CALS Professional and Scientific Council

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Professional & Scientific Council is the representative body for all P&S staff in the college.  Members work with the dean and ISU P&S Council representatives to address topics that are important to CALS P&S staff.

CALS Awards Program Enhances Opportunities for P&S Staff Recognition

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) Dean’s office and the CALS Professional and Scientific Council partnered to review the CALS Awards Recognition Program. As a result, the 2020 process, which closes nominations on Nov. 19, includes an expanded opportunity for Professional and Scientific (P&S) staff to obtain recognition for the work they accomplish.

This year separate awards have been established for both faculty members and staff members in these eight existing award categories:

  • Early Achievement in Advising Award
  • Early Achievement in Extension and Outreach Award
  • Learning Community Coordinator Award
  • Outstanding Achievement in Extension and Outreach Award
  • Outstanding Adviser Award
  • Outstanding Service in Student Recruitment and Retention Award
  • Diversity and Inclusion Enhancement Award
  • Teaching Award

As always, staff remain eligible for three additional awards:

  • CALS P&S Outstanding New Professional Award
  • CALS P&S Excellence Award
  • CALS P&S Research Award

“Dean Robison is in full support of these new changes which ensure that both faculty and P&S staff are getting recognized for their excellent contributions to the mission of the college, and the university as a whole,” said David Acker, Associate Dean of Academic and Global Programs.

The awards website and nomination process will look much the same, but the process by which the awards are selected has been updated. The CALS P&S Council Awards Committee now has the responsibility of reviewing applications and serving as the selection committee for the P&S awards. They also will work with the faculty awards committee on the section of the recipients for the two remaining awards where the nominees can be faculty or staff, the CALS Dean Lee R. Kolmer Award for Excellence in Applied Research and the CALS Distance Education Teaching Award. The faculty and staff selection committees will continue collaboration to ensure efficiency.

Additionally, language was removed from the awards process that restricted P&S staff from winning more than one award during their career at Iowa State. “We believe our work with Associate Dean Acker will result in an awards structure that will enhance the College’s efforts to recognize both P&S staff and faculty excellence,” said Nate Dobbels, CALS P&S Awards and Recognition Committee chair and academic adviser in the Department of Agricultural Education and Studies.

CALS P&S staff are encouraged to submit applications by Nov. 19 for the 11 awards now available to them. Faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to be active in the nomination process. Please consult your departmental awards committee or department chair for details on the nomination process. For further questions, please contact Dobbels.

The CALS Professional and Scientific Council’s purpose is to represent the professional interests of the CALS P&S staff by serving as a voice to the ISU P&S Council, the CALS Dean’s Cabinet, and other leaders as appropriate; as well as coordinate staff activities that support and strengthen professional relationships between leadership and P&S employees. The CALS Professional and Scientific Council was the idea of ISU President Wintersteen. Joe Colletti, who was the Interim Dean at that time, worked with a task force to create the structure and guidelines to set up the CALS P&S Council.  The inaugural councilors were seated in June 2018 and many of them are still serving their first term on the council.

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CALS Professional and Scientific Council - Committees

Officers          

President, Jeff Hartwig, Supt Ag Res Station II, hartwig@iastate.edu

Past President Tracy Schlater, Communications Specialist III, schlater@iastate.edu 

Secretary, Barb McBreen, Communications Specialist IV, barbmc@iastate.edu 

Communications Officer, Lesa Vold, Communications Specialist III, lvold@iastate.edu

Networking and Social Events Committee

Chair, Danielle (Dani) Clark, Asst Scientist I, dwilson@iastate.edu

            Kati Smith, Comm Specialist I, klsmith@iastate.edu

            Visha Arumugam, Program Assistant II, arumugam@iastate.edu

            Danise Jones, Program Assistant II, danisej@iastate.edu

            Karla Long, Program Coordinator I, kylong@iastate.edu

            Bruce Fulton, Associate Scientist, bfulton@iastate.edu

Professional Development Committee

Chair, Rachel Fleck, Research Assoc II, rfleck@iastate.edu

          Robert Hartmann, Teaching Lab Coordinator, rchartma@iastate.edu

          Steve Jonas , Ag Specialist III, sjonas23@iastate.edu

          Kelvin Leibold, Field Specialist IV, kleibold@iastate.edu

          Barb McBreen, Communications Specialist, barbmc@iastate.edu

          Betsy Danielson, Extension Program Specialist IV, betsydan@iastate.edu

          Joel Rybolt, Systems Analyst III, jrybolt@iastate.edu

          Elaine Phompheng, Student Services Specialist II, elaine@iastate.edu

Recognition and Awards Committee

Chair, Nate Dobbels, Academic Advisor II, ndobbels@iastate.edu

            Brenda Downs Admin Specialist II, bdowns@iastate.edui

            Michael Kaiser Research Assoc. II, mgkaiser@iastate.edu

            Liesl Eathington, Asst. Scientist III, leathing@iastate.edu

            Mickie Deaton , Academic Advisor II, mjdeaton@iastate.edu

           Susan DeBlieck, Program Coordinator II, deblieck@iastate.edu

Ex Officio Members                           

Casey Smith, University P&S CALS Representative and Student Services Specialist, caseys@iastate.edu

Ruth MacDonald, Food Science and Human Nutrition Chair and Assistant Dean of Graduate programs, ruthmacd@iastate.edu