41

Dev

Instructional Courses are edited in Adobe Premiere Pro by the DCE iDev staff.

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Distance Education Advising 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 toward community college graduates and students who have previous college course work to transfer.

advance of registration. The form prompts students to answer questions regarding their progression toward meeting degree requirements and allows them to enter potential course selections for their advisor to review. Once a student submits the RPT, their advisor receives a copy and can provide timely feedback ensuring the student is ready to register at their assigned time.

Innovations in Registration Planning and Advising for Distance Students

One of the key features of the RPT is the synchronization with the course catalog available on the university website; the student selects a course and must specify what degree requirement (e.g., general education, track, or elective) the course is going to satisfy. This reinforces the specifics of their degree program and helps to teach students to understand their degree audit. This also indicates to the advisor which areas of the degree may not be clear to the student, allowing for more focus to occur.

One highlight of this past year has been the expansion and refinement of the registration planning tool (RPT) which is an interactive web form designed to help students understand degree audits and guide course selection. As BAS and BLS students prepare for course registration each semester, one frequent question that advisors hear from their students is “What courses should I take?�

Advisors understand their role is to ensure their students are registering in courses that meet degree requirements. However, due to the primarily adult and nontraditional population of our students and the multidisciplinary nature of our programs, our advising philosophy seeks to educate students on degree components so they can more actively participate in the course selection process. Students are most successful when they find value and enrichment in the courses they are enrolled in.

Because the majority of registration appointments for online students occur through phone, email or Skype, advisors strive to use this time in the most efficient manner possible. The RPT serves as a pretest and information gathering tool for both the student and the advisor in

The RPT was initially only available to continuing students, but the advising team felt that providing it to newly-admitted students would benefit them as well—allowing them to start the program with as much knowledge about their degree requirements and registration as possible. This individualization helps the student learn to master the language of registering for classes and progressing to graduation.

With this knowledge, students are able to take more ownership of their education and select appropriate courses that align with their strengths

Distance Education Advising Staff

Dawn Freerks

Angela Ward 7

Tara Lamb

Nancy Romine

Jennifer Timmons

Distance Education Advising continued

Distance and Online Education

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and interests. With less time spent on picking out classes for students, advisors are able to be more effective at helping students utilize university resources, providing support for at-risk students and improving IN HEALTHCARE services for online students.

pment. Additional oup setting using ink students in a g. Brandau is part care professionals ne group of up to onth.

anscription is ng ongoing Brandau has n Certified ation Specialist ciation for ation Integrity hing the urned into xt before the he recording. cess making sense the focus is now ing errors within

education utilizing technology-based tools allows her to quickly troubleshoot problems in the virtual classroom.

She can analyze the possibilities and quickly find a solution.

Preparing for the Future

The BLS and BAS degrees prepare working adults to further develop in their chosen career field or to transition into a new one. Ellen Brandau, (BLS graduate 2012) is just one example of how completing an online degree extends the reach of the university and allows all Iowans access distance.uiowa.edu. to“The a quality education.

Here is Ellen’s story.

BLS program allowed me to The University of Iowa offers a number of transfer degree programs online.

These completion degree programs are designed for working adults just like Ellen Brandau, balancing professional growth and busy lives.

For more information about online degree and certificate programs, visit

take courses that fit my interests and my developing career.”

d to complete a online degree had her home re if it would sell r to start college. tions, she chose l Arts from the d completed he received her ree from NIACC

, “The BLS o take courses nd my developing ontinue working ree. The majority reading and rse work further cal skills, and s has helped the r.”

ver been in the n that Mayo es in, her online

The Healthcare Documentation Specialist program at Mayo Clinic is unique. In the last year, they have been able to recruit nationwide because most of the training provided for documentation specialists is online and at a distance. New hires from across the country come to a one week orientation on campus in Rochester, Minnesota; then return home to set up their teleworking equipment. Additional training occurs in a group setting using virtual technology to link students in a real-time group setting. Brandau is part of a team of 14 healthcare professionals who typically train one group of up to nine students each month.

