Harreld: University of Iowa must be ‘attentive’ to resources as it innovates

IOWA CITY - University of Iowa President Bruce Harreld this week said the institution in the coming months must employ experimentation and imagination to best manage its resources and continue bringing 'new knowledge and discoveries to the world.”

'Iowa's path forward in research, scholarship, and creative endeavor is full of exciting opportunities,” Harreld wrote Tuesday in a message published in a campus newsletter. 'To keep our unique legacy thriving, we also must be attentive to where our resources come from and how they can be best positioned to ensure that Iowa is always the place where discovery surprises and enriches the world in new ways.”

The share of state funding that is part of the total cost of operating the Board of Regents' three public universities has dropped dramatically since the early 1980s, when legislative appropriations accounted for more than 77 percent of the schools' general education dollars. For the current budget year, state funding made up just 34.3 percent of that pot, while tuition revenue accounted for 61.2 percent. Back in 1981, tuition made up 20.8 percent of the universities' general education dollars.

Harreld presented those figures in February during his first town hall meeting since starting on the job Nov. 2. He also showed data revealing losses in national rankings and faculty compensation, and he urged the university community to think creatively about how to prioritize its resources to maintain excellence in areas that matter most.

In his letter Tuesday, Harreld referenced the university's history in innovation and said the school's achievements have enhanced not only the community but the state, nation and world.

'We have brought new knowledge and discoveries to the world in inventive ways,” he wrote. 'Together, in the coming months, we also will be putting our considerable talents to exploring the best ways to do that even better.”

Harreld's letter did not elaborate on details of what that might involve. But in January, he introduced two new campus committees aimed at addressing short- and long-term issues. Provost Barry Butler will lead a 'strategy implementation team” charged with creating a process to identify, prioritize and act on institutional goals and initiatives articulated in the university's strategic plan. That group will look farther into the future, with timelines between one and five years.

Vice President Rod Lehnertz will lead a more short-term 'operations team” focused on goals and issues over the next 18 months.

Among Harreld's stated goals has been to increase faculty pay, helping with recruiting and retention. Harreld asked regents to request $4.5 million in new money from lawmakers this session for that specific purpose.

In total, the Board of Regents asked for a funding bump of more than $20 million for all three of its universities in the 2017 budget year. But Gov. Terry Branstad's proposal was well below that - just $8 million to be split among the institutions.

Lawmakers are continuing to debate higher education allocations. If they go with the governor's proposal, or something lower, all three schools could get much less than hoped.

Harreld's message this week focused on his institution's historic ability to innovate - both in research and academic endeavors and in managing its resources.

'We've always done things a bit differently at the University of Iowa,” he wrote. 'Iowa gained a reputation for being willing to experiment early on.”

UI experimentation led to things like the Iowa Child Welfare Research Station, the country's first center focused on scientific study of healthy child development; and creation of the Master of Fine Arts degree and the Writers' Workshop - praised internationally, Harreld wrote in his letter. And he said that work continues today, with collaboration and experimentation creating new technology to protect soldiers, make driving safer, and save lives. Faculty, staff, and students, he said, are uncovering new energy sources, starting new businesses, improving care of water resources, and merging the digital world with the humanities to preserve history, for example.

'The same spirit of innovation in Iowa's research program - and in what research means to the university as a whole, to our students, and to our public - continues today and must continue into the future,” Harreld wrote.