University presidents explain need for 1.75 percent increase at Board of Regents budget hearing

If Iowa lawmakers approve a requested 1.75 percent increase in higher education appropriations for the next budget year - along with an extra $12.9 million to help roll out a new Board of Regents funding model - Iowa State University would hire more faculty.

The University of Iowa would continue its push to enroll more students - including Iowa residents - reduce student debt, and improve academic and administrative efficiency, UI President Sally Mason told Gov. Terry Branstad during a Board of Regents budget hearing on Monday.

Without the inflationary increase and a portion of the $12.9 million, University of Northern Iowa's appropriations would dip below what it received from the state for the current year, which included $4 million in one-time funds.

'We are in a situation where it would be more challenging to move forward in a good way,” UNI Interim Executive Vice President and Provost Mike Licari said.

And Board of Regents officials said an increase in state appropriations would enable a freeze of resident undergraduate tuition for an unprecedented third straight year.

'I think it is significant, and I'm very hopeful that when we get done, we are able to partner with you to have three years in a row without having an increase in tuition,” Branstad said during the discussion.

Each university president on Monday presented their justification for an increase in higher education funding for the 2016 budget year, which will begin in July.

ISU President Steven Leath talked about the rapid rate at which his campus is growing. It has seen six consecutive years of record enrollment and hired 105 new tenured or tenure-track faculty last year.

The 1.75 percent increase in operating appropriations would translate to $3.17 million for Iowa State, and Leath said that would translate directly to more faculty hires.

'We are running out of ways to deal with more students without more resources,” he said.

The Board of Regents' new funding model - which ties 75 percent of state allocations to enrollment, including 60 percent to resident enrollment, 5 percent to graduate and professional enrollment, and 10 percent to enrollment of specific groups of students, like low-income applicants - would redistribute $12.9 million away from UI in its first year.

Regents have asked lawmakers to provide that $12.9 million in this first year to keep UI whole and give it time to adjust to the new funding metrics. The $12.9 million, whether it comes from the state or UI, would be split. Iowa State would get $6.3 million, and UNI would get $6.6 million.

Leath praised the new model on Monday, saying, 'This is the best performance-based funding model I've seen.”

'I'm very supportive of it,” he said. 'It would do a lot of good things for Iowa and Iowa State.”

In her presentation, Mason said the 1.75 percent appropriations increase would translate to $4 million for UI and be invested in priorities matching regent goals. She was the $12.9 million would 'allow us to respond to the new formula by growing,” while minimizing the impact on students.

And, Mason said, the campus is poised to grow, with stepped up recruitment efforts and construction projects, including a nearly completed new residence hall on the west side of campus and approval to begin on another on the east side.

During Monday's discussion, questions arose around what could happen to the University of Iowa in the new funding model's second year. Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter said he believes there is enough time for the university to mitigate the potential impact on its own by shifting enrollment figures.

'There will be new dynamics in the second year,” he said.