Iowa Board of Regents considers study, policy changes reflecting legislation
Legislation proposed during this year's session drove some updates on academic program study and policy changes heard Wednesday by the Iowa Board of Regents.
Iowa Board of Regents Chief Academic Officer Rachel Boon provided an update to the board on efforts to review academic programs at each state university to examine their alignment with state workforce needs.
Board President Sherry Bates directed staff and state universities in the board's February meeting to commence a study of all academic programs across the three institutions with the goal of compiling a report determining whether each program should be changed, eliminated or kept the same when looking at workforce alignment.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
House File 420, which Bates referenced in her directive, would have directed universities to complete the same study for presentation to the General Assembly. The bill passed out of the House Higher Education Committee but did not see House debate.
'We have a significant amount of information and expertise that we're already amassing and will continue to do so,' Boon said.
University students speak out against anti-DEI actions at Board of Regents meeting
A team formed to plan and conduct the study includes board staff and representatives from the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University, Boon said, and it has met several times already to determine how to compile data and set the parameters for what programs they should scrutinize.
Beyond internal processes, Boon said the team is also working to get in touch with the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Workforce Development and community colleges to learn more about education and labor needs in the state. The team also plans to connect with the Iowa Business Council and other external partners, Boon said.
Boon said she doesn't expect to have updates for the board at every one of their meetings before the full report is presented in November, but work on the study will be ongoing.
'The work is underway, and we feel good about being on target to have a really good product to bring forward to you for the November meeting, and (we're) happy to take questions at any time between now and then,' Boon said.
Regent Christine Hensley said she was especially happy to hear that board staff will work with the Iowa Business Council, which opens up an opportunity for more collaboration between the council and full board.
'This is great information,' Hensley said. 'I really appreciate hearing (about) all of the activity and the collaboration you're working with everybody on, so I'm excited to see what comes back.'
The board also recommended approval for changes to its policy manual, adding language complying with legislation referred back to the House Higher Education Committee after failing to be taken up in House debate.
House File 270 would have state universities post online certain syllabus information. The board's Governance, Evaluation and Human Resources Committee provided initial approval to add language to its academic affairs policy requiring institutions post online syllabi information for most undergraduate courses, including course topics, materials and more.
Changes were also proposed for the board's business and finance policy, adding a section stating the board will not set a rate of tuition increase that exceeds 'the average of the three most recently established' Higher Education Price Index inflation indexes, according to the policy.
The price of equipment that institutions must include in their inventory would also increase from $5,000 to $10,000 in the proposal.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Volodymyr Zelenskiy Needs to Rescue His Own Presidency
Ukraine's president, the comedian turned Churchillian war leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has backed down on his decision to seize control of the nation's anti-corruption agencies. That averts a potential disaster for his country, and he deserves some credit for making the U-turn. But what to do with him now? Zelenskiy's heroic armor has been shattered. His misstep should serve as a reminder that he wasn't a popular president before Russia's full invasion of February 2022, with an approval rating that hovered around 25%. It was his response to the war, both genuinely gritty and brilliantly produced by the presidential staff he'd drawn from his old TV company, Kvartal 95, that made him a geopolitical rock star.
