University of Iowa eyes expanding Tippie College of Business

IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa is eyeing an expansion and renovation of its Tippie College of Business — with the project to expand and modernize both the Pappajohn Business Building and nearby Gilmore Hall expected to cost $45 to $60 million.

The proposal, going before the Board of Regents next week for permission to plan the project just north of the Pentacrest, aims to expand the popular college’s “teaching, research and corporate partnership/entrepreneurial spaces.”

“Since the Tippie College of Business moved from Phillips Hall to the 1994-built Pappajohn Business Building, the number of programs offered by the Tippie College of Business and the number of its students has nearly doubled,” according to the university’s request.

“As the University of Iowa continues to right-size the general fund/academic campus and plans for additional removal of outdated/obsolete facilities, the Tippie College of Business is one academic unit identified as having a significant need for additional space,” the request states.

Undergraduate enrollment in UI business college has grown from 2,582 in 2014 to 3,544 in fall 2023. Looking just at new students, the college reported 608 in fall 2023 — up 74 percent from 350 in 2014.

At the graduate level, enrollment in the college has surged from 1,227 a decade ago to 1,808 in fall 2023. Across all colleges at all levels, the Tippie College of Business has the second-highest enrollment at 5,352 — and it’s growing, unlike the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, which while still the largest college on campus has been shrunk from 18,471 in 2017 to 15,958 in fall 2023.

To address its space needs, Tippie studied the options of constructing a new building east of Pappajohn, reusing the adjacent Gilmore Hall or adding to Pappajohn.

“All options have merit and would be further evaluated as part of the expansion project effort,” according to regent documents.

But, UI officials reported, when considering donor dollars alongside space needs, the university plans to “target and study a reprogramming and modernization of Gilmore Hall, as well as a student and event space addition within the internal courtyard patio space at (Pappajohn).”

The initial proposal suggests modernizing Gilmore Hall — which was built more than a century ago in 1910 as the university’s first College of Law building — could cost between $30 and $40 million, but also eliminate about $8 million in deferred maintenance costs. The Pappajohn upgrades would cost another $15 to $20 million, according to board documents.

The university aims to fund the project with private gifts, college revenue and reserves — although $8 million would come from the UI general fund to address maintenance needs.

“Based on preplanning and a Tippie/University of Iowa Center for Advancement fundraising effort, the UI would bid the Gilmore Hall work separately from (the Pappajohn) work,” according to the regent request. “This would allow for better bidding and construction scheduling efficiencies, and align effectively with intended fundraising efforts.”

Gilmore Hall originally was part of a UI master plan for creating the Pentacrest, and today houses several academic and research departments. Modernizations planned across campus could accommodate units that would be relocated from Gilmore, including the UI Graduate College.

Relevant renovations would include an upgrade of the Art Building, decommissioned after the 2008 flood. Plans to renovate that space are expected to begin later this year, and officials said they envision it as “an ideal and modernized home for the Graduate College and other related UI academic units.”

Additionally, current UI efforts to move the Computer Science Department from MacLean Hall on the Pentacrest to the Iowa Advanced Technology Labs facility near the Iowa Memorial Union would make space available for programs like the Religion Department, currently in Gilmore Hall.

“These relocations would make the entire (about) 43,000 square feet within Gilmore Hall available for renovations, elimination of long-standing deferred maintenance, and programming that would fit the current and future academic needs of the Tippie College of Business,” according to the board request.

Although evaluations so far suggest the proposed course of action to be the “wisest use of existing campus facilities and provide an opportunity to effectively modernize a building important to UI heritage,” officials said things could change.

“As the project planning is advanced, and consultants are selected and engaged, current planning assumptions regarding Gilmore Hall and (Pappajohn) would be confirmed and refined,” according to the UI request. “Should these evaluations suggest a shift in planning direction, the UI would return to the board with updates.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

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