Regents approve Iowa university budgets, transparency plan

State regents leaders are encouraged that the University of Northern Iowa might best its budgeted fall enrollment this year.

UNI President Bill Ruud told the regents Thursday during a meeting in Ames that while UNI officials budgeted for a loss of more than 470 students this fall, the actual enrollment may be better than that. He also talked about UNI's plans for enrollment growth in the future, including recruiting more in neighboring states like Minnesota.

"I think we're excited that President Ruud thinks they may beat the budget in terms of enrollment. He's optimistic about that," Regents President Bruce Rastetter said. "The board is committed to finding a long-term financial solution that puts UNI on solid footing, and we will do that in the next year."

The regents approved the 2013-14 budgets for UNI, the University of Iowa and Iowa State University during Thursday's meeting. The total budget of the Board of Regents enterprise in Fiscal Year 2014 - including general operating funds and restricted funds - is just more than $4.9 billion.

The UI's total budget for FY 2014 is $3.3 billion, with $1.8 billion of that the general operating fund. At ISU, the FY 2014 total is $1.3 billion, with the general operating fund making up $614 million. At UNI, the total is $336 million, of which $174 million is the general operating fund.

The primary revenue sources t0 the general operating funds at the universities are state appropriations and tuition revenues. The Legislature approved base operating appropriations for FY 2014 totaling $479.3 million, an increase of 2.6 percent. UNI received an additional $10 million in one-time funding available until the end of FY 2015 to address budget issues.

In other meeting news:

* The regents approved recommendations from the transparency task force to appoint a transparency officer at each university and establish public comment hearings at the schools prior to the regular board meetings. In response to some criticism from citizens who said they would rather have open public comment time at every regents meeting, Rastetter said holding the hearings several days before the meetings will give a better chance for response by the regents. 'They should make those comments where they can be effective," he said.

* The regents approved closure of the Harkin Institute of Public Policy at ISU. Sen. Tom Harkin pulled his papers from ISU after a disagreement about academic freedom and gave them to Drake University instead.

* The board approved the appointments of two vice presidents at the UI. President Sally Mason selected Joe Brennan to be the next vice president for strategic communication, starting Aug. 31 at a salary of $220,000, and Mason promoted her Chief of Staff Mark Braun to also serve as vice president for external relations at a new salary of $225,000.

* The regents approved the design and $33.9 million budget for the UI's planned Biomedical Research Support Facility on the Oakdale campus. The project, formerly called the Oakdale Vivarium, will help accommodate the needs for UI health science research. Construction is set to start in late 2013, with completion slated for November 2015.