Ellen Brandau

The field of medical transcription is changing rapidly making ongoing education essential. Brandau has earned the designation Certified Healthcare Documentation Specialist (CHDS) from The Association for Healthcare Documentation Integrity (AHDI). Today everything the physician dictates is turned into speech-recognized text before the transcriptionist gets the recording. Brandau calls the process making sense of word salad because the focus is now on correcting and finding errors within the dictated text. While Brandau has never been in the exact learning position that Mayo trainees find themselves in, her online education utilizing technology-based tools allows her to quickly trouble shoot problems in the virtual classroom. She can analyze the possibilities and quickly find a solution.

Ellen Brandau--Ahead of the Curve in Healthcare

When Ellen Brandau decided to complete her Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) from the University of Iowa, she had no idea how much an online learning experience would prepare her for her next career opportunity. But that’s just what happened.

Brandau, both a NIACC and University of Iowa alumnus, has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2002. Brandau started as a medical transcriptionist in 2002, began teleworking from home in 2006, and was promoted to education/quality assurance specialist in 2015. In her current position, she supports the health documentation specialists and providers by reviewing their work to ensure quality, promote professional development and provide training.

When Brandau decided to complete a bachelor’s degree, an online degree was a necessity. She had her home for sale and wasn’t sure if it would sell quickly enough for her to start college. After reviewing her options, she chose the Bachelor of Liberal Arts from the University of Iowa and completed her degree in 2012.

“I review documents every month to provide feedback and ongoing education to the healthcare documentation specialists in our department,” says Brandau. “This includes keeping our specialists up to date through orientation, training and maintenance of curriculum and reference guides.”

Working in a team-centered environment provides for informal learning and information sharing. “This is the best team I have ever been a part of and is completely collaborative,” Brandau explains. “We all have our own way of handling things and we each have unique strengths.”

According to Brandau, “The BLS program allowed me to take courses that fit my interests and my developing career. I was able to continue working while I earned my degree. The majority of my classes were in reading and writing. All of the course work further developed my analytical skills. Developing those skills has helped the trajectory of my career.”

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Distance Education Scholarships The Division of Continuing Education (DCE) administers the Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS), Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS), the Iowa Community College Transfer Scholarship, the DCE Scholarship and the Robert F. Ray Staff Scholarship. Twenty-five students were awarded scholarships, totaling $26,250 in 2015-16.

Jennifer Montgomery awarded Robert F. Ray Staff Scholarship 2016

Jennifer Montgomery, a student in the Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) degree program, was awarded the Robert F. Ray Staff Scholarship for 2016.

Montgomery, who has worked at the University of Iowa for the past 15 years, is currently an executive assistant to the associate vice president of enrollment management.

Ray family’s legacy lives on

The Robert F. Ray scholarship fund was established in honor of the late Robert F. Ray, former dean of the Division of Continuing Education. The award provides support to University of Iowa staff members who wish to continue their undergraduate education and complete their degree.

For many years Ray’s wife Dottie hosted a luncheon for the current award winner. Sadly, in August of this year, Dottie Ray passed away.

Ray was a longtime KXIC radio host whose career spanned 55 years.

A native of Eagle Grove, she attended the University of Iowa where she was editor-in-chief of the Daily Iowan student newspaper.

Many UI employees have benefitted from the Ray family’s generosity over the years, and the Division of Continuing Education thanks them for their educational support. Their legacy will live on in the students they have helped.

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Marketing and Outreach Distance and Online Education participated in a number of outreach events this year across the State of Iowa. From RAGBRAI in August 2015, to the first ever Academic Day in October, and rounding out the academic year with the Iowa State Fair in August 2016, Distance and Online Education is letting Iowans know it’s possible to complete a degree online or at a distance.

Here is the academic year in photos.

Academic Day

Distance Education, along with the Colleges of Law, Education and Nursing was a part of the first ever Academic Day for Homecoming 2015 at Kinnick Stadium. Academic day celebrated the academic mission of the University of Iowa and provided an opportunity for us to connect to our alumni and students. Our distance students represented us in the homecoming parade and we promoted our programs at Kinnick. Best of all, Iowa beat Illinois on Homecoming.

RAGBRAI

Approximately 10,000 riders came through Coralville on July 24, 2015 as a part of RAGBRAI festivities. Distance and Online Education was one of many departments across campus that were there to greet them and explain our program offerings.

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Marketing and Outreach continued Hawkeye Caucus

On April 5, 2016 hundreds of Hawkeyes took over the rotunda of the State Capitol Building in Des Moines, and Distance Education staff members talked to prospective students, legislators and Capitol staff about the importance of providing online educational opportunities to all Iowans, no matter where they live.

