Higher Ed

Although more “post-mortem” is needed to determine the full impact of the massive delays and widespread confusion that plagued the government’s botched rollout of its revised Free Application for Federal Student Aid last term, admissions directors across Iowa’s public universities last week recounted the ramifications for their campuses, their applicants, and their returning students.

Just under a year from the July 1, 2025, deadline for Iowa’s public universities to comply with a new state law restricting their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and staffing, Board of Regents President Sherry Bates on Thursday promised the campuses will be fully compliant early — by Dec. 31.

Adding to nearly $1 billion in construction University of Iowa Health Care is pursuing across its main Iowa City campus and new North Liberty site, system officials Wednesday aired preliminary plans to spend more than $25 million upgrading its new downtown campus to meet UIHC standards.

After Iowa’s public universities in the spring promised to pursue a DEI-related directive from regents and lawmakers to explore establishing new “free speech and civic education” initiatives on their campuses, the University of Northern Iowa is forging ahead with a proposed Center for Civic Education.

Earth is getting another “mini” moon this month, and a University of Iowa astronomer said the school bus-sized meteor orbiting the planet actually is much closer than the moon you can see.

As Dance Marathon programs across the country shift away from the slogan “For The Kids” due to trademark restrictions, the University of Iowa is taking the opportunity to rename one of its health care campus roads after another of its nationally-esteemed Children’s Hospital-related traditions.

One project the new system will aid in is modeling a certain region of Mars’ atmosphere, called its ionosphere, in order to create the best glass for spacecraft heading to the planet.

Two years after first mentioning the prospect of building a new “health sciences research facility” on campus, University of Iowa Health Care this week aired more details -- including the project’s focus on cancer.

Instead of conducting a public search for a chief administrative officer to lead its new $525.6 million hospital in North Liberty, University of Iowa Health Care has appointed longtime administrator Amy O’Deen to the position.

University of Iowa investigators have identified individuals involved in multiple reports of fondling on campus this week, describing them as juveniles “asking for hugs, grabbing people’s buttocks, and attempting to take items from victims.”

Following a pre-pandemic enrollment slide that COVID aggravated in 2020 and 2021 -- amid larger long-term fears of a looming high school-graduate “cliff” -- all three of Iowa’s public universities this fall are reporting student body increases.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Board of Regents is only seeking a base appropriation increase from the state for one of its campuses -- the University of Northern Iowa.