June 4-6, 2019 Meeting Recap

The Board of Regents met at the Iowa State University Alumni Center in Ames June 4-6, 2019. Key items reviewed by committees and the Board are outlined below.

 

2019-20 Tuition and Fees
A 3.9 percent base tuition increase was approved for resident undergraduates at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. Base tuition levels at the University of Northern Iowa remained flat. This action is the first in a planned five-year tuition model that was years in the making.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related: The “Guardrails” Tuition Model
Further Reading: The Tuition Task Force

 

Allocation of 2020 State Appropriation
The Board voted to approve the proposed allocation of FY2020 state appropriations. The Iowa General Assembly and Governor Reynolds appropriated $12 million in incremental funding for the Regents Enterprise. The proposed allocation split the money evenly among the three universities, with the UI, ISU and UNI receiving $4 million each. 

 

Welcome Regent Leist
Zack Leist, a junior at Iowa State University, was appointed to the Board by Governor Kim Reynolds May 31. Leist, a native of Clarion, Iowa, succeeds Rachael Johnson, who resigned in April. Leist is the 12th student regent in the history of the Board and the first Iowa State student to serve since Greta Johnson of Le Mars served from 2008-12.

Related: Zack Leist Appointed as Regent

 

Year End Evaluations
The Board conducted year-end evaluations for the four institutional heads and the Board's executive director. Personnel action included the following:

• For Special Schools Superintendent Steve Gettel
  • Increase his base salary by 2.1%, effective July 1, 2019.
  • Award a performance incentive of $20,000.
  • Establish a new performance incentive for FY20 of $20,000.
• For Board of Regents Executive Director Mark Braun
  • Extend his employment agreement through June 30, 2024.
  • Award a performance incentive of $35,000.
  • Establish a new performance incentive for FY20 in the amount of $60,000.
  • Establish a new deferred compensation plan commencing on July 1, 2019 and terminating on June 30, 2021 with annual contributions of $75,000.
• For Iowa State University President Wendy Wintersteen
  • Extend her employment agreement through June 30, 2023
  • Extend her 2017 deferred compensation plan through June 30, 2023, with additional contributions of $200,000 annually during the period of November 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.
• For University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld
  • Extend his employment agreement through June 30, 2023.
  • Extend his 2015 deferred compensation plan through June 30, 2023, with the following additional contributions:
    • An increase of $200,000 annually during the period of July 1, 2019 through October 31, 2020.
    • $400,000 annually during the period of November 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023.
• For University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook
  • Extend his employment agreement through June 30, 2025, with an option to renew for two additional years through June 30, 2027.
  • Extend his 2018 deferred compensation plan through June 30, 2025 with the following additional contributions:
    • An increase of $25,000 during the period of July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2020
    • $100,000 annually during the period of July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025.

Property and Facilities Committee
The Board approved the sale of the former AIB campus to The Village at Grays Lake for the price of $7.5 million. The campus was donated to the University of Iowa in 2015 and operated as the Iowa Center for Higher Education from 2016-18.

 

Investment and Finance Committee
Marquette Associates provided an overview of the Board’s investment and cash management report for the first quarter of 2019. Regent Barker presided over his first committee meeting as chair.

 

Academic Affairs Committee
Iowa State requested name changes for its information assurance master’s programs. Making the change from information assurance to cyber security engineering reflects the evolving nature of the field and lines up more accurately with its new undergraduate program in cyber security engineering, which enrolls its first students this fall.

Related: ISU Cyber Security Programs Get an Upgrade 

 

Campus and Student Affairs Committee
Regent Lindenmayer presided over his first committee meeting as chair. Board Associate Chief Academic Officer Jason Pontius presented data on disability support services offered at Iowa’s public universities.

Related: Disability Support Services at Iowa's Public Universities 

 

Audit and Compliance Committee
Board of Regents Chief Audit Executive Patrice Sayre presented internal audit reports, including reports on five ongoing audits at the University of Iowa and one at Iowa State.

 

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Committee
UI Vice President for Medical Affairs Brooks Jackson presented the UIHC Patient Care Vision report, noting that patients traveled from all 99 Iowa counties to receive care at UI Hospitals. Dr. Brad VanHoorhis, Chapler Professor in Reproductive Endocrinology, presented on the UIHC fertility center, one of the best in the world.

 

Sexual Harassment Training
The Board received its annual sexual harassment training from Adrienne Lyles, associate director and senior deputy title IX coordinator in the Office of Equal Opportunity at Iowa State University.