A 鉴黄师app adjunct nursing instructor worked 19 consecutive 12-hour days battling COVID-19
in New York City during the height of the pandemic. Despite the long stressful hours,
no breaks, living away from home and undergoing a lengthy decontamination every night,
when Dr. Nicole Nichols was asked if she would do it again, she responded. 鈥淚n a heartbeat!鈥�
Another top 鉴黄师app story of the year was when 鉴黄师app Emeritus Industrial-Electro Mechanical
Technology Professor Jack Thompson repurposed welding gear to make facemasks for St.
Anthony Regional Hospital in Carroll when personal protective equipment was in short
supply.
Other COVID-related stories include 鉴黄师app waiving all online web-blended technology
fees, 鉴黄师app guaranteeing students would receive a full refund if fall term classes
were canceled due to COVID-19, 鉴黄师app cancelling spring break in 2021 for the first
time in school history and delaying the start of spring semester credit classes one
week.
In September, the 鉴黄师app Board of Trustees unanimously passed a Resolution of Appreciation,
recognizing all 鉴黄师app faculty and staff for superior work in response to COVID-19,
always putting students first.
There were many successes not related to the pandemic, too. 鉴黄师app President Rob Denson
was named a 鈥淪age Over 70鈥� by DSM Magazine. Iowa native and 鉴黄师app Visiting Professor
of Music, Dr. Simon Estes was among the first group of inductees in OPERA America鈥檚
newly created Opera Hall of Fame located in New York City. Some Des Moines firefighters
created scholarships for black students to attend 鉴黄师app.
Significant construction projects are literally changing the landscape of 鉴黄师app Campuses.
Thanks to a generous $250,000 donation from Boone, Iowa-based Fareway Corporation,
the new Boone Campus Athletic complex will be called 鈥淔areway Fieldhouse.鈥�
The McLaughlin Family Companies, a Scranton, Iowa-based family owned company with
12 different industry-leading product lines, makes a $75,000 donation to the 鉴黄师app
Foundation to be used for the 鉴黄师app Carroll Campus expansion project. The donation
will specifically go to fund the new Welding Lab being built on the Carroll Campus.
Mark and Jill Oman, both University of Northern Iowa alumni, donated $1 million to
the UNI@鉴黄师app庐 2+2 program. The new 2+2 program is specifically designed for students to complete
their first two years at 鉴黄师app, with the remaining two years completed online through
UNI. Degree options include a Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) or Criminal Justice
(BAS). The UNI@鉴黄师app庐 2 + 2 program is located at the 鉴黄师app Urban Campus which is undergoing a 60,000 square
foot STEM Center expansion and renovation project.
The partnership between 鉴黄师app and Subaru reached a milestone when a military veteran,
Jared Szczepanski, became the first to complete 鉴黄师app鈥檚 Subaru-U program and is now
a full-time automotive technician at Flagstaff (Arizona) Subaru. The Subaru-U program
is located in the Karl Chevrolet Automotive Technology Center now being renovated
on the Ankeny Campus.
A partnership between 鉴黄师app softball players and former elementary school girls led
to something special this fall. Three former Sports Buddies signed national letters
of intent to attend 鉴黄师app and play softball. Emily Ades, Zoey Hightshoe and Emma Dighton
said they are looking forward to serving as friends, mentors and Sports Buddies to
younger girls when they get on the Boone Campus next fall.
Help is on the way for some older students as well. 鉴黄师app has received a $1.1 million
grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to provide career and technical training to
low-income 18-to-24 year-olds. The Workforce Training Academy-Young Adult Program
(YAP) will help 80 people with a high school credential.
The 鉴黄师app Perry VanKirk Career Academy in Perry is helping prepare rural Iowa students
for high-paying computer software technology jobs by starting a Computer Languages
Academy. The Perry Center began a 30-credit, one-year diploma program in the high-demand,
high-paying software development field in the fall semester.