November 18, 2020 Meeting Recap
The Board of Regents held a virtual meeting November 18, 2020. Key items reviewed by committees and the Board are outlined below. Click here for the complete agenda
Spring 2021 Tuition and Fees
At its June 4, 2020 meeting, the Board voted to keep tuition and fees flat for the Fall 2020 semester, noting the possibility that it may re-evaluate rates for the Spring 2021 semester at a later date. President Richards stated that the Board would not revisit tuition rates for Spring 2021 and that tuition and fee rates would remain at their current levels.
University of Iowa Presidential Search
The Board received a report from UI Presidential Search Committee co-chairs Sandra Daack-Hirsch and John Keller. The full 21-member search committee was released last week.
Fall 2020 Enrollment
Associate Chief Academic Officer Jason Pontius presented the Fall 2020 Enrollment Report. Notably, enrollment is down 4.4 percent from 2019, a drop of 3,333 students across Iowa’s public universities. The drop was largely expected and much of the decline can be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Related: Fall 2020 Enrollment Highlights
Advisory Group Recommendations
The Regents Advisory Group, formed earlier this year to find efficiencies and cooperation opportunities throughout the Regents enterprise, put forth five recommendations in addition to the group’s October moratorium on campus construction that results in new square footage. The recommendations centered on digital academic delivery, Board Office collaboration, joint contracts, institutional collaboration and resource opportunities.
Read a Breakdown of the Advisory Group Recommendations
Economic Development and Technology Transfer
Collectively, the three universities provided over $1.2 billion dollars in total sponsored funding to the State of Iowa in FY 2020, with over half ($628.8 million) of it coming from competitive federal grants and awards. Iowa’s public universities impact Iowa and demonstrate their value to communities in all 99 counties on a daily basis.
Personnel Appointments
The Board appointed Peter Dorhout as the Iowa State University Vice President for Research.
Audit and Compliance Committee
Regents Chief Audit Executive Patrice Sayre presented internal audits, as well as the FY 2020 audit progress and FY 2021 committee calendar. Committee Chair Regent Dunkel congratulated Sayre on her pending retirement and thanked her for her many years of service to the Board Office. President Richards read a resolution in Sayre's honor.
University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Committee
The committee received the UIHC presentation from VP for Medical Affairs and Dean of the Carver College of Medicine Brooks Jackson, Associate VP of UI Health Care and UIHC CEO Suresh Gunasekaran, and Associate VP for Finance and UIHC CFO Bradley Haws. In addition, Patricia Winokur, executive dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, presented on Novel Vaccine Platforms for Protection from SARS-CoV-2.
Other Committees
The Academic Affairs, Property and Facilities, Investment and Finance, and Campus and Student Affairs committees met November 10.