Regent president addresses ‘misunderstanding’; calls Legislative Committee ‘experiment’

URBANDALE — With a slate of newly-confirmed regents on the nine-member board tasked with governing Iowa’s three public universities, President Sherry Bates this week doled out regent assignments to the board’s seven committees.

But, before doing so, Bates addressed what she characterized as “some misunderstanding” about how the board governs its universities outside of full board meetings — through its smaller subcommittees and through consultation and counsel.

“The universities are a 24/7, 365-day operation. There is something going on every day, and some of those issues require consultation, advice and counsel in between our board meetings,” Bates said. “Board leadership helps to fill that gap between meetings.”

It was not immediately clear what Bates meant by board leadership — whether she was referencing herself and regent President Pro Tem Greta Rouse or the board’s Executive Director Mark Braun or others.

“That is not to say that we can govern unilaterally, as most decisions require the full board to approve,” Bates said. “But we can help inform the decisions the universities make or their approach to an issue, if it is not covered by statute, administrative rules or the board policy manual.

“Let me be explicitly clear, as I believe there is some misunderstanding about the advice and counsel, these conversations are not deliberation and not in lieu of full board action.”

Full board meetings must be open — according to Iowa law — unless they qualify for an exception, like to discuss litigation or employee performance. Therefore any gathering of a majority of members to deliberate or decide on public issues in private or without following proper procedures is a violation.

State law also requires meetings of any “multimembered body formally and directly created by one or more boards, councils, commissions, or other governing bodies” to be open. And regent policy stipulates its committee meetings should be open “to the greatest extent practicable.”

“The committees allow all nine board members to engage in the governance of the universities,” Bates said. “The committees can meet at the discretion of the chair to discuss any issue under its purview.”

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Just like when board leaders hold off-meeting discussions with university executives, Bates said, “no committee can make unilateral decisions on behalf of the board.”

“At every board meeting, any recommendation by a committee requires the full board to approve before the recommendation happens,” she said.

The board’s current standing committees include:

Legislative Committee

The board also occasionally forms “ad hoc committees” — like the Legislative Committee it “experimented with” this year to discuss board positions on various legislation, Bates said.

That committee — formed Feb. 17 and chaired by regent Christine Hensley to include regents Bates, Rouse, and JC Risewick — met three times. A fourth meeting in late March was canceled.

Committee meetings involved updates on regent-related bills from board lobbyists, along with their declarations — for, against, or undecided. To the committee’s charge to evaluate legislation, propose official board stances, and recommend changes to bills, the committee rarely opined on legislation or suggested changes in substance or to the board’s official lobbyist declarations.

“We’re undecided on this bill; I don’t see a reason to change unless the committee does,” Braun said during a March meeting of the group, an assertion he made — and the regents agreed to — for each of the seven bills they discussed that day, including Senate File 288 guaranteeing “reasonable accommodations” for students who are pregnant or who recently gave birth.

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“Why would we not register in support of it?” Hensley asked.

Regent lobbyist Jillian Carlson said the legislation is repetitive — with its campuses already offering many of these accommodations through federal law.

“I personally would just stay undecided,” Bates said. “We already have things in place for this. So I don’t know the necessity of this.”

Senate File 288 was passed by the legislature and sent to the governor, who had not signed it as of Wednesday evening.

The board had planned to hear a report from the Legislative Committee at its April meeting — although that update didn’t occur.

“Going forward, the committee chair will provide updates at the February and April Board of Regents meetings,” according to the board’s original ratification of the committee. “The committee will be inactive when the legislature is not in session.”

In appointing regents to its standing committees this week, the Legislative Committee was left off the list — and Hensley asked about that.

“As it relates to the Legislative Committee, I was hoping that would become a committee,” she said. “But it's currently not listed on the committees. So can we have some direction or thoughts on where we're at on that?”

Bates said, “We do need to meet as a Legislative Committee and go over how it worked and where we go from here. That’s why it wasn’t put on here. We have not had that discussion yet.”

In separate comments, Bates elaborated on the committee.

“We experimented with a Legislative Committee this year to discuss the position the board takes on different bills in the legislature,” she said. “While a valid attempt, these decisions are complex, require significant input and coordination around the universities and board office staff, and an understanding of the issues currently before the legislature.”

‘We must work together’

Most of the board’s committees each include three to four regents — with its audit group the only staffed by just two members.

Regents Greta Rouse and Nancy Dunkel have the most assignments each at four; Robert Cramer and JC Risewick each have three assignments; President Bates has two — along with student regent Lucy Gipple and David Barker, recently appointed to be U.S. assistant secretary for postsecondary education in Washington, D.C.

Hensley — whose senate confirmation was deferred in April until going through earlier this month — and newly-appointed regent Kurt Tjaden each have one assignment.

“I value open and frank communication among board members, and am encouraged by the engagement demonstrated by each board member,” Bates said earlier this week. “Having served on the board for 10 years with a variety of roles and serving on different committees and leadership positions, I can speak from experience, no one regent can be on top of every area or issue every day.

“We must work together in our respective areas and trust the other board members to do the same.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com