New York Post
4 hours ago
- New York Post
Kim Jong Un's powerful sister rejects appeasement overture by South's new president
SEOUL, South Korea — The influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un rebuffed an appeasement overture by South Korea's new liberal government, saying Monday that North Korea has no interests in talks with South Korea no matter what proposal its rival offers. 5 Kim Yo Jong giving a speech. AP Kim Yo Jong's comments suggest again that North Korea, now preoccupied with its expanding cooperation with Russia, has no intentions of returning to diplomacy with South Korea and the US anytime soon. But experts said North Korea could change its course if it thinks it cannot maintain the same booming ties with Russia when the Russia-Ukraine war nears an end. 'We clarify once again the official stand that no matter what policy is adopted and whatever proposal is made in Seoul, we have no interest in it and there is neither a reason to meet nor an issue to be discussed with' South Korea, Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. It's North Korea's first official statement on the government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which took office in early June. In an effort to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea, Lee's government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border and repatriated North Koreans who were drifted south in wooden boats months earlier. 5 It's North Korea's first official statement on the government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which took office in early June. Korea Summit Press Pool/AFP via 5 South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaking at a press conference. AP 5 North Korea has been shunning talks with South Korea and the US since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019. REUTERS Kim Yo Jong called such steps 'sincere efforts' by Lee's government to develop ties. But she said the Lee government won't be much different from its predecessors, citing what it calls 'their blind trust' to the military alliance with the US and attempt to 'stand in confrontation' with North Korea. She mentioned the upcoming summertime South Korea-US military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea has been shunning talks with South Korea and the US since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over international sanctions. North Korea has since focused on building more powerful nuclear weapons targeting its rivals. North Korea now prioritizes cooperation with Russia by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine, likely in return for economic and military assistance. South Korea, the US and others say Russia may even give North Korea sensitive technologies that can enhance its nuclear and missile programs. Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly boasted of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed intent to resume diplomacy with him. But North Korea hasn't publicly responded to Trump's overture. 5 North Korea now prioritizes cooperation with Russia by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine. REUTERS In early 2024, Kim Jong Un ordered the rewriting of the constitution to remove the long-running state goal of a peaceful Korean unification and cement South Korea as an 'invariable principal enemy.' That caught many foreign experts by surprise because it was seen as eliminating the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided Koreas and breaking away with his predecessors' long-cherished dreams of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Many experts say Kim likely aims to guard against South Korean cultural influence and bolster his family's dynastic rule. Others say Kim wants legal room to use his nuclear weapons against South Korea by making it as a foreign enemy state, not a partner for potential unification which shares a sense of national homogeneity.
Politico
4 hours ago
- Politico
Powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim rejects outreach by South's new president
It's North Korea's first official statement on the government of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, which took office in early June. In an effort to improve badly frayed ties with North Korea, Lee's government has halted anti-Pyongyang frontline loudspeaker broadcasts, taken steps to ban activists from flying balloons with propaganda leaflets across the border and repatriated North Koreans who were drifted south in wooden boats months earlier. Kim Yo Jong called such steps 'sincere efforts' by Lee's government to develop ties. But she said the Lee government won't be much different from its predecessors, citing what it calls 'their blind trust' to the military alliance with the U.S. and attempt to 'stand in confrontation' with North Korea. She mentioned the upcoming summertime South Korea-U.S. military drills, which North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal. North Korea has been shunning talks with South Korea and the U.S. since leader Kim Jong Un's high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with President Donald Trump fell apart in 2019 due to wrangling over international sanctions. North Korea has since focused on building more powerful nuclear weapons targeting its rivals. North Korea now prioritizes cooperation with Russia by sending troops and conventional weapons to support its war against Ukraine, likely in return for economic and military assistance. South Korea, the U.S. and others say Russia may even give North Korea sensitive technologies that can enhance its nuclear and missile programs. Since beginning his second term in January, Trump has repeatedly boasted of his personal ties with Kim Jong Un and expressed intent to resume diplomacy with him. But North Korea hasn't publicly responded to Trump's overture. In early 2024, Kim Jong Un ordered the rewriting of the constitution to remove the long-running state goal of a peaceful Korean unification and cement South Korea as an 'invariable principal enemy.' That caught many foreign experts by surprise because it was seen as eliminating the idea of shared statehood between the war-divided Koreas and breaking away with his predecessors' long-cherished dreams of peacefully achieving a unified Korea on the North's terms. Many experts say Kim likely aims to guard against South Korean cultural influence and bolster his family's dynastic rule. Others say Kim wants legal room to use his nuclear weapons against South Korea by making it as a foreign enemy state, not a partner for potential unification which shares a sense of national homogeneity.
