THE FINAL FOUR Iowa State’S Next President Could Be One of These People
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FRIDAY 10.13.2017 No. 039 Vol 213 71° 51° ADMINISTRATION THE FINAL FOUR Iowa State’s next president could be one of these people KATLYN CAMPBELL/IOWA STATE DAILY ASHELY SIEGNER/IOWA STATE DAILY HANNAH OLSON/IOWA STATE DAILY MIKINNA KERNS/IOWA STATE DAILY Sonny Ramaswamy Wendy Wintersteen Dale Whittaker Pamela Whitten BY ISAAC.CARSON BY DANIELLE.GEHR BY ISAAC.CARSON BY JILL.ALT @iowastatedaily.com @iowastatedaily.com @iowastatedaily.com @iowastatedaily.com Sonny Ramaswamy is the director of the Wendy Wintersteen is the endowed dean Dale Whittaker is the provost and exec- Pamela Whitten is the senior vice presi- National Institute of Food and Agriculture. of the College of Agriculture and Life Sci- utive vice president of the University of dent of student affairs and provost at the ences. She is also the only internal candi- Central Florida. University of Georgia, Athens (UGA). He has worked at several land-grant date to be selected as a finalist. universities in New York, New Jersey, Whittaker held an open forum at the Whitten said she was impressed by cur- Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Kansas, “What I bring is a deep understanding Memorial Union on Wednesday where he rent enrollment rates and by the current Indiana and Oregon. of these issues. I know the players, I know gave a presentation and answered questions successful student transition to work rate. On Monday, Ramaswamy held an open the history and the context and I think it from the audience. However, Whitten said Iowa State should forum at the Memorial Union where he allows me on day one to begin the work,” Whittaker spoke on his goals for Iowa set higher goals. gave a presentation and answered questions Wintersteen said after the forum. “I am State University if elected president. His “If we look at retention rates, it’s very from the audience. so much better prepared because I’m an three goals would be Iowa State to offer the positive to have an 80 percent retention Each open forum followed the theme: internal candidate.” best undergraduate learning experience in rate at Iowa State, but we’re shooting for “Organizations expect new leadership to Wintersteen described herself as some- the AAU, Iowa State will be a worldwide the mid 90s for retention rate,” Whitten help lead them to the next level. What is one who can manage a set of complex leader in ending hunger and creating a re- said. “The graduation rate up around 74 the next level for Iowa State and how will issues. newable future, Iowa State will unleash the percent for six years is good, but it’s really you help us get there?“ Since she was named dean, she and her potential to transform lives and livelihoods. time to reach and stretch that toward an “It would be totally presumptuous of me colleagues raised $250 million. In that Whittaker believes his first goal can be 80 percentile.” to answer that right now,” Ramasamy said. same time period, they were able to take accomplished through faculty focus, student She said four-year graduation rates “You have a strategic plan laid out. You can- the number of donor funded professorships success and institutional alignment. are around 44 percent, and the university not expect the incoming president to have and chairs and increase them from 21 to The issue of world hunger ties into should aim to reach for the 60th percentile. all the answers, but I ask great questions.” 45 position. Whittaker’s personal mission statement he Whitten addressed student finances as For Ramaswamy, the importance of She said she is most proud of a joint wrote after achieving tenure in 1992. “End well and introduced a few programs that universities lies within student success, activity that she was a part of to recruit hunger, heal the earth through knowledge.” were implemented at the University of innovations, discoveries, engagement and faculty for awards and increase the number During his presentation Whittaker also Georgia. campus environment. of faculty in the National Academy. said “When you aspire to a future you have “You have to think toward those students Ramaswamy spoke about the impor- In last five years, they were able to double to build on your strengths,” said Whittaker. that are so challenged that we risk losing tance of transparency. He said he is aware the number of Iowa State faculty in the He believes Iowa State is one of the uni- them for small financial reasons,” said of issues of transparency within the last National Academy. versity’s best poised to address this global Whitten. “We have discovered that it’s administration. He noted that sometimes it Wintersteen then moved on to student problem. He thinks this can be achieved more common than people want to admit. can feel like there is a firewall surrounding success. She said the agricultural entrepre- with Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Part- So, we have created an emergency fund the administration. neurship initiative launched in 2004 was nerships, Reputation and impact. through the financial aid office because we Ramaswamy said that students must be estimated to have created about 400 jobs For student success Whittaker noted that would find that students would drop out provided with all of the following while at based off of the students who have been Iowa State’s first year retention rate has of school because they were short $375.” Iowa State: a foundation in the liberal arts through it. not broken 90 percent. “We will break 90 She said students should not have to and sciences, an introduction to practical Regarding the theme of all the presi- percent for the first time this fall at UCF,” drop out for financial reasons. education and military leadership, with dential open forums — which is how each Whittaker said. This is something that Tuition coverage was not the only service teamwork and critical thinking skills. candidate will bring Iowa State to the next Whittaker would want to bring to Iowa introduced. Whitten also used the Univer- During the part of Ramaswamy’s pre- level — she listed four steps to proceed State if appointed president. sity of Georgia’s “Let All the Big Dawgs RAMASWAMY PG12 WINTERSTEEN PG12 WHITTAKER PG12 WHITTEN PG12 02 NEWS Iowa State Daily Friday, October 13, 2017 PUBLIC GIVES INPUT Over the summer months, four open forums were held in Choosing the Ames to get input from the community about the preferred qualifications of the next president of Iowa State. JUNE 2017 Three of the forums were held on campus at the Memorial Union, and one was held in downtown Ames. There were two per day, spanning two days, from June 12 to June 13. “The most important goal of the presidential search com- next president mittee is to ensure that the search for Iowa State’s 16th pres- ident is as inclusive and comprehensive as possible,” said Luis Rico-Gutierrez, co-chair of the committee and Dean of ISU’s BY TRISTAN.WADE College of Design, in a release. “We believe that it is critical AND DANIELLE.GEHR to solicit input from all constituencies on what attributes the @iowastatedaily.com next president should have.” LEATH LEAVES IOWA STATE At the second forum on June 12, Vice President of Student Government Cody Smith was in the audience to add his input Former Iowa State President Steven Leath was announced to the discussions. as the next president of Auburn University on March 20, 2017. Smith said it came down to a candidate willing to go against His tenure at Iowa State would end at the end of the semester. the current status quo, and to form a coalition of multiple voices In an email to the Iowa State community, Leath announced to support advancement on campus and in the legislature. his resignation as president of the Iowa State to “pursue an “I think over the past five years especially, we’ve seen the MARCH 2017 outstanding opportunity at Auburn University.” mentality ‘well if the state’s not going to fund us more, so let’s It had been reported two days prior, on March 18, 2017, that raise tuition,’” Smith said. “I understand that that’s necessary Leath may have been on Auburn’s “short list” of presidential to keep the university going, but I also think that we need candidates. somebody... who has the ability to question [that].” In September of 2011 Leath was selected by a unanimous vote as the 15th president of Iowa State, and on Jan. 16, 2012, APPLICATION PERIOD ENDS Leath began duties as the president of Iowa State. Leath said in the email that when arriving at Iowa State The application period for the position of Iowa State pres- the plan was to retire here, but now “realize our destiny is ident ended Aug. 24. The advertisement for the position was in Alabama and leading one of the nation’s great land-grant posted to more than 30 groups, websites or news outlets.