Combine Iowa's regent universities?

Iowans for Tax Relief, a Muscatine-based lobbying organization, says Iowa should combine its regent universities under one administrative umbrella. Iowa could follow Wisconsin's state university system model in creating a new Iowa University System, Iowans for Tax Relief President Ed Failor Jr. said today. 

It's not a suggestion to close the University of Iowa, Iowa State University or the University of Northern Iowa, he said, but rather to combine the administrative systems of the three so they operate under one administrative umbrella. It could save taxpayer money, possibly more than $60 million, and cut bureaucracy, Failor argues.

"The purpose of a merger such as this is not to eliminate a single professor, resident assistant, teaching assistant, advisor or any other individual who is directly involved providing quality services to students," he said in the statement. "I would fully expect a savings greater than 12 percent, and would further suggest any savings more than this amount would be directed to reducing tuition and increasing faculty pay."

Does it sound feasible?