The board that governs the three state universities will discuss proposals from a consultant designed to save money along with a proposal for the first tuition increase in two years at their meeting next week in Iowa City. The Deloitte consulting firm told the Board of Regents there could be some staff cuts associated with what are called the “business practices” proposals they outlined in a meeting earlier this month.
The Regents have just completed hearings at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa to discuss the issue. Jeneane Beck with UNI says they’ll talk more about the proposals at this meeting. “The presidents of each institution will provide some general feedback that they’ve received on their campus, some overall feelings of any concerns people might have, or any support people might have for the recommendations made by Deloitte,” Beck says. “And then on November 14th at that special board meeting the board will vote whether to move forward with implementation of all if any of the eight administrative business cases.”
The cost of implementing the 8 recommendations has not been determined, and Beck says there are several variables that will determine the cost.
“There are some that maybe the universities believe they can implement on their own. There might be some that they believe they need assistance from an outside vendor,” Beck explains, “and that has yet to be determined. If you would move to using an outside vendor, those are costs that would have to be negotiated.”
The Board of Regents will also discuss a tuition increase of 1.75 percent for resident students at ISU and UNI and 1.74 percent at the U-I. Board spokesperson, Sheila Doyle Koppin, says the tuition was last raised in the 2012-2013 academic year and frozen in the next two years. The increase will add 116 dollars to the tuition bill at each school.
The board also proposes an increase in mandatory fees of 25 dollars at the U-I, $4.50 at ISU and $68 at UNI.