Jordan Gillespie, senior manager budget and finance in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is the recipient of the staff 2025 Early Achievement Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. Her role is to manage the college’s budget of more than $105 million and oversee the financial operations of several auxiliary units within the college. She has implemented strategic and creative solutions to streamline operations and achieve college and university priorities, making a substantial impact in a short amount of time.
As the chief financial officer for the college, Gillespie directly manages all aspects of the budget, which is complex and multifaceted. As a land-grant institution, Iowa State receives capacity or formula funds based on the agricultural enterprise of the state. These funds come to CALS to be used for its research programs. Because these funds are received from the federal government, there are many regulations and restrictions on how they can be used. This management is extremely complicated and ensuring all the spending is aligned with the regulations requires in-depth knowledge and highly efficient tracking. Gillespie identified a more simplified approach to tracking these funds, and it is estimated this will allow the college to more fully use the capacity funds and reduce several weeks of work by staff.
The complexity of the CALS budget cannot be overstated, and Gillespie’s ability to comprehend and engage with that complexity has been impressive. Beyond the direct financial responsibility to the federal government through the capacity funds, there are 14 academic departments – eight of which are co-administered with three other colleges – and 22 centers or institutes. CALS also operates a network of farms across the state and has several unique operations including the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, the Seed Science Center, and the recently opened Iowa State University Kent Feed Mill and Grain Complex.
The Feed Mill, for example, is a multi-faceted operation that includes production of feed for a commercial client, training and educational programs for feed mill professionals and affiliated organizations, and teaching and research for Iowa State students and faculty. Gillespie came into her role as the Feed Mill was being completed, and she stepped right in to develop the financial structures and policies needed to implement all of these components. A colleague stated, “Jordan has been instrumental in supporting the financial operations of all of these unique and different components of the college. She has worked behind the scenes to ensure policies are in place to ensure compliance, to monitor finances to improve efficiency and to train personnel for these operations.”
As is true for most of the colleges, CALS has experienced challenges with reduced income and increased expenses leading to budget deficits in recent years. Gillespie came to the college with several years of experience in financial auditing and used those skills to gather and interpret information quickly and efficiently. She has been instrumental in thinking of innovative and creative ways to be more efficient with the college’s resources and to identify sources of funds to address spending needs.