Articles Tagged: Iowa Board of Regents

In response to a federal complaint from University of Northern Iowa’s faculty union accusing the UNI administration of prohibiting COVID safety measures, a state health and safety official pointed to Iowa’s law barring mask mandates.

University of Iowa planners promise residents of the historic Manville Heights neighborhood not to replace its quaint former marching band field with a busy student-focused high rise. And they vowed not to let the space morph into a shopping hub or become home to a warehouse.

A former Iowa State University teaching assistant is suing representatives of the Board of Regents and ISU Graduate College after he was terminated for neglecting his duties by – among other things – failing to grade homework on time and changing homework assignments.

As tens of thousands of new and returning students poured back into Iowa’s public university classrooms Monday, leaders delivered welcome messages of hope and trepidation given rising COVID case and hospitalization numbers statewide.

On the eve of an academic year promising to be unlike any other — by being, officials hope, more than last year like many others — University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson stood with thousands of new freshmen in solidarity. “Our job is to be healthy Hawkeyes,” she said.

School district exploring potential legal paths to protect students, staff and families

For years, including earlier this year, Iowa's public universities considered names and documents of employees they hired without formal searches — counter to campus policy — public information warranting release upon request. But they've changed their mind.

In a recent letter to about 52 homes in the two-block vicinity, UI officials alerted neighbors they’re in the “early stages of developing the former marching band practice field on Park Road, along with some adjoining property.”

As of Tuesday morning, just shy of 2,800 new and returning UI students already had moved into the campus’ 10 residence halls – with under 1,000 expected later Tuesday. After new student move-in continues Wednesday and Thursday, and returning students arrive Saturday,

Faculty across Iowa’s public universities are voicing disappointment this fall’s COVID-19 conditions aren’t as improved as hoped — or as they seemed just weeks ago — and urging administrators, as hard as it might be, to make the tough call to backpedal on promises for a more normal semester.

Students clamoring to return to campus – and return to the collegiate norms of in-person learning, group study sessions, football, tailgating, Greek rush, homecoming and the like – began moving into residence halls over the weekend and will continue their migration throughout the week.

Although administrators leading Iowa’s public universities say they can’t mandate vaccines or masks heading into a fall semester that arrives with COVID cases again on the rise, they’re encouraging their tens of thousands of campus community members to get a shot before returning.

Even before the pandemic upended education in 2020, fewer Iowans were filing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid — a key indicator of college enrollment and, for many, a “door” to higher education.

UNI on Monday unveiled a new articulation agreement with the entire Illinois Community College System — a 48-college collective serving nearly 700,000 students annually — that commits to recognize Illinois transfers with associate of arts degrees as having met UNI’s general education requirements.

Iowa Board of Regents votes Wednesday to approve tuition increases of 3.5 percent for resident undergraduates at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University and 1.5 percent for resident undergrads at the University of Northern Iowa.