Hello, CALS,

July certainly made a grand entrance, arriving with fireworks-filled celebrations of our nation’s founding, extreme heat warnings and torrential rains. According to the National Weather Service, rainfall totals in Ames on July 3 and 4 reached as much as six inches, with the combined amounts exceeding what is considered a 1,000-year, 48-hour rainfall event for central Iowa. Since then, additional storms have brought July’s total rainfall to 8.5 inches—nearly double the monthly average—and we are only halfway through the month.

Communities across our region experienced even greater rainfall amounts, resulting in flooded streets, yards and basements. Thankfully, water levels remained well below those seen during the historic floods of 1993. Still, our thoughts are with those who are coping with the challenges and damage caused by the recent storms.

Over in Curtiss Hall, we are having conversations with department chairs about their plans and goals, and reaching out to our various constituencies. Earlier this month, I attended the Iowa Soybean Association picnic with President Cook and provided a college update at their annual meeting.

Our fall enrollment numbers look strong, though slightly down from this time last year. We greatly appreciate our recruitment staff and the academic advisors who continue to meet with and help move the “offers” to “accepts” – every student matters!

We look forward to hearing about the great experiences our students have in their summer study abroad programs and internships, and our communications team would love to share those great stories! Reach out to Whitney Baxter, wjsager@iastate.edu, with names of potential students to feature.

Enjoy the warm and sunny days ahead!

-Ruth