Iowa State Fair

“It doesn’t matter if we win a prize, we just want to see if we can answer the college test question correctly.” This is what we heard from the Iowa State fairgoers as they waited in line to play our game, Spin to Win. Working with our instructional designers, the game showcases actual test questions from online courses. Answer the question correctly; you win a prize. After running out of the 1500 keychain flashlights we brought to the fair, it was clear Iowans love to learn.

Mason City’s Women’s Expo

The Women’s Expo in Mason City features programs, activities and opportunities for woman.

Don Kamps, NIACC coordinator represented Distance Education at this community event.

Approximately 300 woman attended this year.

Other Events in 2016

Some other events in 2015-16 include employee fairs at Olympic Steel and John Deer Works in the Quad Cities and Picnic in the Park, Des Moines.

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Exam Services Exam Services administered a total of 27,801 proctored student exams in academic year 2015, which is an increase of 43.4% over the previous year. In addition to administering more exams, Exam Services continues to transition courses to online exams to make the exam process more seamless and efficient for instructors and students.

Effective Fall 2016, DCE Exam Services will administer exams for a significant portion of students requiring student disability services (SDS) accommodations. Most testing requiring reduced distraction will be delivered in rooms 205 and 209 of the Continuing Education Facility (CEF). During heavy exam times, additional reduced-distraction testing will occur at the Communication Center (CC), which is being equipped to accommodate computer-based testing for students enrolled in oncampus courses.

Data and Applications Development New Exam Scheduling System improves options for Student Disability Service (SDS) accommodations

exam through the secure application programming interface (API). This new system significantly reduces the burden of exam accommodations for instructors, helps the exam services staff and instructors easily follow what’s going on with the student requests and improves the efficiency in the communication process among exam service staff, instructors and students. An increase in SDS exams scheduled through this system is anticipated in the future.

One significant accomplishment for the data development team this year is the new exam scheduling system. The system provides options for extended testing time and reduced distraction requirement, making SDS exam scheduling and information sharing much more convenient for the exam service team and instructors. In the past, instructors contacted the SDS office to schedule exams via emails or provided exam accommodations themselves. Now, this process can be done in a single, easy-to-access online request form.

Multiple Testing Room Management System streamlines process

Due to the rapid growth of on-campus exam needs, the DCE testing center has expanded from two rooms to six rooms, located in two different buildings. Testing room management was improved by interfacing with the online SDS exam scheduler. Through the enhanced management system, the staff has more flexibility to manage each

The online scheduler integrates with the DCE testing room management system so instructors can easily assign an available exam time, and both the instructor and the student get email confirmation of the scheduled exam date and location. The instructor can also e-file the 12

Data and Application Development continued individual room by blocking availability for a defined time range, setting specific open and closed hours and adjusting the total available seats to process.

Through this new system, the staff can share their time efforts and tasks during the course development process accurately and manage the budget wisely. The built-in e-communication feature also helps the course development team share the course information and ICON updates with the instructors efficiently.

Distance Learning Course Tracking System aids course management

The Distance Education course development team needed a way to easily enter the number of hours spent on development of a particular online course in the system. The course tracking system allows course administrators to assign different development responsibilities (instructor designer, course coordinator and media support) to prospective team members, track the course development progress and get the summary of course development data to share with other university units.

Distance Education takes on centralized role for Credit Card Online Payment System

When the Iowa Memorial Union discontinued their online payment services, many existing users contacted Distance Education to seek immediate support for online registration and credit card payment service for their coming conferences and events. Distance Education collaborated with the UI Treasurer’s Office to provide online registration and credit card payment programming support for a number of university departments and organizations

“I wanted to reach out because we are beginning discussions for our second case competition in April, and I was hoping we would be able to work with you again on a registration page. The process last year went very well and the page worked fantastic for us, so I was hoping we could duplicate it again for this year.�

Within a very short period of time, the development team made several quick improvements by adding customized form-builder features to the centralized online payment system. Since February 2016, approximately 900 transactions have been processed in the new system. The development team has received consistently positive reviews from other university departments including Tippie College of Business, College of Medicine and Rural Policy Research Institute.

