P&S COUNCIL NEWS
Nov. 1, 2005

Forum on Employee Benefits Set for Friday, November 4

Tim Ashley, benefits manager for the ISU Department of Human Resources, will present details of the 2006 ISU Benefits Plan for P&S Employees at an Open Forum on Friday, Nov. 4. The forum is sponsored by the P&S Council from 12 noon to 1 p.m. in the Oak Room at the Memorial Union. P&S staff are invited to bring lunch to the forum. Ashley will take questions from the audience about next year's benefits plan.

The open forum will be followed by meetings of the Council's standing committees at 1 p.m., and the regular monthly meeting of the Council at 2 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Union.

Does Iowa State Need to Provide More Professional Development Opportunities?
Go to AccessPlus by Nov. 4 and take the survey regarding training and development at Iowa State. The survey was created by the Task Force on Education and Development, which was created by Provost Ben Allen. Please take time to complete the 26-question survey on AccessPlus under the Employee tab and under Votes and Surveys. It takes ten minutes, but it may mean more training and development opportunities will be provided by Iowa State in the future. The direct link to the survey is https://accessplus.iastate.edu/Link.jsp?APPL=Survey&SURVEYID=00000014. For more details on why the survey is being conducted, see the Task Force report at http://www.pscouncil.iastate.edu/Survey05.html

P&S CYtation Award Nominations Sought
Dec. 1 is the next nomination deadline for the P&S CYtation Awards. This award recognizes individuals who have performed above and beyond the call of duty, done something extraordinarily well, or acted in such a way as to make a very real difference at Iowa State University.

Nominees must be P&S employees and the nomination needs to be for work done within the past year (from the date of submission).

Winners of the award receive a Certificate of Award, a picture with President Geoffroy and the P&S CYtation Award winners, and a one year membership to Reiman Gardens.

For more information regarding nomination procedures, please see http://www.pscouncil.iastate.edu/CYtation.html.

15 P&S Retention and Recruitment Proposals Funded
Fifteen proposals by ISU Professional and Scientific staff to improve student retention and recruitment at the university have been awarded a total of $30,000 in funding for the current academic year.

The proposals were selected for funding by the P&S Council Retention and Recruitment Committee from among 26 submitted in August. The program is in its twelfth year at ISU.

Programs funded and the amount received are listed below. Additional details, including contact persons and a short description of each project, are available on the P&S Council Web site at http://www.pscouncil.iastate.edu/RandRgrants05.html

LangCasts: Experiencing Languages Through ISU Podcasts. Awarded $3,925.

Des Moines and Louisa Counties Road Less Traveled Project. Awarded $1,000.

ISU FIRST LEGO League Mentors Project. Awarded $2,925.

Martin Hall Challenge. Awarded $925.

Why Opportunity Works: Youth and 4-H, ISU Academic Programs and Careers Make It Happen. Awarded $2,425.

Engineering Labs - Video Tour. Awarded $1,675.

Guaranteed 4.0 Workshops. Awarded $3,500.

Journey to Success. Awarded $2,275.

This is Agriculture? Awarded $3,325.

Construction Engineering Recruitment Project: Staying Power. Awarded $1,425.

Ingenieria con Acento (Engineering with an Accent). Awarded $1,425.

A Major Fair! Awarded $2,425

Wellbody Program. Awarded $1,000.

National Society of Black Engineers 2nd Annual Middle School Science and Engineering Exposition. Awarded $925.

Beyond The B.S.: Engineering Your Graduate School Possibilities. Awarded $825.

For more information about the Retention and Recruitment Grant program, go to http://www.pscouncil.iastate.edu/RandR.html