February 23, 2012

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UNI lab school could be a victim of budget cuts

February 17, 2012 By

Ending some academic programs and out-sourcing campus police are some of the cost-cutting ideas the University of Northern Iowa’s president is considering. The initial reaction from the top two officers on the board that oversees the state universities is positive.

Craig Lang, president of the Board of Regents, says these are the kind of moves the board asked U.N.I. president Ben Allen to make. “Even putting colleges together, whatever services he had to out-source and come back to us with a plan,” Lang says. “…We think it’s very important that education’s sustainable in the future.”

Bruce Rastetter, president pro tem of the Board of Regents, says the board wants all the universities to start focusing on key “centers of excellence” and U.N.I. is “great at” educating future teachers.

“There’s great opportunity for it to support K-12 resurgence in Iowa in terms of the quality of education and lead with that,” Rastetter says. More than 350 K-through-12 students are enrolled at U-N-I’s “lab school” but the university’s president has indicated part or all of the school may be closed.

The board of regents president says a consultant’s report has raised questions about the lab school’s future. “If they said they had to rebuild the school because there’s some antiquated facilities there, it could be $30 million to do that,” Lang says. “That’s not affordable at this time so we’ve asked for some solutions.”

U.N.I.’s president has suggested “virtual” connections with schools around the state is a more “forward-looking” way to do the research conducted today at U.N.I.’s lab school and provide the student teaching opportunities.

Filed Under: Education, News Tagged With: ,

Regents respond to ISU letter critical of the military

December 9, 2011 By

The Board of Regents took the unusual step Thursday of responding to a letter written to the student newspaper at Iowa State University. The letter written by Thomas Walker, a lecturer in the English program, was critical of college Republicans for collecting items to put in care packages for soldiers who are on active duty.

One of the criticisms in Walker’s letter said the soldiers are not doing anything for the U.S., but are instead “creating anti-American terrorists in the countries they occupy.” Regents president pro-tem, Craig Rastetter was presiding over the meeting and took a moment to comment on the letter.

“I want to make it very clear that the Board of Regents does not share or support Mr. Walker’s opinion. And that is exactly what it is, his opinion,” Rastetter says, “I along with many Iowans, was offended and disgusted by the unfortunate and highly inappropriate remarks made against our soldiers in uniform.”

Rastetter says Walker’s letter was wrong on several points. “Not only did Mr. Walker insult our sons and daughters in uniform, he also questioned the kind and humanitarian efforts made by our students to ensure that our soldiers know that we care about them and are exceedingly grateful for their service,” Rastetter said. He says the students should be commended for their efforts to create holiday baskets for soldiers instead of being criticized.

The I.S.U. ROTC Cadet Battalion Commander, Kyle Bitterman, also spoke, and said members of the ROTC had read and discussed the letter.

“We were all shocked definitely at the words that appeared to be unjustified and unwarranted, and hopefully they are,” Bitterman said. “These discussions led to questioning if this is the way the whole university feels, and thankfully, we have been educated enough to realize that that is not the case. We have a great amount of support here from the university as a whole, so we did not feel that at all.”

Bitterman says the letter is the unfortunate opinion of one person. “The words no matter how much we disagree are opinion. And that opinion is what every American has a right to express because of the freedom of speech. A part of our Constitution which each U.S. soldier, sailor, airmen and even cadet, swears an oath to defend,” according to Bitterman.

Bitterman says there are several veterans on campus who would be willing to talk to Walker and tell to him about what they do as soldiers. “To explain what it is like being in a third world country risking their lives, veterans to describe the horrors they might wish to unsee, and veterans to say what it means…to receive a little bit of home when we are so far from it,” Bitterman said. “We also have some service men and women who will soon be going over to experience the same things, no matter the support, but it makes a world of difference to have that support.”

Iowa State president Gregory Geoffroy said Walker’s letter and opinions do not in any way represent Iowa State University. “I am very disappointed that he chose to write such a letter. As you’ve heard, the vast majority of Iowa Staters on campus and elsewhere simply do not hold the opinions expressed by Mr. Walker, and they simply do not reflect the values of this university,” Geoffroy told the regents, “We are indeed very proud of our alumni and our current students, faculty and staff who serve, or who have served in the military.”

Some national media outlets picked up on the letter which created more attention to the issue.

You can see the letter at the Iowa State Daily’s website.

Listen to the comments made at the regents meeting about the letter here:Letter discussion 8:30

Filed Under: Education, Military, News Tagged With: ,

Tuition increase given final approval by the Board of Regents

December 8, 2011 By

The Board of Regents gave final approval to the proposed 3.75% tuition increase during their meeting. The student leadership at all three universities supported the increase during its first reading in October as it is one of the lowest proposed increases in several years.

Regent Ruth Harkin of Cumming was the only regent to vote against the increase. “I do want to say that I appreciate very much the efforts to keep tuition down, I am going to have to vote no on this however, because I do feel that most Iowans incomes have not kept up with inflation. I think this is a tough time for them to have to incur further expense if they have students at the university,” Harkin says, “So I’m just hoping that next year we’ll be able to work harder to find better solutions.”

Regent Bruce Rastetter of Alden said the increase was fair based on the economic situation.”One of the areas that we’ve worked hard on in the proposal is to try and keep the tuition increase as low as we could and then to keep it at the rate of inflations, so in light of the budget cuts that we’ve had over the last four or five years that the institutions have weathered those,” Rastetter said.

