FOREWORD – Spring 2012

Melea Reicks Licht

I first met Paul Lasley, now professor and chair of sociology and anthropology, on a campus visit with my parents. Paul was the only professor my father had a chance to meet before his death months later. Lasley’s third floor East Hall office was filled with farm tools, some antique and some just old. Behind him on the wall was a large black and white photo of two impoverished children, barefoot before a barn with chipped white paint. I honestly don’t remember what we talked about. I just remember that photo. And how Lasley made us laugh. His laugh filled the room and spilled down the hall. It was the first time that day my parents and I really laughed. We felt so much more at ease the rest of our visit. To see professors as people was an important lesson for me.

Since then Lasley and his family have embraced me and mine. I worked for Paul as a teaching aid. We led a travel course to Ireland for several years. He sat on my graduate committee. Lasley and his wife Pauletti (or Papa and Nana as my young sons call them) were at the hospital just hours after the birth of each of my children. They invited us to sit in their pew at church. They stood beside me with the rest of my family during some of the most trying times of my life. I’m so thankful for the light and joy, fun and family we bring to each other’s lives.

That’s the kind of connection—one of extraordinary personal support and kindness—that underlies the education offered in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Iowa State University. There are countless stories like mine, of professors and staff going above and beyond for their students. It’s not just a job —it’s their passion.

That’s why my heart swells whenever Paul Lasley, proudly beaming, introduces me: “This is my ‘adopted’ daughter, Melea.”

I hope the stories in these pages are able to capture and inspire the special feeling that’s possible here, and conjure fond memories of special professors and staff from your own time at ISU. If so, please consider sharing your story by e-mailing stories@iastate.edu. I will compile and share responses with our readers via our monthly e-newsletter, STORIES Online. Visit www.cals.iastate.edu/stories to sign up.

Kind regards,

Melea Reicks Licht

Q&A: STUDENT TO STUDENT

Jenny English sports some fabulous footwear. From a tour of duty in Afghanistan, to studying abroad in Mexico, to twirling in a dance studio on the ISU campus, her student experience is like no other.

Carly Martin, junior in agricultural education and studies, communications option, chats with Jenny English, senior in animal science and member of the Army National Guard, about what it’s like to walk in her shoes.

What have you been involved with at Iowa State?

I am animal science pre-vet and I have a minor in Spanish and nutritional sciences. I also have drill training one weekend each month for the Army National Guard. I work for Diane Spurlock in her lab and I’m a Student Admissions Representative. I’m a member of ballroom dancing club, too.

You stay pretty busy! Is there a particular animal that you are most interested in?

I joined Block and Bridle as a freshman and participated in the Little North American Showmanship contest winning the novice showmanship award for swine. This experience made me realize I was most interested in learning about and working with swine.

I actually grew up on a swine farm so they’re my favorite, too. How will you pursue your interest in working with swine?

Currently I’m working in the swine nutrition lab researching feed digestibility. This summer, I will apply to vet school and intern with Iowa Select Farms.

Do you have a favorite activity that you have been part of at Iowa State?

Being a Student Admissions Representative. I love being able to give students tours around campus and get them excited about coming here.

How did you decide to join the Army National Guard?

Some of my high school classmates in Le Grand, Iowa, encouraged me to join. After learning about the benefits such as full paid tuition, books and living expense, I went through the training.

When you were deployed what did you enjoy most and what were your biggest challenges?

After my junior year at ISU I was deployed to Afghanistan for a year. I enjoyed being able to take part in more of the hands-on experiences like creating Purple and Bronze Star awards for soldiers and working with people from many different states and countries. I was also assigned to interact with locals to help gain and build their trust with the United States. The hardest part was being away from my family, especially when my mom passed away in a car accident in January of 2011.

Was it tough to transition back to campus?

My return back to Iowa and my studies went more smoothly than I expected. While deployed, I took online classes and that really helped me transition back. My family and friends were a great support, too. I still keep in touch with students from my unit that attend Iowa State.

What other international experience have you had?

In the spring of 2009, I studied abroad in Mexico for three months as part of a Spanish language immersion course.

Looking back, what have you learned from your time on campus and abroad?

People are one of the best resources you can have. The advice and mentoring I’ve received have opened up so many doors and opportunities that I couldn’t achieve on my own.

VOICES: DEFINING THE CALS EXPERIENCE

Director of Student Services Tom Polito sees the student experience in agriculture and life sciences as connecting what happens in and outside of the classroom. For Senior Katee Keller that includes Collegiate FFA, Block & Bridle, the Agricultural Business Club and working in the student services office.

The student experience in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences connects what happens inside and outside the classroom. The two are mutually supportive and synergistic.

Students’ out-of-classroom activities are as instilled in the college’s culture as the land-grant philosophy. Even Iowa State’s motto, “Science with Practice,” reflects how our students take what they’ve learned in class and make the coursework more relevant to them.

