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Some campus info

Frak

Frak

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Apr 27, 2009
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Got a chance to hear Pres. Leath speak yesterday in Howe. A couple of things that I found interesting. First off, ISU expects to reach the 35k enrollment level in the next few years. I thought that was crazy that they're getting that many students with the supposedly declining state population. He said that the biggest issue with the extra students is lab space and that they may have to start offering more Saturday morning labs. Said that they've been planning for the increasing numbers for awhile as far as dorms and auditorium space (betting that's why they've been investing money into the Towers and building the new Troxell Hall).

Also, they are really starting to focus on the new Student Innovation Center, which is going to be a 3-4 story building where Nuclear Engineering and part of Sweeney sit. This is going to be space for things like the solar car and other student teams as well as Senior Design studios, etc. Supposedly, this is going to be ISU's #1 priority as far as new buildings now that they are started with Troxel and soon to be starting on the new ABE building.

Finally, I did hear someone who's met with Leath say that he mentioned athletics as a primary window into the university as far as donations and recruitment of students. Not much info, but still good news for us Cyclone sports fans.

PS: Joe Biden said today that he thinks ISU is in the tourney and will root for them unless they play Syracuse.
 
alarson

alarson

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Next priority: getting more balance in state funding between ISU and UofI (especially considering more Iowans are educated at ISU than UofI last i checked)
 
Jeffreyisu

Jeffreyisu

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alarson said:
Next priority: getting more balance in state funding between ISU and UofI (especially considering more Iowans are educated at ISU than UofI last i checked)
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I wouldn't worry too much about that. State funding for all schools is going away. Within 10 years, all 3 in-state schools will operate just as a private school, without a penny from the state and 100% on tuition and donations.
 
D

DistrictCyclone

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Awesome info; thanks for sharing. As much as I love ISU athletics, I would always, always opt for better scholarship and research if forced to choose between the two, so it's great to hear some of Leath's academic priorities.
 
TheCaptain

TheCaptain

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Jeffreyisu said:
I wouldn't worry too much about that. State funding for all schools is going away. Within 10 years, all 3 in-state schools will operate just as a private school, without a penny from the state and 100% on tuition and donations.
Click to expand...


While you may be right. I do remember alot of people thinking the same thing ten or so years ago.
 
Frak

Frak

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Jeffreyisu said:
I wouldn't worry too much about that. State funding for all schools is going away. Within 10 years, all 3 in-state schools will operate just as a private school, without a penny from the state and 100% on tuition and donations.
Click to expand...

I really doubt that. Not saying it won't be down from where it currently sits, but 0? The economy is starting to come back, so there's not a huge reason for the state to make major cuts. For next year, both the governor and senate have proposed favorable budgets while the house proposes cuts...it will be somewhere in between like always. The state cannot afford to remove all funding from the regent institutions...they are too big of economic engines to cut their legs off. It would be disasterous for all three if they tried.
 
Jeffreyisu

Jeffreyisu

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Frak said:
I really doubt that. Not saying it won't be down from where it currently sits, but 0? The economy is starting to come back, so there's not a huge reason for the state to make major cuts. For next year, both the governor and senate have proposed favorable budgets while the house proposes cuts...it will be somewhere in between like always. The state cannot afford to remove all funding from the regent institutions...they are too big of economic engines to cut their legs off. It would be disasterous for all three if they tried.
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You can doubt it all you want, but I didn't say that based on my own opinion. That was straight from Pres. Geoffrey's mouth at a meeting I attended of his last year. And, I think he's knows what he's talking about.
 
Frak

Frak

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Apr 27, 2009
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Jeffreyisu said:
You can doubt it all you want, but I didn't say that based on my own opinion. That was straight from Pres. Geoffrey's mouth at a meeting I attended of his last year. And, I think he's knows what he's talking about.
Click to expand...

Maybe he's right, but it seems pretty unlikely given year 1 out of 10 is probably going to see steady budgets or just minor cuts. They've undergone major cuts the past five years and that still amounted to something like 25%. I just think that it is pretty drastic to be going down to zero in that span of time. If they did it, we'd be looking at an end to things like ISU Extension, funding for the Research Park, a ton of student services. Facilities would be on such bare bones that the campus would go downhill as would the buildings. Students would graduate ISU with even more debt as aid would go down and things like tuition, room and board would skyrocket. There would be a TON of people who lose their jobs and it would affect ISU both in the student experience and in research (buying equipment, pursuing grants, paying post-docs).

I'm not saying that ISU isn't eventually going to zero state support, but I see it being more like 30 years or at least 20. I don't think that it is even possible to do it in 10 unless the state government basically collapses and forces it. And with zero state support, UNI would pretty much have to close their doors.
 
cyclonefreak5

cyclonefreak5

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Sep 25, 2010
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Frak said:
Got a chance to hear Pres. Leath speak yesterday in Howe. A couple of things that I found interesting. First off, ISU expects to reach the 35k enrollment level in the next few years. I thought that was crazy that they're getting that many students with the supposedly declining state population. He said that the biggest issue with the extra students is lab space and that they may have to start offering more Saturday morning labs. Said that they've been planning for the increasing numbers for awhile as far as dorms and auditorium space (betting that's why they've been investing money into the Towers and building the new Troxell Hall).

Also, they are really starting to focus on the new Student Innovation Center, which is going to be a 3-4 story building where Nuclear Engineering and part of Sweeney sit. This is going to be space for things like the solar car and other student teams as well as Senior Design studios, etc. Supposedly, this is going to be ISU's #1 priority as far as new buildings now that they are started with Troxel and soon to be starting on the new ABE building.

Finally, I did hear someone who's met with Leath say that he mentioned athletics as a primary window into the university as far as donations and recruitment of students. Not much info, but still good news for us Cyclone sports fans.

PS: Joe Biden said today that he thinks ISU is in the tourney and will root for them unless they play Syracuse.
Click to expand...

I'm in Construction Engineering right now, and we have a semester long project where we are working on the Student Innovation Center. We are grouping together with some Architecture students to design a layout for the new building. We had the Associate Dean for the College of Engineering come and talk to our class about it, in fact.

At the end of the semester when we turn our completed projects in, our prof said that the top 1 or 2 projects would probably get to present their design to some of the Iowa State Administration and the actual firm that they hired out of Chicago... they could then theoretically use some of our ideas and encorporate them into the project, its pretty cool.
 
D

DistrictCyclone

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JET said:
Any insight as to why Biden was talking about the Cyclones?
Click to expand...

I think he's a legit basketball fan, like Obama. He's frequently at Georgetown games, especially when the 'Cuse comes to town.
 
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