Students will soon be able to experience financial literacy in a new course coming to Iowa State, as well as possible changes to campus transportation.

Controversies involving student education also were brought to light during Thursday’s Professional and Scientific Council meeting.

Senior Vice President and Provost Jonathan Wickert addressed the council in order to clear misconceptions of the recent controversy involving an on-campus writing assignment.

Wickert expressed support for international studies professor James Strohman, who asked students last month to write about 9/11 from the perspective of al-Qaeda terrorists.

“When you take a class in international studies the goal is to understand other cultures,” Wickert said. ”For years, he’s been doing an assignment where he takes a historical event from an American perspective and then has his students write a narrative from the opposite culture’s perspective.”

Wickert stressed that a connected world and the rampant misuse of fake news led to a false narrative that painted the professor as a terrorist supporter. Wickert supported Strohman and his assignment fully throughout the process, saying learning about other cultures is “a part of being educated and growing up.”

Looking to the future, Wickert hopes that students will continue to look at the world through a new lens.

“We see news all the time that says ‘Why do they hate us?’” Wickert said. ”I’d like to think the purpose of this class is to understand where people are coming from, and I think the world would be a better place if we had more understanding.”

Briefly touching on the ongoing presidential search to replace Steven Leath, Faculty Senate President Jonathan Sturm ensured that faculty will play a large role in deciding the position. Saying that input is “expected and not hoped for,” Sturm sees faculty input beginning once the initial search results surface near the end of the month.

Clayton Johnson, Professional and Scientific Council president, also prioritized the input of professional staff in choosing the next Iowa State president during his council report.

An update on the proposed financial literacy course revealed that 54 percent of students involved in a test run felt somewhat confident in money management before the course, but there was a 59 percent confidence rating after the course.

Sturm feels confident that the course will receive positive feedback upon its release and hopes to update the council after its availability becomes public.

Given the large amount of students on campus, as well as an increasing amount of construction, there were concerns about the viability of parking at Iowa State.

Randy Larabee, Transportation Advisory Council chair, provided an update on the newly implemented guest parking system.

Though very popular in use, with more than 7,600 permits used since April 2016, data found that up to 60 permits were given to a single person.

“This seems to be an issue of a boyfriend or girlfriend coming up to Freddy Court for the weekend and receiving a pass again and again,” Larabee said.

Larabee is considering changes to the system, including charging for what initially was a free pass.

Parking systems near Helser Hall, Science 2, Lagomarcino Hall and the Communications Building will be rebuilt in 2017. Roads stretching from Bissell to Union Drive and Union Drive to Welch Avenue/ Bissell to Lincoln Way will be shut down for construction during the summer months.