Regents approve $19 million University of Iowa expansion, anoint new ISU Title IX director

Each of Iowa’s public universities received praise from the state Board of Regents at its Wednesday meeting for their work in program expansions and increased support for students and faculty.

The University of Iowa, Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa had their fiscal year 2024 budgets approved by the board at the virtual meeting Aug. 2.

Each university had its own business up for approval in addition to budgets, including a bookstore operating contract at the University of Northern Iowa, a personnel change at Iowa State University and construction plans for the University of Iowa.

The board will hold its next meeting in late September on the University of Iowa campus.

Iowa State University

Mary Howell Sirna will take on the role of interim director of equal opportunity and Title IX coordinator at Iowa State University after the regents approved her appointment Wednesday. According to regent documents, her annual salary sits at $164,554.

Sirna will take over after Carl Wells resigned and took a position as associate dean for campus life at Newberry College in Newberry, South Carolina.

Regent David Barker asked during the meeting whether this appointment complied with previous calls from the state Legislature and Board of Regents to halt additional spending on or implementation of diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

ISU President Wendy Wintersteen said having this position filled doesn’t require any new funds, and the roles of Title IX and disabilities coordinator are required under federal law.

Iowa’s regent universities were directed by Regents President Mike Richards in March to pause the implementation of new diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives while regents conduct a study of the universities’ existing programs. The education appropriations bill signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds June 1 bars the Board of Regents from spending funding on diversity, equity and inclusion programs until the study is completed.

“The university would not be able to maintain eligibility for federal funding if it did not have a functioning Office of Equal Opportunity,” Wintersteen said. “We believe it is a requirement for us to have a director of this office and critically important for the university to be able to function under these requirements by the federal government.”

Wintersteen highlighted programs in her presentation that she said speak to the university’s status as a STEM and research powerhouse, including STEM workforce initiatives and the Ames National Laboratory. STEM pertains to studies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Iowa State received $2.8 million from the state for STEM workforce development, which Wintersteen said is going toward expanding degree and certificate programs and investing in more innovative fields, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and software engineering. Nearly 60% of ISU students are majoring in a STEM field, she said, and 95% of ISU graduates across the board are employed or furthering their education within six months of graduating.

In prioritizing the budget to fit Iowa State’s strategic plan, the university selected 19 projects from suggestions by faculty and staff totaling $3.9 million, one of which is helping students gain more knowledge through internships at the Ames National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy National Laboratory. Wintersteen said this program will bolster the energy sciences workforce and serve as a draw for top students to the college.

“I am so impressed with the Ames lab and what I’ve seen there, and I think it’s important for people to highlight as you did that undergraduate students benefit from that,” Barker said. “I mean, of course, it’s benefiting the world with new technologies, but undergraduates at Iowa State are also working there and learning, so thank you.”

Iowa State’s fiscal 2024 general university operating budget includes $491.4 million from tuition, $174.1 in state appropriations and $25.6 million from other areas, totaling $691.1 million.

The University of Iowa

The University of Iowa received approval from the board to construct a 17,200-square-foot addition to its Oakdale campus Biomedical Research Support Facility, a project with a $19.75 million price tag.

According to renderings, the majority of the new structure will be dedicated to research and support spaces, along with administrative areas. The project is funded by a National Institutes of Health grant and Carver College of Medicine Indirect Cost Recovery funds. Construction is slated to begin in fall 2023 and complete in spring 2025.

Rod Lehnertz, senior vice president for finance and operations, said the facility offers research support to multiple colleges at the university.

In her presentation to the board, UI President Barbara Wilson focused on recruitment and retention of faculty and students through pay increases and student aid.

The state allocated $2.8 million to the UI’s College of Nursing, which Wilson said is going toward hiring additional faculty and retaining current faculty. This will allow the college to admit an additional 48 students each year.

In trying to catch up with other schools in terms of faculty salaries, Wilson said the fiscal 2024 budget supports a 4.2% average increase in salaries for all faculty. The university is behind its peers in salaries for professors, associate professors and assistant professors, putting it at risk of losing faculty to better-paying institutions.

Using internal resources, the university is increasing its student aid budget by $8.1 million. Half of the UI student body graduates with no debt, with the other 50% graduating with an average of $28,000 in debt. Wilson said she hopes regents keep that fact in mind while speaking to people around the state.

“I just wanted to highlight that fact on the student debt that $29,000 was the average of the students who have debt, right…” Barker said. “That makes it a very impressive number with 50% having zero debt.”

The university’s fiscal 2024 general operating budget includes $512.4 million from tuition, $218 million in state appropriations and $72.6 million from other areas, totaling $802 million.

The University of Northern Iowa

Regents authorized the University of Northern Iowa to enter a partnership with Follett Higher Education Group to operate its university bookstore.

In addition to handling the day-to-day operations of the store, Follett Higher Education Group will also provide an investment of up to $900,000 to renovate the store and an annual bookstore credit of $10,000 to go toward textbook scholarships. The company will pay the university a percentage of commissionable sales, with the rate varying depending on type of product.

“The publishing industry and the textbook industry has been in turmoil for a number of years and there continues to be disruption for the foreseeable future,” UNI President Mark Nook said. “Independent stores like UNI do not bring the resources nor the economies of scale that a large national retailer like Follett can bring to the table.”

Follett Higher Education Group currently operates campus stores at the University of Iowa, Des Moines Area Community College, Cornell College, St. Ambrose University and William Penn University.

The university received $1.5 million in state funding for teacher student recruitment initiatives, which Nook said in his presentation will go toward scholarships and the development and expansion of programs designed to aid in the teacher shortage, including pathways to help para-educators become certified teachers and teachers while keeping their jobs and community college students to further their teaching education.

In preparing to launch its new undergraduate nursing program next fall, Nook said the university is getting curriculum developed and undertaking a $4.95-million renovation project to create a nursing facility by the time the program launches.

“I think UNI should be congratulated for your innovative approach and follow through on these two new programs,” Regent Jim Lindenmayer said. “I think they’re needed for the state and the growth of the programs have borne that out, so thank you.”

The university’s fiscal 2024 general operating budget includes $65 million from tuition, $99.4 million from state appropriations and $1.6 million from other areas, totaling $167.1 million.

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This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Regents hear from university presidents on budgets, programs and aid