1,708 receive degrees at ISU commencement

AMES, Iowa - At Iowa State University's fall 2012 commencement ceremonies, 1,708 students received degrees. Iowa State awarded 1,388 undergraduate degrees, 210 master's degrees, and 110 doctor of philosophy degrees.

Of the students receiving bachelor's degrees, 264 graduated "With Distinction" (cum laude, magna cum laude or summa cum laude). Two students graduated as members of the Honors Program, and 13 students graduated "With Distinction" and as members of the Honors Program.

NAME, DEGREE, MAJOR, HONOR, HOMETOWN, STATE

Taylor Marie Downing, BS, Food Science (AGLS), M; Rock Island, IL

Jonathon Douglas Vandyke, BS, Supply Chain Management, Bettendorf, IA

Kenneth Vaughn Johnson, BS, Electrical Engineering, Davenport, IA

Jon Lee Baumgarten, BS, Industrial Engineering, Bettendorf, IA
David Thomas Zimmerman, BS, Industrial Engineering, Bettendorf, IA;
Benjamin W. Bramer, BS, Mechanical Engineering, Bettendorf, IA

Matthew Allen Burmeister, BS, Mechanical Engineering, S, Davenport, IA
Brett Christopher Ebert, BS, Mechanical Engineering, S, Davenport, IA
Alex Scott Ruggeberg, BS, Mechanical Engineering, Davenport, IA

Alexa Rae Ashcraft, BS, Child, Adult, and Family Services, Eldridge, IA

Emily Marie Kenneke, BS, Elementary Education, C, Davenport, IA

Jennifer Ann Garter, BS, Kinesiology and Health, Bettendorf, IA

Emily Erin Martin, BA, Religious Studies, Davenport, IA

Emily Marcene Doerder, BM, Music, M, Bettendorf, IA

DEGREE CODES:
BAR - Bachelor of Architecture
BA - Bachelor of Arts
BFA - Bachelor of Fine Arts
BLA - Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
BLS - Bachelor of Liberal Studies
BS - Bachelor of Science
MAA - Master of Accounting
MAG - Master of Agriculture
MAR - Master of Architecture
MA - Master of Arts
MBA - Master of Business Administration
MCP - Master of Community and Regional Planning
MED - Master of Education
MEN - Master of Engineering
MFS - Master of Family and Consumer Sciences
MFA - Master of Fine Arts
MLA - Master of Landscape Architecture
MPA - Master of Public Administration
MSM - Master of School Mathematics
MS - Master of Science
PHD - Doctor of Philosophy
HONORS CODES:
(1) Graduated Cum Laude and in Honors Program
(2) Graduated Magna Cum Laude and in Honors Program
(3) Graduated Summa Cum Laude and in Honors Program
(4) Recipient of University Teaching Excellence Award
(5) Recipient of University Research Excellence Award
(6) Recipient of University Teaching Excellence Award AND Research Excellence Award
(C) Graduated Cum Laude
(M) Graduated Magna Cum Laude
(S) Graduated Summa Cum Laude
(H) Graduated in Honors Program

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Townsend changed culture of Iowa Civil Rights Commission to one of dedicated service

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad today announced he has given Iowa Civil Rights Commission Director Beth Townsend a bonus of $5,000 for her impressive work turning the culture of the Commission into one of service to Iowans.

"Beth has turned the Iowa Civil Rights Commission into an exemplary department striving to serve the people of Iowa," said Branstad. "Beth's impressive leadership and management has resulted in more efficient case work, reduced back log, streamlined intake and increased quality."

In June 2011, three Iowa Civil Rights Commission employees were dismissed after a Townsend investigation found they were sending hundreds of emails to each other on personal accounts calling their peers derogatory nicknames during business hours. One of the employees sent, on average, 75 emails a day on his personal account from March 2011 - June 1, 2011. The increase in personal emails resulted in slower case investigation.

"Lt. Gov. Reynolds and I made a commitment to change the culture of state government to one that serves the people of Iowa, not the other way around," Branstad continued. "Iowans deserve a responsive Civil Rights Commission that gives them a fair hearing and takes each investigation seriously."

Under Director Townsend's leadership, the Iowa Civil Rights Commission has:

-          In FY12, reduced the non-housing investigative backlog from 260 cases to 118 cases and a reduction in the average age of cases from over 535 days to 356 days.

-          In FY12, reduced age of the oldest cases in the backlog from complaints filed in 2001 to those filed in December, 2010.

-          Remain on track to eliminate the backlog entirely by the end of FY13.

-          Streamlined complaint intake process, reducing the initial processing time by 71% and reducing the number of delays in the process by over 50%.    Complaints are now being processed within 24-48 hours of receipt of the complaint, as opposed to historical average of 8-10 days.

-          Significantly increased the overall quality and timeliness of all screening and investigative decisions prepared by the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.

-          Probable cause rate increased 8x in FY12 from previous year and was higher than in any year over the past decade Townsend's current salary is $97,000, the highest possible for her position. The governor's practice is to utilize bonuses to provide a recognition and reward for exemplary performance.

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(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry E. Branstad today appointed eight Iowans to the Judicial Nominating Commission.