Michael Geneser

Associate Director, MBA Student Services Worked with the DCE Data and Applications team for a program needing registration

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Distance and Online Data

In the five year period from 2011 through 2015, distance enrollment increased from 21,171 to 33,472. 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.

Distance and Online Education supports three modes of delivering courses: web, on-site and guided independent study (GIS). GIS course work will be phased out by Summer 2017. Current GIS courses are being transitioned to web courses which is reflected in the table above. There is evidence that students are more likely to complete web courses with a slightly higher GPA if they enroll in one-term instructor-paced web courses.

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Distance and Online continued

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

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Partnerships Southwest Iowa Regents Resource Center (SWIRRC)

The Southwest Iowa Regents Resource Center hosted a Regent universities spotlight night on October 28, 2015 at Iowa Western Community College. The event followed a transfer fair, making many types of information available to students throughout the day.

Representatives from various on campus departments from the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa attended.

NWIRRC Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center nwirrc.org

Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center (NWIRRC)

The Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center hosted a rivalry week outreach program September 9 through 16, 2015, attracting representatives from all three Regents universities at Western Iowa Tech Community College. Students had the opportunity to explore a number of programs from each institution.

SWIRRC also participated in Iowa Western’s RN to BSN fair on November 18, 2015. The fair included students enrolled in CNA, LPN, and ADN courses in Council Bluffs, Clarinda and Harlan, as well as interested students from area high schools. The event resulted in increased enrollment of Southwest Iowa Community College students in the University of Iowa’s nursing programs. The RN to BSN fair will be repeated in 2016.

Throughout Fall 2015 NWIRRC assisted in the promotion and finalization of the second year of the Iowa Initiative for Sustainable Communities program in northwest Iowa. University of Iowa students built on the success of the previous year by assisting in concepts for more greenspace in downtown Sioux City, facilitating the development of a comprehensive plan for the town of Salix. Over 150 University of Iowa students worked on 34 other projects.

This year, for the first time we participated in the Council Bluffs career fair to promote distance learning opportunities at the three Regents universities. This event was sponsored by the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce and featured a veteran’s-only hour devoted to serving veterans. The event was well attended and SWIRRC staff members plan to participate next year

Starting in March 2016, NWIRRC was involved in planning the first InternConnect conference in Sioux City. Partnering with government, business and the region’s young professional organization, NWIRRC brought subject matter expertise in planning this collaboration to bring Siouxland area businesses together with institutions of higher learning.

Representatives from all three state universities attended this first event.

Plans include hosting this conference again next year.

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Partnerships continued Des Moines Programs—John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center and Iowa Center for Higher Education

Certificate of Business Analytics “The program is ideally located downtown at the Pappajohn Center which makes it easy to walk to after work. I’ve had to travel for work while taking classes and all the professors have been great about the need for flexibility.”

The University of Iowa will be providing more opportunities to students and community members in central Iowa resulting in much planning during academic year 2015-16.

Pappajohn Education Center offerings continue to grow

The Hawkeye Lunch & Learn lecture series continues to provide outreach to greater Des Moines. In 2015-16, there were eight new program offerings with 413 individuals in attendance. UI faculty, staff and alumni presented on topics such as Hancher: Building the Future/ Serving the State, and Food and Community, a discussion focused on the role that meals play in bringing people together and instilling a sense of belonging and unity.

Teresa Volcheck

Certificate in Business Analytics, 2016, MS Business Analytics, expected 2018 Principal Financial Group, Des Moines, IA

Additionally, graduate degree programs will continue to run out of the John and Mary Pappajohn Education Center (JMPEC) providing enhanced access to Des Moines’ downtown workforce.

come from all types of industry and are asking important questions that the field of data analytics can answer.”

Answers to what types of questions? In public health the question may be, “How can we keep our population healthier?” For business marketing, “What are the optimal choices for upselling to the customer?”

In education, “How can we best improve student performance within budget constraints?”

Where data meets decision making

One of the new programs offered in Des Moines is the Certificate of Business Analytics. Offered by the Tippie College of Business, the graduate program offers five key courses on a 10 or 12 week cycle, one night a week, no Fridays or weekends. This accelerated process provides working adults the format they need, and can be completed in a year allowing students to apply their knowledge on the job right away.

