Des Moines University forms faculty development academy with alumni gift
Des Moines University is creating a faculty development academy with the donation from a DMU graduate and his wife. Shown here, Des Moines University students celebrated Match Day on March 21, 2025, when they learned where they'll serve medical residencies. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences is utilizing donor dollars to expand the knowledge and skills of faculty with a new development initiative.
The private medical university announced Wednesday the launch of the Dr. Robert and Brenda Good Faculty Development Academy, a campus-wide initiative to 'advance excellence in teaching, educational research and leadership among its faculty members,' according to a news release.
'This is a bold, forward-looking initiative designed to support faculty throughout their professional growth,' said DMU Assistant Vice President for Academic Innovation and Enhancement Nehad El-Sawi in the release. 'From peer-led consultations to faculty workshops on cutting-edge topics like artificial intelligence and enhanced preceptor development, the academy fosters a collaborative ecosystem for academic excellence.'
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
According to the release, the initiative will focus on six areas relating to faculty training and development, including improving onboarding, offering continuous professional development, encouraging educational research, furthering collaboration across campus and bettering teaching skills.
El-Sawi said in the release this initiative will help the college invest in the future of health care by investing in its own faculty.
A gift from 1977 DMU graduate Robert Good and his wife, Brenda, is funding the program, the release stated. DMU Director of Marketing and Communications Denise Lamphier said in an email the university is not providing the gift amount at the request of the donors.
The Goods said in the release DMU needs to give the students who will eventually be caring for Iowans and others the best start they can, and a way to do that is to ensure faculty have the best training and skills to pass onto their classes.
'Their generosity will ripple through future generations and help prepare the health care heroes our world so urgently needs, including rural physicians, groundbreaking researchers and compassionate therapists,' said DMU President Angela Walker Franklin in the release. 'This is more than a gift. It's a promise of hope and innovation. The entire DMU community is grateful to the Goods for believing in our mission and investing in its future.'
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Governor signs Medicaid work requirements, Opioid Settlement Fund bills into law
Gov. Kim Reynolds, seen here in a file photo from May 2023, signed two dozen bills Friday. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Gov. Kim Reynolds signed more than 20 bills into law Friday, including funding for the state's Opioid Settlement Fund and state-level Medicaid work requirements. The governor has a little more than a week, until June 14, to sign the remaining bills passed during the 2025 legislative session into law. This week, the governor has held events signing multiple measures into law — including the reduction in Iowa's unemployment insurance tax system. On Friday, she signed into law House File 969, a bill expanding the disability and death benefits for first responders like firefighters, emergency medical services responders and law enforcement officer to cover all forms of cancer. This was not the only measure Reynolds signed into law Friday. She released a list of 24 new laws, which include some state spending provisions and other high-profile policies sent to her desk earlier this year. Here are some of the bills signed into law: As discussions — and conflicts — continue over the federal work requirement proposal for Medicaid coverage included in the GOP budget reconciliation bill, Reynolds signed Senate File 615, into law, a measure setting similar work requirements for the Iowa Medicaid program. The requirements for at least 80 hours of work each month would apply to people receiving health coverage through the Iowa Health and Wellness Plan. IHAWP is the state's expanded Medicaid program for low-income people between ages 19 to 64. There are exemptions to these work and reporting requirements for people with disabilities, serious illnesses or injuries, as well as those with children under age 6. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The law directs the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services to seek a waiver to implement these requirements from the federal government. Iowa HHS has already submitted a waiver with a slightly different work requirement plan for IHAWP — one that sets a 100-hour per month work requirement, or for a person to be earn the equivalent in wages to working 100 hours a month at $7.25 per hour, or be enrolled in education or job skills programs to retain coverage. Reynolds said in a statement on the bill signing, 'it is priority of mine to ensure our government programs reflect a culture of work.' 'If you are an able-bodied adult who can work, you should work,' the governor said. 