ISU president consulted on UI-AIB deal

CEDAR RAPIDS - Following a Jan. 26 announcement that Des Moines-based AIB College of Business could morph into a University of Iowa satellite campus as soon as fall 2015, Iowa State University President Steven Leath said members of the Board of Regents asked whether he'd be more comfortable if the campus became a 'Regional Regents Center” instead.

'We said, ‘Absolutely,'” Leath told The Gazette Editorial Board on Wednesday.

Leath said Iowa State wasn't necessarily behind the seemingly sudden change in course for the AIB campus, but he believes the new plan makes more sense.

'It's a step in the right direction,” Leath said, noting the Board of Regents has not yet approved any agreement with AIB for it 20-acre campus valued at more than $30 million.

During an initial joint news conference Jan. 26, AIB President Nancy Williams announced intentions to give the college and its assets to UI so it could become a UI satellite campus. UI President Sally Mason said AIB students would become UI students, and the university could start enrolling new UI-Des Moines students as soon as fall 2015.

When asked if AIB's about 800 in-state students would count as UI students and thus help it under a new regents funding formula tying a majority of state support to resident enrollment, Mason said she thought so.

Both presidents acknowledged the deal required Board of Regents approval, but board President Bruce Rastetter was present for the announcement and praised it.

Questions immediately began swirling, however, including what might happen to faculty members, athletes, and scholarship commitments. Questions also emerged around potential programming for the new campus, accreditation requirements, and admission standards, none of which officials could answer.

One week later, AIB and UI officials announced a change in the initial plans. If approved by the board, the AIB campus instead would become a Regional Regents Center that could offer courses from all three public universities - including Iowa State and University of Northern Iowa.

Mason at the time said the change made the most sense as officials began probing the possibilities.

'It became clear to me that we wanted to open it up as broadly as possible,” she said.

Leath on Wednesday said using the AIB campus as systemwide center will make partnerships, communication, and efficiency among the three public universities easier.

Some people, including AIB students and at least one regent, criticized the way the AIB-UI partnership was rolled out - without warning and with few details. Leath seemed to join that camp Wednesday, saying, 'ISU would have done it differently, let's just put it that way.”

Addressing the notion that UI stood to gain 800 new resident students through the original AIB deal, Leath said, 'It did seem like a strange way to grow enrollment.”

Iowa State's enrollment has been surging in recent years, jumping from 26,260 in 2007 to 34,732 in 2014 - an 8,472-student bump, or a 32 percent increase. ISU surpassed UI as the largest university in the state in 2013 by adding more than 2,200 students in one year.

UI's 2014 enrollment of 31,387 is 978 students higher than it was in 2007. UI officials say growth was slowed due to the 2008 flood, and they're now planning to add 500 students a year.

Leath, meanwhile, said ISU's enrollment is continuing on an upward trajectory.

'We will be bigger in the fall, which means we'll be bigger than we've ever been,” he said Wednesday.

Leath credited the growth, in part, to the popularity of ISU's agriculture and engineering programs. He also said many choose the Ames campus 'based on a gut instinct or feel.”

But ISU's ability to provide a quality education to a growing number of students is not sustainable unless the state changes the way it funds Iowa's public universities, Leath said. That's why he supports the Board of Regents proposed funding change, which has drawn criticism from some circles - including those in the private and community college sector.

Without the new funding model, which could pull $12.9 million from UI in the upcoming budget year and redistribute it among ISU and UNI, Leath said he doesn't know how ISU will meet its student, faculty, and staff demands.

'We don't have a great plan B,” he said.