In the financial industry, developing the capacity to deal with data, predictive analytics and data visualization is a growing need. Teresa Volcheck, an IT audit manager at Principal Financial Group in Des Moines, has already completed the UI Certificate in Business Analytics and is now working on her MS degree in the same field on location in Des Moines. According to Volcheck, “I’ve been in computer programming for 20 years so the Certificate in Business Analytics seemed like a good match. Studying business analytics is both fun and has practical applications for our company.”

The timing for this program couldn’t be better. Ranked among the 25 most in-demand skills of 2015 by LinkedIn, the field of business analytics is applicable in any setting including business, education, healthcare and public policy.

“We wanted to engage more with the corporate community across the State of Iowa,” says Nick Street, professor and chair of Management Sciences in the Tippie College of Business. “Students in our program

Since Volcheck works in internal audit, one on-the-job application 17

Partnerships continued might be asking about higher risk areas that need to be audited more frequently and target high risk activities to focus audit test samples.

For example, internal audit and the business units’ risk-rate auditable processes for both the risk it poses to the business, and the risk it poses to the company. Each completed audit then has areas where improvements can be made to tighten controls to mitigate risk. Within each audit there is a testing step or sample. Introducing data analytics makes for a smarter sample and can be used to select samples that are interesting given certain data points (amount, date, frequency, etc.), or to identify clustering.

Volcheck works with a growing number of Principal employees with experience in the data analytics field, and is excited to utilize the knowledge she has gained in the program. “Just taking the business analytics classes opens more possibilities than I had before,” says Volcheck.

Given the success of the certificate program, the Master’s in Business Analytics is launching in Des Moines Fall 2016 and has already made the list of Poets&Quants’ Top 100 business programs.

New location at Iowa Center for Higher Education

New this year is the Iowa Center for Higher Education (ICHE), the former AIB College of Business in Des Moines that was formally gifted to the University of Iowa on June 30, 2016. The campus includes office and classroom buildings, residence halls and a gymnasium. The University of Iowa is working with the Board of Regents, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to develop the campus.

Iowa will operate the campus and all three schools can offer academic programming from the facility. Iowa is the first school to do so, launching several programs at the center this fall. Social work, which has been at the Pappajohn Education Center for years, moved their undergraduate Samuel Burer, and graduate programs to the center. In addition, undergraduate professor and degrees in enterprise leadership, political science, and sport and director, Business recreation management are offered at the center. According to Tom Analytics program, Rice, the ICHE director, “There is significant potential for the three state problem-solving universities in Des Moines.” He envisions a campus of 1,000 or more with a student in the classroom. students in five years.

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Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regent Resource Center (ILLRRC) The Iowa Lakeside Laboratory and Regent Resource Center is owned by the State of Iowa and operated through the Board of Regents.

Lakeside’s 147-acre campus is located on scenic West Okoboji Lake on Miller’s Bay. The bay and adjacent natural areas are used as outdoor classrooms for Lakeside’s university courses and outreach programs.

The campus is open year round, and visitors are welcome to visit during daylight hours.

quality professional development training for early childhood educators.

In 2015-16, 181 teachers, associates and administrators from 39 northwest Iowa school districts participated. Four cohort groups receive a minimum of three years of training with an optional “I truly believe in the project fourth year of sustainability and leadership training over approach and have seen a seven year period. Young first-hand the impact it has Investigators uses a project on my students’ excitement approach, a child-centered and ownership in learning! teaching method to inspire Students’ engagement in students to love learning and the project helps drive their to develop lifelong, healthy learning and we are easily connections with nature. In 2015-16, early childhood able to meet our curriculum faculty from Iowa State needs.”

University and the University of Northern Iowa joined the training plans to conduct Year 4, transitional research on the impact of kindergarten teacher, project work on student Emmetsburg School literacy and STEM readiness.

The Lakeside campus can be divided into three sections: • The Ecological Studies Campus which occupies more than threefourths of the landmass at Lakeside including a 40-acre section being restored to prairie. Another 23 acres is reconstructed prairie planted in 2002-03.

• The Residential Campus includes the Lakeside Office, the facility manager’s residence, faculty and staff housing, a bathhouse, dining hall and adjacent lawns.

Sue Anne Deitering

• The Teaching Campus features a high knoll that slopes down to Little Miller’s Bay. The Waitt lab, Mahan Hall, the library, laboratories, Tamisiesa cottage and main cottage are all located here.

