Mass E-Mail Archive 2008-09
Fall 2008
Dear Colleagues:
This is just a note to say how honored I am to be among the newest members of such a distinguished faculty, and to assume stewardship of academic affairs at The University of Iowa. I'm excited to work with President Mason and her leadership team, the collegiate deans, Faculty Senate, Staff Council, Student Government, and with all of our talented and dedicated faculty, staff, and students to advance the institution's mission of research, creative work, teaching, and public engagement.
I want to express my gratitude for the many welcoming letters, e-mails, and calls my family and I have received from the UI community. They brought back memories of the friendliness, caring, and generosity that I experienced when I first arrived in Iowa, as a freshman, from abroad. These qualities---so manifest in the aftermath of the heart-wrenching flood devastation---are what create a special sense of community in Iowa, and what made us feel instantly at home here.
I want to thank Lola Lopes for her outstanding service as interim provost. She has been incredibly giving of her time and wisdom during the transition. I feel fortunate, indeed, that I will be able to draw on her experience this coming year while she serves as special assistant to President Mason. And I'm also fortunate to be supported in the office by an exceptionally strong team of vice provost, associate provosts, and administrative staff.The University will face many important issues and opportunities in the coming months and years. These include post-flood recovery and academic planning; welcoming, for the third year in a row, a first-year class more than 4,200 strong; restoring the 100 tenure-track positions "lost" due to funding reallocations in recent years; developing a University strategic plan that coordinates with the recently started Regental strategic planning process; continuing progress on issues of diversity, sustainability, internationalization, and learning outcomes assessment; and enhancing the research enterprise, graduate education, and the undergraduate educational experience. I couldn't be more thrilled to work under the leadership of President Mason, and side-by-side with all of you, to strengthen this great University for the benefit of the people of Iowa, the nation, and the world.
Finally, let me assure you that in the future I'll save this method of communication for important and time-sensitive announcements. (For less pressing news and messages, you may wish to check the Office of the Provost web site at http://provost.uiowa.edu. I also invite you to share your ideas and concerns with me by e-mailing provost-office@uiowa.edu.) I hope you won't mind my taking space in your in-box this once, though, to say how much I look forward to working with you to make remarkable things continue to happen at The University of Iowa.
Sincerely,
Wallace D. Loh
Executive Vice President and Provost
Summer 2008
An update from the provost on returning to somewhat more normal operations
Dear Colleagues:
Although the worst part of the flood seems to be abating we are still in crisis mode regarding utilities (steam, chilled water, and electricity). This means that even though we are resuming classes, research, and other university operations on Monday, this is not a return to normal. We have beaten back a major catastrophe and should be proud of ourselves, but it will be many, many months before we return to full functioning. Until then, we need to continue to work as a team and always keep the functioning of the entire enterprise in mind.
From a utility point of view, the east and west sides of the campus are no longer connected. This means that conditions are different on the east and west sides of the river.
On the west, UIHC has been functioning throughout the crisis and classes will resume on Monday as scheduled. However, limits on availability of steam and chilled water mean that ramping research back up will need to be a controlled process in order to protect the system and prevent a set back. Interim VP for Research, Jordan Cohen, will oversee this process in consultation with deans and program directors.
The utility situation on the east side of the campus is even more fragile. As of this morning we were running at only 23% of normal chilled water capacity. If we are able to get the temporary chillers outside Old Music running, that will bring us to 40% which is probably the best we'll be able to do until steam is restored. Bottom line: we are all going to need to live gracefully with some discomfort. (Why steam is necessary for air conditioning is a whole other interesting story. I am going to try to get some information to you about this in the next few days.)
The strategy we discussed this morning involves running the chillers at night to bring down classroom and office building temperatures to a super-cooled state and then letting temperatures rise naturally during the day. In the daytime, the cooling capacity can be shifted to other areas such as labs that need air flow for hoods and other scientific apparatus. We also need to make sure that the IT infrastructure on this side of the river does not fail which means that IT areas need good cooling.
Many summer classes already meet in the morning when the buildings should be cool. If it become warm enough that afternoon classes are uncomfortable, faculty might try switching classes to early morning. (No, I am not joking, but I also appreciate that I might not get many takers on this idea!)
Parking is also in very short supply and some roads are still closed. Because of this, the university is encouraging faculty and staff to talk with their supervisors about flex-schedules or working from home. I am told that some researchers have found that forced time away from the lab is just right for writing grant proposals. That's an idea worth trying!
Before closing, let me recommend two web sites that provide information about the flood response that I found interesting. The company that has begun the "mucking out" operation in the flooded buildings is BMS CAT. We hope to have a story on the flood stories blog about BMS CAT soon, but in the meantime, you might enjoy looking at their web site (http://www.bmscat.com/). I was also fascinated to learn about the Hesco Barriers that were used at IATL and IMU. There is a big interesting web site for Hesco. I recommend browsing the section on applications at http://www.hesco.com/US_CIVIL/apps.html. The section on flood control (http://www.hesco.com/US_CIVIL/product.html#test) is particularly apt.
Keep watching the UI flood blog (http://uiflood.blogspot.com/ ) and the flood stories blog (http://uifloodstories.blogspot.com/). We are all in this together and we are all sharing in the loss and in the recovery.
Best wishes,
Lola Lopes