'We need to return Medicaid back to its intended purpose—to provide coverage to the people who truly need it.' Democrats and others critics have said the legislation will cut off health care coverage for eligible Iowans due to additional red tape, leading to a financial hit for rural hospitals and other health care centers. The measure also contains a component that could have lasting impacts for Iowa's expanded Medicaid program: If the federal government allows Iowa to implement work requirements, then later revokes approval, HHS would be directed to end IHAWP. The move to discontinue the program would require federal approval, and if the decision is not approved, Iowa HHS would be asked to pursue implementing an 'alternative plan' under federal Medicaid administration guidelines. After several years of stalled action, Reynolds approved the Legislature's agreement on how to spend money from opioid lawsuit settlements. House File 1038 distributes $29 million from the fund, money obtained in settlements for lawsuits by states against opioid manufacturers, distributors and pharmacies for their roles in the opioid epidemic. For several years, lawmakers in the Senate and House have failed to reach an agreement on how to spend the funds, which are obligated to go to opioid addiction treatment and prevention. But in the final hours of the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers agreed to a system that provides funding for specific organizations and programs that focus on addition treatment, recovery and prevention in fiscal year 2026. In future years, money in the settlement fund will go to Iowa HHS and the Attorney General's office — entities that will then decide how to allocate the money to organizations in the state. HHS will receive 75% of the funding each year and the AG's office will receive 25%. While some lawmakers said they were frustrated with the money going to these state entities instead of being distributed directly by the Legislature, the bill passed with broad bipartisan support as get the funding into Iowa communities. The governor thanked the Legislature for sending the bill to her desk in 2025. 'The opioid crisis continues to impact Iowa families,' Reynolds said in a statement. 'I'm thankful the legislature reached an opioid settlement fund agreement this session to immediately distribute $29 million to providers and appropriate ongoing available funds to support early intervention, prevention, treatment, and recovery.' The governor also signed House File 706, the bill setting higher penalties for violations of open meetings laws and requiring public officials t9 receive training on open meetings and records laws. The bill was brought forward this year after a similar measure was vetoed in 2024 after a last-minute amendment was added that public records advocates had said would lead to unintended consequences. But Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, said adding heightened penalties and more training was still an important measure to pass as a means of addressing violations of these laws in Davenport related to the collapse of a six-story apartment building and alleged violations of open meeting laws in 2023. The bill was also amended in 2025 by the Iowa Senate to include language add two types of records to the state's list of confidential records — security camera footage from the Iowa Capitol and information from state employee identification card access systems. Senate File 175, also signed into law Friday, is a measure modeled after 'Meet Baby Olivia' laws passed in other states. Though Iowa's law does not reference the 'Meet Baby Olivia' video developed by the anti-abortion group Live Action by name, it requires students in 5th through 12th grade human growth and development classes be shown ultrasound video and computer-generated rendering or animations depicting 'the humanity of the unborn child by showing prenatal human development, starting at fertilization.' The bill was amended by the House to include a provision banning materials in school classrooms on fetal development that come from an entity that performs or 'promotes' abortion, or that contracts, affiliates, or makes referrals to organizations that perform or promote abortions. Democratic lawmakers said this ban would mean material coming from reputable organizations and health care providers, like the Mayo Clinic or the University of Iowa Health System, could be excluded, as the ban would not exclude organizations that perform abortions in cases necessary to save the life of the mother. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Clean energy tax cuts in reconciliation budget would stall renewable energy projects in Iowa
Wind turbines along west-bound Interstate 80 on March 29, 2025. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch) Clean energy advocates said Iowa stands to lose jobs, manufacturing facilities, renewable energy project expansions and face more expensive utility bills if Congress passes the budget reconciliation bill as is. Many of these credits were extended via the Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act, which put them under attack from Republican lawmakers opposed to the green policies. Renewable energy advocates say continued investment into wind, solar and other clean energy sources, regardless of environmental impact, is vital to meeting growing energy demands. Nearly three-fifths of Iowa's total electricity generation comes from renewable sources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, which also reports Iowa is one of the top states for solar and wind energy generation. Since 2019, Iowa has generated more electricity via wind than from coal and continues to grow its solar production. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Kristina Costa, who formerly worked at the White House implementing the Inflation Reduction Act's energy and climate policies, said the IRA established at least 10 years of tax credits to support clean energy industries, which launched new projects and expanded the industry. 'The House bill that the Republicans passed explodes that entire paradigm,' Costa said. 'It functions as a full repeal of the Inflation Reduction Act.' Costa, during a Thursday press conference with Climate Power, said the bill 'really radically' changes how clean electricity developers can plan and develop their projects, by eliminating the ability to 'lock in' a tax treatment at the start of construction. 