These three campuses are the focus for all educational and outreach programming at Lakeside. In 2015-16, 1477 preK-12 students participated in learning activities at Lakeside. An additional 1497 early childhood education students were impacted by programming developed through the Young Investigators Project.

Young Investigators is provided by Nature Connections, a partnership of early childhood educators and professionals facilitated by Iowa Lakeside Lab with support from the Friends of Lakeside Lab. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources board voted to fully fund the 2015-16 grant request of approximately $50,000 for the fourth year of the program.

Young Investigators Project

Young Investigators: Connecting Children with Nature through Project Work addresses the need in Iowa for a sustainable, nature-based, high19

Iowa Lakeside Lab and Regents’ Resource Center continued To date, the project has worked with 62 classrooms in northwest Iowa, representing 23 teams from 25 school districts with 1287 children impacted.

Teaching children to value nature is its own reward for Freeman. In closing Freeman says, “I am glad that I started the project approach philosophy in the classroom. I use parts of it even when we are not involved in investigating a project.”

Brandy Freeman, an early childhood special education preschool teacher at Johnson Elementary in Spencer, has completed the four years of training on Nature Based Project Approach taught at the project. Freeman has been able to implement all of the program into the classroom during this time. Her most recent classroom project on frogs utilized much of the process through observational drawings, tallying, asking questions, driving individual learning and sharing information. According to Freeman, “Children learn skills through the process for lifelong learning. They learn the process of wanting to know something and learning how to find the answer. Because this process is all child centered and led, they seem to internalize the information much better.”

Outreach and Volunteer Activities

Thousands of community members have benefited from a variety of outreach programming through the year at Lakeside including Wild Wednesdays: a family science program, public science seminars, treasure hikes, artistin-residence programs and the weekly, Lakeside Science Minute radio program to name a few. Ninety-three volunteers completed 1145 volunteers hours.

Research with a Global Impact

A Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON) buoy has been operating flawlessly for two summers at Lakeside Lab. According to the GLEON website:

It is the lifelong learning that drew Freeman to the project process. “For children to have the curiosity about something and then find out information about it is amazing. They are ready to learn such things as metamorphosis, prey, predator, herbivore and carnivore,” says Freeman. “This is just one example of some of the topics that four year olds are understanding and using in their everyday play and discussion about frogs. As they grow older they will have lots of foundational knowledge to build on.”

GLEON is a grassroots network of limnologists, ecologists, information technology experts and engineers who have a common goal of building a scalable, persistent network of lake ecology observatories. Data from these observatories will allow us to better understand key processes such as the effects of climate and land 20

Iowa Lakeside Lab and Regents’ Resource Center continued • Wind Direction • Daily Rain

use change on lake function, the role of episodic events such as typhoons in resetting lake dynamics, and carbon cycling within lakes.

Water quality data is recorded by an YSI data sonde mounted inside the buoy and a string of dissolved oxygen/temperature sensors that extends to the bottom of the lake, separated at intervals of seven feet.

Information collected here includes:

The GLEON Buoy provides opportunities for student internships at Lakeside Lab. Al Alder, former Iowa Lakeside Lab alumnus and intern spent his summer as the primary caretaker of the buoy, supervised by Dr. Mike Lannoo and Lakeside facilities manager, Matt Fairchild. In his role, he aided in the deployment, maintenance and monitoring of the NewSens CB-450 Data Buoy. Deployment required submerging two 500 pound anchors to keep the buoy in place over the course of the season. During his time as caretaker, Alder compiled a user manual that included instructions for maintenance, set-up, cleaning and storage of all data sensors aboard the unit. Alder also helped manage the website that provides real-time weather and water quality data to the community around the lake.

• Surface Water Temperature • Conductivity • pH • Surface Dissolved Oxygen

All of this data is intended to build on existing weather and water quality datasets from West Lake Okoboji with the intention of keeping the community in the area up to date on conditions at the Lakes.

According to Alder, “Working with the buoy at Lakeside Lab has helped me understand the importance of continuous monitoring of environmental data over time and the value of outreach. The buoy component of my internship allowed me to establish connections with visiting professors and the Iowa Lakes community.”

