Meeting Rundown
The Iowa Board of Regents will meet February 27 at the Board Office in Urbandale. Selected agenda items are outlined in brief below. Open session portions of the meeting will be livestreamed on the Board’s YouTube channel. View the full agenda here.
Meeting Background
Following January’s mid-year evaluations, the February meeting is the first meeting of the calendar year where committee work is done. The February meeting, like the November meeting, often features numerous annual reports, such as the Distance Education Report, the Span of Control Report, the Student Financial Aid report, and others.
Read more on Distance Education at Iowa’s public universities
Graduation and Retention
One of the many reports presented in February, the Graduation and Retention report serves as an update on how successful the universities are at awarding degrees and returning students for subsequent semesters. This year’s report notes that the percent of students who graduate within four years (60%) is the highest on record, and the percent graduating within six years (74%) tied an all-time high.
Read more on the Graduation and Retention Report
University Strategic Plan Updates
With the Board updating its 2022-27 Strategic Plan last month, the universities will offer updated strategic plans of their own.
Iowa Workforce Incentive Grant
At its June 2023 meeting, the Board approved a list of academic majors and high-demand jobs eligible for the Iowa Workforce Grant and Incentive Program. Eligible students received a total of $6.6 million in grants to study in programs that align their skills with high-demand jobs and to take those jobs in Iowa once they graduate. The Board will consider approval of the academic majors and highlighted jobs eligible for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 academic years.
More on the Iowa Workforce Incentive Grant
Capital Registers
The Property and Facilities committee will review registers of capital improvement business transactions for all three universities. Projects include the proposed Courts Practice Facility at UNI, University of Iowa Health Care master plan projects and various improvements for ISU’s Black Engineering Building.
Honorary Degrees
The Board will consider Iowa State’s request to award two honorary degrees at its 2025 spring commencement. If approved, Larry Buss, farmer and retired chief hydrologic engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and John “JR” Robinson, Grammy Award winning drummer and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame honoree, will be awarded honorary doctorates.