Iowa Code changes require the State Judicial Nominating Commission to sunset on December 31, 2012. The previous commission composition was based on Congressional Districts from 1965 with one member from each district, for a total of seven members appointed by the governor. The new State Judicial Nominating Commission, based on Congressional Districts following the 2010 census, is effective January 1, 2013 in accordance with the Code of Iowa

The new commission has two members from each Congressional District, one male and one female, for a total of eight members appointed by the governor. Lawyers elect eight lawyer members to the commission. Iowa law requires members serve staggered terms. Full terms are six years in length.

The following individuals were appointed by Gov. Branstad:

Congressional District One

Jerry Welter, Monticello (effective January 19, 2013) - term ends April 30, 2014

Kathy Pearson, Cedar Rapids - term ends April 30, 2018

Congressional District Two

Scott Bailey, Otley - term ends April 30, 2014

Helen Sinclair, Melrose - term ends April 30, 2016

Congressional District Three

Liz Doll, Council Bluffs - term ends April 30, 2016

John Bloom, West Des Moines - term ends April 30, 2018

Congressional District Four

Patricia Roberts, Carroll - term ends April 30, 2014

Steve Sukup, Clear Lake - term ends April 30, 2016

The governor's appointments are subject to Senate confirmation.

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today released an education reform package that will bring Iowa closer to its goal of providing a world-class education to all children, no matter where they live.

The package presented for the 2013 legislative session focuses on providing great teaching in every classroom to raise student achievement and to prepare Iowa's children to compete for jobs in a competitive global economy.

"We have many good schools with committed educators, but they are stuck in a system designed for the 20^th century, not the 21^st century," Branstad said. "I am ready to invest significant resources into these educational reforms, which truly have the power to dramatically raise achievement."

Branstad added: "I do not believe we should spend even one minute discussing additional resources to prop up our current educational structure until we have first agreed on the reforms our children need."

The investment proposed by Branstad and Reynolds scales up over five years, starting with $14 million in the first year, $72 million in the second year, and $187 million at full implementation in five years.

Other states and nations have made dramatic, whole-system changes that have pushed their education systems past Iowa's. Iowa, meanwhile, has slipped from being a top performer to middle of the pack on national tests.

"Iowa's children deserve the best education we can provide so they leave our schools with the knowledge and skills necessary for successful and rewarding lives," said Iowa Education Director Jason Glass. "We stand at a pivotal moment in Iowa's storied education history, in which we have the opportunity and will as a community to make the transition from being 'good' to being 'great.'"

World-class schools are one of four top priorities set by Branstad and Reynolds, along with 200,000 new jobs, a 25 percent increase in family incomes and to reduce the cost of government by 15 percent.

The centerpiece of their 2013 education reform package is establishing a new teacher leadership and compensation system. This proposal is based on recommendations from the Task Force on Teacher Leadership and Compensation, which thanks to the Legislature's action, was established as a diverse group of Iowans who spent seven months studying this issue.

The teacher leadership and compensation system raises the status of the teaching profession and attracts and retains talented educators through these approaches:

• Raise Iowa's minimum starting salary from $28,000 to $35,000 to make teaching more attractive.

• Keep top teachers in front of children, but pay these teacher leaders more to take on more instructional leadership responsibility alongside school administrators, which will strengthen the teaching throughout the building.  Teachers who are selected for model, mentor and lead roles will be paid more for sharing their expertise and for working additional days to coach, co-teach and to foster collaboration among all educators.

• Give brand-new teachers a reduced teaching load in their first year so they can spend more time learning from outstanding veteran teachers.

The teacher leadership and compensation system, which will be phased in over several years, gives school districts the flexibility to customize leadership roles to meet their local needs. It builds on landmark, bipartisan legislation in 2001 that created, but never funded, a teacher career ladder.

"This is about strengthening the teaching profession for the benefit of both students and teachers," Reynolds said. "Teachers are the single most important influence on a child's success inside school, and educators are being asked to do much more to prepare students for our knowledge-driven economy. We must make sure new teachers are ready to rise to that challenge, while also providing more support for teachers already in the classroom."

The education reform package introduced today by Branstad and Reynolds also includes four other components:

• Teach Iowa Initiative: Expands an existing program to provide both relief and incentive through tuition reimbursement to top students who commit to teach in Iowa schools for five years, with a focus on hard-to-hire subjects such as math and science. Teach Iowa scholars will receive an extra $4,000 for each year of service, for a total of $20,000. This initiative also includes a new pilot program to strengthen clinical experience with a full year of student teaching in the senior year of college, rather than the typical one semester.

• College- and Career-Ready Seals: Use diploma seals to identify and recognize graduating high school students who demonstrate that they are college- and career-ready. A blue-ribbon commission of business and education leaders would set high standards for the seals to better define what it means to be college or career-ready. The seals are in addition to a high school diploma. The purpose is to help students better prepare for the future and to align education with workforce development in a thoughtful way.

• Improving educator evaluations: Iowa needs to update existing teacher and administrator evaluations to provide more valuable feedback. This will include deciding how student achievement growth should count. This work should help the state win a waiver from the federal No Child Left Behind law.

• Expand the Iowa Learning Online program: This proposal expands an existing program at the Iowa Department of Education to allow more high school students the opportunity to take high-quality online courses taught by Iowa teachers. Small districts that often struggle to find applicants for hard-to-hire subjects also will find this helpful. This will require an initial state investment, but would be self-sustaining in three years.