When in place, the buoy provides real-time weather and water quality data at West Lake Okoboji through the weather station mounted on the top. The buoy provides information on:

Further, Alder has obtained a set of skills and understanding of remote sensing that’s unique to Iowa. Says Alder, “This will help me with my future endeavors that include marine conservation, coral reef ecology and sustainable development in and around coastal communities around the world.”

• Air Temperature • Relative Humidity • Barometric Pressure • Wind Speed 21

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, primarily for study abroad experiences.

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 including students in a number of precollege programs through the Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education, Equal Opportunity and Diversity, journalism and music.

Notable for Summer 2015 was the growth in undergraduate enrollment due to the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant, a scholarship funded by the Provost office to increase student success and time to degree completion. Beginning with the cohort admitted for the Fall 2013, students are eligible for the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant, which funds one summer of registration at no cost to Iowa residents, or 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 opportunity) resulting in slight increases in enrollments and overall semester credit hours (SCH) for Summer 2014.

By contrast, Summer 2015 recorded 1933 students using the Summer Hawk Tuition Grant. The total number of undergraduate students in academic year 2015 was 7025, an 18% increase over Summer 2013, before the grant took effect.

Not only did the number of students increase, so did the number of courses taken per student, the total number of SCH generated. As well, the demand for online courses has grown, as has the proportion of online to on-campus courses. Student’s 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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Center for Conferences 2015-2016 The University of Iowa Center for Conferences (UICC) provides professional conference and event planning to faculty and staff. This includes project management for large and small scale events such as conferences, workshops and symposia. The UICC provides planning and administration of all conference aspects including date and site selection, budget development, speaker arrangements, catering, transportation, acquiring necessary permits and permissions and contract negotiations.

“Being able to have the Center for Conferences provide support for this online course was invaluable. The College of Nursing explored multiple options and the UICC responded immediately with a service and fee structure that was a perfect match for our needs. Being able to get this course launched before the first anniversary Molly James of the requirement was a tremendous College of Nursing achievement.”

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 cumulative database.

In fiscal year 2015-16, UICC’s staff coordinated 26% more conferences than in the previous year and established a number of new affiliations with colleges and departments across campus. One such collaborative effort, with the College of Nursing and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics resulted in a new online nursing course serving advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) working in fluoroscopy.

Fluoroscopy is an imaging technique that uses x-rays to obtain real-time moving images of a patient’s internal structure such as the pumping action of the heart. While very useful in diagnosis, fluoroscopy poses potential risks for the patient and the ARNP. This online course provides nurses with the information they need to improve patient and occupational health and safety, and satisfies the Iowa Board of Nursing requirements for ARNPs supervising fluoroscopy.

With new licensing requirements necessitating an annual radiation safety certification, the College of Nursing is now able to certify hundreds of ARNPs through their partnership with our office.

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Iowa Summer Writing Festival How to Tell a Mother Her Child Is Dead

By Naomi Rosenberg

The Iowa Summer Writing Festival delivers in-person, intensive training in literary craft to writers at all levels of literary practice; brings together in a community of shared enterprise adult learners with a desire to write; and shares with the literary community at large the rich writing resources of the University of Iowa and Iowa City—a UNESCO City of Literature in the Creative Cities Network.

Philadelphia — First you get your coat. I don’t care if you don’t remember where you left it, you find it. If there was a lot of blood you ask someone to go quickly to the basement to get you a new set of scrubs. You put on your coat and you go into the bathroom. You look in the mirror and you say it. You use the mother’s name and you use her child’s name. You may not adjust this part in any way.

In 2015-16, the festival celebrated its 30th year welcoming to campus writers from 18 to 97 years of age, from all 50 states, and from every continent. Most came to the workshop table from other areas of expertise, other lives. These include the armed forces, business, diplomacy, education, farming, homemaking, journalism, law, law enforcement, medicine, parenting, pastoral care, research, social services and others still.

I will show you: If it were my mother you would say, “Mrs. Rosenberg. I have terrible, terrible news. Naomi died today.” You say it out loud until you can say it clearly and loudly. How loudly? Loudly enough. If it takes you fewer than five tries you are rushing it and you will not do it right.

You take your time.

A Writer’s Experience Naomi Rosenberg, an emergency room doctor at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was among those who joined the festival this year. It was her first time attending a writing workshop.

