Tuition rates and student fees for 2023-24 and a fiscal year 2024 salary policy are on the agenda when the state Board of Regents meets June 13-14 at the University of Iowa's Levitt Center. Tuesday is reserved for annual evaluations of the four institutional heads, including President Wendy Wintersteen, and board executive director Mark Braun. Board committees and the full board will complete their work on Wednesday. Wednesday's events will be livestreamed on the board's website, and the agenda also is online.
FY24 salary policy
The agenda item directs the universities to develop salary policies for faculty and staff not represented by a union for the fiscal year beginning July 1 "that best meet the needs of the institution" and to submit them to Braun for approval.
The new merit system pay plan on July 1 features 19 pay grades and 3% adjustments to pay grade minimums and maximums.
Grants for degree programs that lead to high-demand jobs
The regents will be asked to approve a list of bachelor's degree programs that train students for a set of high-demand jobs developed by Iowa Workforce Development to meet criteria in a piece of May legislation. The 2023 Legislature created the Iowa Workforce Grant and Incentive Program, funded with a $6.5 million education appropriation, to encourage the state's public university students to pursue degrees that prepare them for high-demand jobs in the state. As proposed, eligible students would receive $2,000 grants for up to three semesters, with an additional $2,000 payment if they accept a high-demand job aligned with their major within six months of graduation.
If approved, the Iowa College Aid Commission would implement the new program, with first grants disbursed this fall.
Proposed tuition and fee increases
Proposed tuition increases for the 2023-24 academic year are unchanged from the board's first reading on May 11: At Iowa State, that's a 3.5% increase ($304) for resident undergraduates and 4% increases for nonresident undergraduates and all graduate students. Professional students -- those enrolled in the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program -- would experience tuition increases of 3.8% (nonresidents) to 5% (resident students).
As proposed, all Iowa State students would pay an additional $60 (4.1%) next year in mandatory fees, bringing total fees to at least $1,515 (students in specific programs pay a higher technology fee, according to the demands of that program). The proposed increase would be divided among these specific fees:
- Technology, $14 increase for higher software license fees
- Health, $15 increase to support a fulltime psychologist, rising costs for medical supplies and professional salaries necessary for market competitiveness
- Student activities, $10 increase to support student government's inflationary costs and the Iowa State Daily student newspaper
- Student services, $11 increase to CyRide for fuel and labor increases
- Building fee, $10 increase to the Memorial Union to keep up with inflation
Clinical services incentive for Vet Med faculty
Leaders in the College of Veterinary Medicine will ask for board permission to add three years to a year-old pilot program intended to grow and expand veterinary clinical services offered to the state and region while financially rewarding the faculty who provide the veterinary medical doctor portion of the services. All faculty (tenured, tenure-track and term) who meet eligibility criteria may participate in the Veterinary Clinical Services Incentive Plan, which, as proposed, pays them 25% of the specific portion of service fees generated through their time and expertise. Payments would be made twice a year (in January and July) and faculty may earn up to 20% of their base university salary. College leaders believe the program will be a useful tool for recruitment and retention.
Department chairs and unit directors recommend faculty for participation in the program to the dean each spring. Payments to faculty are based on an auditable, professional service fee structure established for the college's four service units: Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center, Veterinary Pathology and Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, which offer services at the college campus; and Veterinary Field Services, which provides on-site services to clients.
The program was modeled after the university's Faculty Incentive Salary Increment Program, which rewards researchers and research units for outstanding grantsmanship. Vet med faculty could participate in both, but the combined incentive from both can't exceed 20% of their salary.
If approved, the college would submit a review to the board by June 2026.
Patterson naming request for veterinary complex
The college also will ask for board permission to name part of the Vet Med complex for alumnus Frederick Douglass Patterson. Building areas that would be included in Frederick Douglass Patterson Hall are: primary academic centers, classrooms, college administrative and academic department offices, research labs, library, main entrance and adjacent common spaces. The request excludes the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center and nearby facilities on the Vet Med campus such as the new Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, Veterinary Field Services building and Veterinary Medicine Research Institute.
This year, the college is celebrating the centennial of Patterson's graduation with the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine 1923 class.
Other ISU business
Iowa State leaders also will seek board approval to:
- Terminate the B.S. in biophysics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Over several decades, its learning objectives have drifted toward biochemistry, to the extent that students now are better served with a biophysics specialization in the biochemistry B.S. degree. If approved, the change is effective in August.
- Combine board-approved remodeling projects for the second and third floors of the Memorial Union into a single project with one contractor and construction schedule. The change is possible due to greater certainty about funding and space availability in the MU than a year ago.
Presentations
Two faculty presentations are on the agenda:
- Artificial intelligence opportunities and challenges, presenters include Abram Anders, associate professor of English and director of Communication Innovation, to the academic affairs committee, 9:45 a.m., June 13
- University of Iowa's Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Dr. Aaron Boes, director, and Roy J. Carver associate professor of neuroscience, to the full board, 2 p.m., June 14