Some parts of our student experience, like student clubs, student council and Alpha Zeta, have been fixtures for a century or more. My wife’s grandfather, a 1912 animal husbandry grad, has fascinated me with the story of his Alpha Zeta induction. Traveling abroad goes back more than 50 years. Today, students study on every continent.

In the past 15 years, learning communities have become an important way for new students to become part of the ISU community quickly and easily. About 90 percent of the college’s freshmen are members of a learning community. Learning communities set the stage for what students can accomplish in their time at ISU. Plus, the students enjoy their experiences. One student commented on a learning community evaluation, “This is the greatest thing mom ever signed me up for!”

We particularly encourage and assist our students in finding internships. In my experience, students returning to campus after completing internships have greater direction and motivation. They bring what they’ve learned back into the classroom so that other students and often instructors can benefit.

As a faculty member, it’s exciting to watch students change their focus from a purely academic one to a professional one. Instead of thinking only about grades, they begin to grasp that what they’re learning will impact how they advise future clients, benefit their communities and solve problems locally and globally. Internships aid them in making this transition. Coincidentally, guess what happens to students’ grades as they progress from an academic focus to a professional one?

With such a breadth of opportunities, another of our college’s strengths comes into play—academic advising. I like to think of our advisers as symphony conductors. They help students blend activities both inside and outside the classroom, where each student’s final college experience is greater than the sum of its parts.

Our student experiences have never been one size fits all or cookie cutter. We strive to provide all students with rich, meaningful, individual and personal experiences that enable them to accomplish more than they believed possible when they entered ISU. That’s our legacy, that’s our future.

We have plenty of evidence of success. For me, the most convincing evidence occurs every year on the second Tuesday in October. That’s the day the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences hosts the largest agricultural career day in the nation. Our great graduates are in great demand!

HELPING STUDENTS OVERCOME OBSTACLES

Alumna Maggie DenBeste credits Professor Howard Tyler for believing in her when it seemed no one else would.

Read Howard Tyler’s list of honors and it’s clear the animal science professor puts students first, based on awards for his work as a student adviser and mentor.

“I prioritize my time by focusing first on activities that have the most impact on students,” Tyler says. “Helping students overcome obstacles is the part of my job I find the most rewarding.”

Maggie DenBeste faced many obstacles. After high school, she enrolled at Kirkwood Community College. The following year, her parents divorced and her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Despite family turmoil, she graduated with an associate degree in agriculture and transferred to Iowa State. Her mother died the following spring. “I dropped half my courses and failed the other half,” DenBeste says.

She kept trying and in December 2002 graduated with a bachelor’s in animal science. In January, she learned she was pregnant and would be raising a son alone.

DenBeste worked four years before deciding she couldn’t make enough money to support herself and her son. She wanted to return to school and contacted her undergraduate adviser, Steven Lonergan, who introduced her to Tyler.

“Earning my undergraduate degree was difficult,” DenBeste says. “With my mother’s death, I had trouble caring. I got my grades up enough to graduate, but when I wanted to enroll in grad school, Dr. Tyler was the only one who would consider me.”

“Her grades were not stellar,” Tyler jokes. “But I didn’t feel her grades reflected her ability. It seemed with all she’d been through, graduate school would be a small challenge.”

DenBeste enrolled in January 2007. “That March I almost quit because I didn’t believe I could succeed. I stuck with it, thanks to Dr. Tyler and fellow graduate students,” she says.

Tyler deflects DenBeste’s praise, saying he “just encouraged her to talk, and tried to be supportive of her status as a single mom.”

DenBeste sees it differently. “I had a major lack of confidence,” she says. “During my project, I had to collect blood samples from baby calves within five minutes of birth. Dr. Tyler helped with the first few, watched for a few and then left me to sink or swim. He knew I could do it even if I didn’t.”

Tyler and his wife Kris helped on a personal level. “They would watch my son if I had to be at the dairy farm, or

working on my thesis, or just needed a night off,” DenBeste says.

Tyler organizes monthly meetings for his grad students. “We had speakers who would talk about their journey through life. Dr. Tyler wanted us to learn how to balance personal and work life,” DenBeste says.

She graduated in December 2009 with a master’s in animal physiology and is education program coordinator for the U.S. Pork Center of Excellence at Iowa State.

“Most students face obstacles, but often don’t know how to ask for help,” Tyler says. “Students typically don’t leave school because they aren’t smart enough. With a little more guidance, most could make it. Supporting students is a crucial part of my job.”

Faculty Resources for Helping Students Through Personal Challenges

Howard Tyler was among the first to sign up for the ISU Student Counseling Service’s new Mental Health First-Aid training. The 12-hour session teaches faculty and staff a set of action steps for helping a distressed student until appropriate treatment and support are received. “Many students just need someone to notice they are having challenges and ask about their life in a nonjudgmental way,” says Tyler, who completed the training in July. “The training gives you the tools to initiate these conversations, recognize the issues and effectively refer students to the appropriate resources,” he says.

“Most students face obstacles, but often don’t know how to ask for help. Students typically don’t leave school because they aren’t smart enough. With a little more guidance, most could make it. Supporting students is a crucial part of my job.”