The following personal essay, which Dr. Rosenberg wrote as a response to the first assignment she received in a weeklong workshop entitled “Telling True Stories (Ten Different Ways),” appeared in the Sunday edition of The New York Times on September 3, 2016. It is her first literary publication.

After the bathroom you do nothing before you go to her. You don’t make a phone call, you do not talk to the medical student, you do not put in an order. You never make her wait. She is his mother.

When you get inside the room you will know who the mother is. Yes, I’m very sure. Shake her hand and tell her who you are. If there is time you shake everyone’s hand. Yes, you will know if there is time. You never stand. If there are no seats left, the couches have arms on them.

You will have to make a decision about whether you will ask what she already knows. If you were the one to call her and tell her that her son had been shot then you have already done part of it, but you have not done it yet. You are about to do it now. You never make her wait. She is his mother. Now you explode the world. Yes, you have to. You say something like: “Mrs. Booker. I have terrible, terrible news. Ernest died today.”

Then you wait.

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Iowa Summer Writing Festival continued You will not stand up. You may leave yourself in the heaviness of your breath or the racing of your pulse or the sight of your shoelaces on your shoe, but you will not stand up. You are here for her. She is his mother.

she does not need for you to tell her. Instead you tell her you will give her time and come back in case she has questions. More questions, or questions for the first time. If she has no questions you do not give her the answers to the questions she has not asked.

If the mother has another son with her and he has punched the wall or broken the chair, do not be worried. The one that punched the wall or broke the chair will be better than the one who looks down and refuses to cry. The one who punched the wall or broke the chair will be much easier than the sister who looks up and closes her eyes as they fill.

When you leave the room, do not yell at the medical student who has a question. When you get home, do not yell at your husband. If he left his socks on the floor again today, it is all right.

Security is already outside the room and when they hear the first loud noise they will know to come in. No, you will not have to tell them. They know about the family room in the emergency department in summer in North Philadelphia. It is all right. They will be kind. If the chair cannot be sat in again that is all right. We have money for new chairs every summer. If he does not break your chair you stay in your chair. If he does you find a new place to sit. You are here for the mother and you have more to do.

If she asks you, you will tell her what you know. You do not lie. But do not say he was murdered or he was killed. Yes, I know that he was, but that is not what you say. You say that he died; that is the part that you saw and that you know. When she asks if he felt any pain, you must be very careful. If he did not, you assure her quickly. If he did, you do not lie. But his pain is over now. Do not ever say he was lucky that he did not feel pain. He was not lucky. She is not lucky. Don’t make that face. The depth of the stupidity of the things you will say sometimes is unimaginable.

Before you leave you break her heart one more time. “No, I’m so sorry, but you cannot see him. There are strict rules when a person dies this way and the police have to take him first. We cannot let you in. I’m so sorry.” You do not ever say “the body.” It is not a body. It is her son. You want to tell her that you know that he was hers. But she knows that and 25

Labor Center Labor Center oral historian John McKerley continues to enrich the oral history collection, recording new interviews that expand the collection’s attention to recent decades of Iowa labor history. A new round of interviews devoted to documenting experiences of immigrant and refugee workers in Iowa’s meatpacking industry is now under way, thanks to support from an Archie Green Fellowship awarded to the Labor Center by the U.S. Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center.

Engaging adult workers both on and off campus, 2015-16 Labor Center education programs involved 2245 participants from 65 different Iowa counties.

Popular classes included traditional labor relations subjects like collective bargaining, workplace rights or grievance handling, as well as current topics like improving organizational communications, technology skills and building coalitions.

Day Day

One highlight of academic year 2015 is the newly-formed Iowa Labor History Society (ILHS). ILHS will initially focus on enhancing and increasing public access to the treasure trove of existing labor history resources in the state. This includes more than 1200 worker interviews that make up the longstanding Iowa Labor History Oral Project (ILHOP).

A joint project of the Labor Center, the Iowa Federation of Labor and the State Historical Society of Iowa, ILHOP was initiated in the early 1970s and is widely recognized as one of the most comprehensive worker oral history collections in the world.

Day Day, a member of UFCW Local 431 who works at Tyson Foods in Waterloo, is one of dozens of workers who contributed new oral history interviews to the Iowa Labor History Oral Project in the past year. When asked if he had any final thoughts on his interview experience, Day Day added, “I want to help my community--to help my people--for everybody to be equal.”

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