| Council of Deans and President's Cabinet Update | Please share the communication below with others in your college/unit as appropriate
HIGHLIGHTS AND UPDATES
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND PROVOST – Kevin Kregel
- High Impact Hiring Initiative (HIHI) update: $18.9M has been committed to support 70 recruitments and 30 retentions across 10 colleges since the start of the program in 2021. A total of $2.27M has been committed in FY25 to fund 5 recruitments and 4 retentions. Please contact Lois Geist or Kim Carter with questions (provost-office@uiowa.edu). Please note that all requests should use the revised request form dated March 2025.
- Associate provost and dean of the Graduate College search: Finalists for the position of associate provost for graduate and professional education and dean of the Graduate College will complete interviews on Tuesday, April 8, and Thursday, April 10. Open forum times will be shared with campus via Iowa Now this week. The candidates will be publicly announced on the dean search website 24 hours before their interview day.
- University launches new student experience survey: The inaugural Iowa Student Experience Survey will launch on April 7, 2025. The new survey aims to gather insights into student satisfaction, belonging, and financial considerations for all undergraduate students and graduate students in master’s and doctoral programs. The survey, which is confidential and takes 10-15 minutes to complete, will remain open through May 16, 2025. Students can find links to the survey on the Office of the Provost website.
- Aligning campus strategic plans: As your unit reviews, updates, or creates its strategic plans and initiatives, please ensure alignment with the mid-cycle update of the UI 2022-2027 Strategic Plan. For support or questions regarding plan alignment, please contact Kathy Andrews at kathryn-andrews@uiowa.edu. A full version of the plan is available on the strategic plan website.
- University of Iowa Faculty and Staff Awards: The second annual Faculty and Staff Awards will take place at 4 p.m. on May 6 at Hancher Auditorium. Units from across campus will come together to celebrate the fantastic work University of Iowa faculty and staff have accomplished throughout the year at this campuswide award ceremony. This event, which is coordinated by the Office of the President, is open to all.
ASSOCIATE PROVOST FOR UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION AND DEAN, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE – Tanya Uden-Holman
- UI student earns Goldwater Scholarship: Seren Castellano, a third-year honors student from Waukee, has been named a 2025 Goldwater Scholar. Castellano, who is majoring in biology and anthropology, is the university's 64th recipient of the prestigious scholarship. Castellano's application was supported by Kelly Thornburg in the University College's Office of Scholar Development and by mentors Maureen Nieman (Department of Biology), Drew Kitchen (Department of Anthropology), and Lori Adams (Department of Biology).
- Collegiate academic update requests: The Office of the Provost has created a new intake form that should now be used by colleges to request academic changes, such as creating, ending, or updating departments or programs. The college’s academic affairs staff should submit the form once they have been notified by a program or department of a requested change. After reviewing the request, the Office of the Provost will respond with approval or next steps. Contact provost-office@uiowa.edu with any questions.
- SDS accommodations in ICON Quizzes: Instructors who use ICON Classic Quizzes no longer need to manually adjust the time allowed on quizzes for students who elect to use Student Disability Services (SDS) extended time accommodations. A daily ICON system update automatically adjusts time allowed on ICON (Classic) Quizzes for students who have enabled extended time accommodations for their course.
- Vecera receives Lola Lopes Award: The 2025 Lola Lopes Award for Undergraduate Student Advocacy has been awarded to Shaun Vecera, director of the University of Iowa Honors Program and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. The award recognizes administrators, staff, or faculty outside of their teaching role who serve as strong and effective advocates for undergraduate students and the undergraduate experience.
- Iowa Debate team wins national championship: The University of Iowa earned its 13th debate national championship title at the 2025 Cross Examination Debate Association (CEDA) tournament, held at Rutgers University March 20–23. Spencer Anderson-McElligott, a fourth-year student from Edina, MN, and Grey Parfenoff, a second-year student from Chicago, claimed the national title by defeating Kentucky in the final round after prevailing against top teams from Baylor, Houston, Kansas, and others. Four UI teams finished in the nation's top 20 and several debaters earned prestigious individual honors.
ASSOCIATE PROVOST FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND DEAN, GRADUATE COLLEGE – Lois Geist
- Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Symposium: The second cohort of scholars will be presenting at the Iowa Mid-Career Faculty Scholar Symposium on May 1, 3:30 - 5 p.m. in the Big Ten Theatre, 348 IMU. A reception will follow. Join us for this excellent opportunity to be inspired by the innovative research and achievements of these outstanding scholars.
ASSOCIATE PROVOST FOR GRADUATE AND PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION AND DEAN, GRADUATE COLLEGE – Amanda Thein
- Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week: The Graduate College, in collaboration with the Graduate Student Senate and Graduate & Professional Student Government, invites the campus community to celebrate Graduate and Professional Student Appreciation Week, April 7–11, 2025. Throughout the week, events will highlight and honor the valuable contributions that graduate and professional students make to the University of Iowa’s academic, research, teaching, and service missions.
ASSOCIATE PROVOST AND DEAN OF INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS – Russell Ganim
- UI named Fulbright Top Producing Institution for 9th year: Seventeen UI students and alumni were chosen from thousands of Fulbright Award applicants nationwide for the 2024-25 academic year. When comparing the ratio of applicants to awardees, Iowa ranks third among its peer institutions with more than 43% of applicants receiving these prestigious honors.
- Iowa alumna extends impactful research on global stage: Former student Fulbright recipient Alyssa Gersony (MFA interdisciplinary studies, '20) is transforming lives through dance. Gersony's ongoing research and projects are helping to redefine accessibility in dance, showing that movement can be a powerful tool for fostering independence and expression among visually impaired individuals.
ASSOCIATE VICE PRESIDENT FOR ENROLLMENT MANAGEMENT AND STRATEGY – Brent Gage
- Financial aid packaging ahead of schedule: Our Office of Student Financial Aid has made significant progress packaging student financial aid for the 2025-26 academic year. We have received more than 38,500 FAFSAs, and aid has been packaged for 75% of applicants—exceeding typical rates for this time of year. Aid packages have been distributed to approximately 16,000 new incoming students, 10,000 returning undergraduates, and nearly 3,000 graduate and professional students. Packaging began on March 4 for undergraduates and March 20 for graduate and professional students. At this time last year, we had not been able to package aid for any students due to significant delays and challenges in the federal rollout of the updated FAFSA.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OFFICE OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT – Nick Benson
- 2025-26 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador: Daniel Somotochukwu Umemezie, a junior at Cedar Falls High School, has been selected as the 2025-26 Iowa Student Poet Ambassador (ISPA). Umemezie, who has received multiple national accolades for his poetry, will be officially inaugurated at the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines on April 25 as part of National Poetry Month. The ISPA program, coordinated by the UI Office of Community Engagement, promotes the literary arts and encourages young Iowans to engage with poetry.
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