Gazette Daily News Podcast: Friday, Apr. 26, 2024

– Relief but sorrow after missing Iowa trucker’s body found

– Iowa State, UNI closing DEI offices after regent directives, legislation

– Universities balance retention with lawmaker concerns as tenure numbers slide

– Heavy rain, severe storms possible Friday through Sunday

Episode Transcript

Welcome to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast for Friday, April 26, 2024. This podcast provides the latest headlines from the Gazette newsroom. I’m Becky Lutgen Gardner.

First, a farmer found a missing Iowa trucker’s body in a field Wednesday afternoon not far from where David Schultz’s abandoned semi was discovered.

The trucker vanished just before Thanksgiving.

His brown Wrangler boots with blue on the soles is how the 53-year-old's body was identified after it was found lying faceup in a field. That’s roughly 1 1/2 miles from where his semi tractor-trailer loaded with hogs was discovered abandoned over five months ago.

Sarah Schultz said she has felt relief and sorrow since she learned her husband's body had been discovered by a farmer in his freshly tilled field in rural Sac County, northeast of Sac City.

She said, "I'm glad we know where he is."

Thursday, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation positively identified the body as Schultz — and partially answered one of the mysteries since he disappeared:

“Preliminary autopsy results show no signs of trauma or serious injury. Further autopsy test results are pending,” the DCI said in a news release. “Authorities do not suspect foul play in the death of Schultz.”

However, the DCI did not say what led authorities to that conclusion, or describe any medical issues that may have caused Schultz to park his loaded truck and leave it.

Next, Iowa State and UNI are closing their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices.

That’s in response to 10 directives the Board of Regents handed down in the fall to curtail diversity, equity, and inclusion spending and programming across its public universities.

On Thursday, presidents of all three campuses shared significant changes underway, including the permanent closure of Iowa State University’s Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion office.

ISU President Wendy Wintersteen said, “We will eliminate essentially five positions — two positions that are currently filled and three vacant positions.”

She says the closure is planned for July in response to the first regent directive to restructure central DEI offices to eliminate unnecessary compliance and accreditation functions.

Wintersteen said, “At this time, we don't feel that we can meet directive one without closing the central Vice President for Diversity Equity inclusive office.” She says the decision will save $789,000, which will be redirected to “university priorities.”

On Thursday, University of Northern Iowa President Mark Nook also announced his campus is eliminating its Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice office.

The University of Iowa is also cutting five DEI-associated positions. Regent David Barker said it might be too little, too late, as lawmakers have pushed their own DEI directives in a bill making its way to the governor’s desk.

Barker said, “It was five months ago that we put out the directives, and we've been given no feedback and had no updates during that time,” He said, “That meant that we were unable to update legislators as well, who had asked about progress. And I believe that that is a reason why Senate File 2435 was passed.”

Finally, a report from the Iowa Board of Regents shows the highest number of faculty resignations across its campuses, at 186 in the 2023 budget year.

That same report shows the total number of tenured faculty across the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa campuses dipped to 2,333 this academic year—lower than at least the 1980s.

The reports come as university leaders find themselves balancing the need to recruit and retain top faculty — often tenured or on a tenure track — with rising concerns from Republican lawmakers, like Rep. Taylor Collins, a Republican from Mediapolis. Earlier this year, Collins sought more information on the universities’ post-tenure review.

Taylor was among backers of a proposal in the last session that, if passed, would have imposed new restrictions on regents and universities—like limiting their ability to raise tuition, curtailing diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and allowing university presidents to initiate post-tenure reviews of any faculty member at any time.

Current UI policy requires annual and five-year performance reviews of all tenured faculty; Iowa State also has annual reviews and post-tenure reviews at least every seven years; and UNI does comprehensive post-tenure reviews every six years, in addition to annual evaluations.

In 2021, the Board of Regents wrote to lawmakers in response to a request for evidence “that empirically shows that tenure produces better outcomes for students and Iowa taxpayers.”

The regents wrote, “As any entrepreneur in any field knows, innovation involves risk-taking, but the rewards can be tremendous; Iowa’s public universities want faculty who create, innovate, push boundaries, and take risks in ways that result in progress across many different fields of study. These efforts enable them to win hundreds of millions of dollars in grant funding (from federal, foundation and other sources) annually.”

In our weather: Thunderstorms — some of which could bring hail and strong winds — are projected to sweep across Eastern Iowa from Friday through the weekend, and meteorologists are warning total rainfall in some areas could top 2 inches.

The National Weather Service reports that rain is expected to spread east across Iowa Friday morning through early afternoon. Scattered thunderstorms are possible mid-to-late afternoon Friday as a warm front pushes moist air across the state.

Friday evening brings the potential for severe thunderstorms, especially in Eastern Iowa and northern Missouri. Hail and wind are the main threats, but there is a slight chance a tornado could develop west of a line that cuts from north-central Iowa to east-central Iowa. Cities in which tornado development is possible include Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Waterloo, and Burlington.

The weather service reports that thunderstorms are expected throughout the entire weekend, with multiple rounds developing Saturday. Heavy rainfall is expected later Saturday and into Sunday.

The Gazette's Business Breakfast Series will host its next event on May 7th, focusing on retail. What's working when it comes to retail in downtown neighborhoods? What communities are getting it right? Join The Gazette, presenting sponsor the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, and housing development panelists for a morning of networking and insight on this timely economic topic. Register now at thegazette dot com slash business breakfast.

You can find a link to each of the stories featured in today’s episode in the episode’s description or at thegazette dot com. Thank you for listening to The Gazette’s Daily News Podcast. I’m Becky Lutgen Gardner.