Rastetter also reminded everyone that the increase they approved is based on the schools not seeing any more cuts in state spending.

“Clearly it is extremely important that our appropriations request to the legislature be approved for us to be able to accomplish this mission, and clearly to continue to find ways that the longer term the universities can save money and continue to effectively deliver a high-quality, accessible, low-cost education,” Rastetter said.

Regents president, Craig Lang was not at the meeting, but said earlier in the week that the regent schools have taken their fair share of budget cuts, while the Department of Education and community colleges saw their budgets increase.

Filed Under: Education, News Tagged With: , , ,

Regents change naming policy in wake of Harkin Institute controversy

December 8, 2011 By

The state Board of Regents voted today to revise its policies for naming centers or institutes at the three state-supported universities. The vote came in response to controversy raised over the new “public policy” institute at Iowa State University named after Democrat U.S. Senator Tom Harkin.

The regents approved the Harkin Institute in April despite an attempt by Regent Craig Lang of West Des Moines to table the vote for more discussion. Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy defended the proposal in April, saying it would be a nonpartisan institute and would have a board that oversees its operation. (story)

House Republicans later passed a resolution asking the regents to reconsider the naming of the institute after Harkin. Regent Katie Mulholland of Marion made the motion today for the change.

“The reason that I brought this up was, I think that as we look to the future, we want to really address the issues of having proposals to create new centers or institutes at the universities to be submitted to the board office for consideration before any action is taken, or before any procedures or activities are set up,” Mulholland said.

There was no other discussion on the issue before the vote. Senator Harkin’s wife Ruth, who is a member of the board, abstained from the vote, while all others voted for the change. Regent Lang was not at the meeting.

The change in rules approved today would require any requests to name centers or institutes be reviewed by the regents staff and the council of Provosts at the school before going to the full board for discussion. The change also would not allow any center or institution to be named for a public official who is still in office.

See the policy changes here: Institute naming PDF

Filed Under: Education, Featured Story, News Tagged With: , , ,

Regents president asks for more funds at budget hearing

December 6, 2011 By

The president of the board the governs the three state-supported universities is urging the governor to increase funding next year or risk jeopardizing the quality of education offered at the schools. Regents president, Craig Lang, spoke about funding during a budget hearing at the statehouse.

“Iowa public universities have borne the brunt of educational cuts. The department of education and community colleges saw increases in funding the last two years as universities continued to receive additional cuts,” Lang said. Lang says the regents can only hold the line on tuition increases at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa for so long without more state dollars.

Lang says, “The universities will continue fundraising efforts that are largely focused on increasing the endowment of student scholarships, however despite our efforts, the options available to us are not enough, and we seek the state support to keep our tuition increases as low as possible.”

Lang told the governor and his aides that the universities have maintained high standards while state support has dwindled to 1977 levels. The governor’s top budget advisor says it’s too early to predict what the governor will recommend for the regents institutions.

The Board of Regents is scheduled to meet this Thursday to consider a proposed 3.75% tuition increase. The student leadership at all three universities supported the increase during its first reading in October, as it is one of the lowest in several years.

But the regents said at the time they might have to reconsider the increase with any further cuts in state funds.

Filed Under: Education, News Tagged With: , , ,

Regents approve storm repairs to Sightsaving School in Vinton

October 29, 2011 By

Old Main without its roof following the storm in Vinton.

The Board of Regents gave the Iowa Braille and Sightsaving School in Vinton approval this week to move ahead with repairs on the buildings on campus that were damage by the July windstorm.

Superintendent Patrick Clancy says they have temporary fixes in place, but have to get the process going for a permanent fix. The four-story Old Main building suffered the most severe damage — including the loss of its roof.

He says the pitched roof on the Old Main building and the reconstruction will take some time and they needed approval to get the design work underway. Clancy says the damage to the campus could be anywhere from three to five million dollars. He says the total costs could well be in the $5-million range, as he says cost estimates from the insurance providers have come in, but there is still some work to be done on the estimates.

Clancy says they are insured with a $1-million deductible, and the county was declared a federal disaster area, so they will get some federal money. Clancy says they’ve already exceeded one million dollars in the emergency response and the work to protect the property after the storm.

Remains of the roof in front of Old Main at the Sightsaving school.

He says there’s the potential for FEMA to reimburse the state for up to 75% of the costs that are not covered by insurance. Clancy says Old Main is the second oldest state facility, opening in 1852.

He says it is an important part of the historic and current culture of the Vinton community, and important that it be restored.

Photos courtesy of the Board of Regents.

Filed Under: Education, Fires/Accidents/Disasters, News Tagged With:

Regents choose new I.S.U. president, offer 3-year contract

September 27, 2011 By

New I.S.U. president, Steven Leath.

The board that governs the state-supported universities has chosen a vice president at the University of North Carolina to be the 15th president of Iowa State University.

 Steven Leath was one of two finalists along with University of Kentucky provost Kumble Subbaswamy.

Regents president Craig Lang, of West Des Moines, outlined the details of the proposed contract this afternoon after announcing Leath’s hiring. Leath will be paid an annual salary of $440,000 and he’ll start February 1st of 2012.

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Education, Politics & Government Tagged With: ,
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