'This is going to create a lot of uncertainty for project developers,' Costa said. 'It's going to raise financing costs for project developers pretty considerably … but it also just means that fewer projects will end up qualifying for the credits.' Clean energy tax credits impact transportation, power generation, industry and construction and create incentives for projects like renewable vehicle fuels, solar, wind, nuclear power generation and more. Per the reconciliation bill text as it passed the House May 22, the bill would terminate clean vehicle credits, residential energy efficiency credits, hydrogen fuel credits and place restrictions on credits for clean electricity production, zero-emission nuclear energy production and other sectors. Some of the restrictions include strict construction timeline requirements, like beginning construction within 60 days of enactment, and bringing the projects online by 2028. Costa said these timelines create an 'incredibly sharp cliff' for developers to work within for projects that often take years and can face lengthy setbacks from supply chain disruptions. The budget bill also has extensive language pertaining to and restricting projects that have any ties to foreign entities. Costa said these restrictions are 'very complicated, unworkable, Byzantine requirements' that impose 'a lot of red tape' for developers and would have the 'immediate effect of freezing the market.' She said it would require companies to understand where 'literally every nut, bolt, screw and wire in a project they are building comes from' and certify that it does not have any ties to China or to Russia. Costa said gutting these policies will lead to increased energy costs for American customers. A study from Clean Energy Buyers Association analyzed the impact of removing just two clean energy tax credit programs, and found it would cause an average increase of 7% for residential electricity costs. Part of the problem is an anticipated 2% energy demand increase nationwide, in 2025 and again in 2026, according to the EIA. Much of that energy demand is a result of battery manufacturing and data centers. Iowa alone has roughly 100 data centers, which is one of the largest concentrations in the midwest. 'The near term additions to the grid are going to come from renewables, or they're supposed to come from renewables under the current tax regime,' Costa said. 'That is why you would see these consumer electricity price increases.' A spokesperson for Alliant Energy, one of Iowa's utility companies with significant investments in solar and wind energy, said the company is monitoring the bill. A spokesperson for MidAmerican Energy declined to comment on the pending legislation. Earlier this year, NextEra Energy proposed restarting its Duane Arnold Energy Center, a nuclear plant near Palo. A representative from the company did not answer questions about the impact the Republican-sponsored bill would have on the Iowa project. A study from The Nature Conservancy found that clean energy tax credits in Iowa alone would add more than $238 million in annual economic value to Iowa, if left intact through 2032. Repeal of the credits would also affect associated manufacturing companies, like those that make solar panel parts, or wind turbine blades. Analysis from Climate Power found 400,000 jobs nationwide would be in jeopardy without the tax credits supporting the expanding industry. Joe Zimsen, an Iowa resident with 10 years of construction experience in the wind industry, said the IRA created a 'tremendous amount of hope' among his colleagues in the industry that has now 'disintegrated' because of budget bill. Zimsen formerly worked on wind projects near Grinnell, but now works for Renew Energy as a construction manager for off-shore wind projects. He and his family still live in Iowa, and he urged Iowa senators to oppose the bill as it is currently written. 'This policy of killing offshore and onshore wind and solar energy is going to have tremendous detrimental effects and set us back another 10 to 15 years behind our competitors, like China and Europe,' Zimsen said. 'We can't afford to do that.' U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said Tuesday that wind energy incentives have been at risk since 2015 when he worked to extend them, and he said he senators would try to find a 'compromise' on them again, Radio Iowa reported. But, the so-called, 'big beautiful bill' comprises much more than just clean energy concerns, which Grassley said means one issue can't 'stand in the way' of the rest of the bill. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst's office did not respond to requests for comment. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Disability rights advocates encourage senators to vote against Big, Beautiful, Bill
IOWA (KCAU) — Disability rights advocates joined forces on June 5. They encouraged Iowa senators to vote against the president's so-called 'Big, Beautiful, Bill' due to the ramifications Iowans would face. The group 'Protect Our Care Iowa' said that the bill would cut Medicaid to over 600k Iowans, including 81k people with disabilities. Advocates for the bill say it cuts waste, fraud, and abuse, but the group says it's a way to cut services to the most vulnerable and offer tax cuts to the wealthy. Zach Mecham, medicaid recipient and disability rights advocate, said, 'I know throughout my history of disability advocacy that all of these policies, whether they're aimed at efficiency, or fraud, or abuse, or privatizing healthcare. I know that they all, based on my personal experience, trickle down and harm people like me.' The bill is in the hands of the U.S. Senate. Lawmakers said their goal is for it to be on the President's desk by the Fourth of July. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
