| Connecting Iowa communities with UI faculty and students to advance shared goals. | IISC is a campus-wide community engagement initiative that empowers students, faculty, staff, and community partners to co-create mutually beneficial projects in pursuit of vibrant, sustainable, and equitable futures. The program offers energizing and applicable learning experiences to graduate and upper-level undergraduate students, while simultaneously providing valuable services and substantial outcomes to communities. Each year, we facilitate 30-40 community engagement projects with units across campus, involving more than 200 UI students and faculty.
Winner of the Campus Compact Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnerships Award | | | | Travis Kraus, IISC's director and a faculty member in the School of Planning and Public Affairs, received the Michael J. Brody Award for Faculty Excellence in Service to the University and the State of Iowa during a ceremony in March 2025. The UI Faculty Senate has given this award, named after a former Senate president, since 1990. Kraus was among three recipients, each of whom has long track records for giving back to Iowa via their research and teaching.
LEARN MORE
| | | All of the student and faculty work completed this academic year is now published on the IISC website. Two Arc GIS StoryMaps highlight the partnerships with Pathfinders RC&D and the cities of West Burlington and Burlington. You can find project summaries, quotes from participants, and links to reports, designs, and other materials completed by students. For anyone interested in these specific partnerships or who wants to better understand IISC's work, the StoryMaps provide a user-friendly introduction.
Pathfinders RC&D StoryMap
West Burlington/Burlington StoryMap | | | | In May 2025, IISC bestowed awards to recognize the work of a student and a faculty member on behalf of a community partner. Jovana Kolašinac, an Urban Planning graduate student (URP '25) was recognized for her tireless commitment to creating work that surpassed clients' expectations, including a trailhead design for West Burlington and a downtown master plan for Oskaloosa. Michael Fallon, Earth & Environmental Sciences, was lauded for the pollinator garden he and his students designed and planted in West Burlington. Also recognized were our partners for this year: Gregg Mandsager, City Administrator of West Burlington; Chad Bird, City Manager of Burlington, (pictured here at the awards ceremony); and Ashley Utt, Executive Director of Pathfinders RC&D. Without their collaborative spirits and clear leadership, these partnerships and the projects they produced would not have been possible.
| | | In 2023, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed a new law into effect that changed state rules for child labor. It increased the number of hours that 14- and 15-year-olds can work and expanded their potential work activities. It also increased exceptions to the ban on potentially dangerous work for 16- and 17-year-olds. Parts of the new law are less restrictive than federal laws, while other parts are looser. Employers and prospective employees alike are confused as to their rights.
As part of the 2024-25 IISC partnership with Pathfinders RC&D, the South Central Work Force Development Board (SCWFD) asked a team of three UI College of Law students to provide clarity. The students, who were enrolled in the Community Empowerment Law Project, examined state and federal laws to discern where they differed.
READ MORE
| | | | Located just 12 miles from the University of Iowa campus, the City of West Branch will be an easy location to get to for the nearly 100 students and faculty who will work there next year. As IISC's twenty-first partner, West Branch offers not only proximity, but plenty of projects for UI classes seeking hands-on learning. Adam Kofoed, the City Administrator, is an alumnus of the School of Planning and Public Affairs and worked on an IISC capstone project in Mason City. Today, he looks forward to collaborating with students on a comprehensive plan for the expanding community. The city offers unique elements that will play into students' projects, including the presence of the National Park Service, which operates the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library & Museum, and a rich history connected to the Quaker community and Scattergood Friends School. A full slate of projects will be announced in the fall. | | | Rick Fosse is retiring after many years as a faculty member in Civil and Environmental Engineer. Since 2014, he has been a faculty advisor on many IISC projects that included students from that department. Notable projects with which Fosse was involved include the redesign of Manchester's Shelly Park; a subdivision in Maquoketa; and a potable water plan for Camp Courageous. Fosse was formerly the City of Iowa City's public works director. Thank you, Rick, for being a great colleague and for mentoring so many UI students!
| | | |
