Articles Tagged: University of Northern Iowa

Although the University of Northern Iowa administration has reassessed the steps in its $50 million renovation of the UNI Dome renovation, it’s forging ahead with a second phase of the massive project -- this one focused on the fan experience.

Recognizing the role employee ownership can play in the vitality of Iowa communities led to the launch in May of the Iowa Center for Employee Ownership (IA-CEO), aimed to support and promote employee ownership among Iowa businesses. ADVANCE IOWA manages IA-CEO operations.

Internal and external forces affecting higher education — from disruptions like COVID to evolving workforce demands, student needs, demographics, and public perceptions — are evident in recent enrollment counts, which are down again this fall for many of Iowa’s private colleges and universities.

As technology has made the world seem smaller, college campuses have gotten bigger — expanding not just in place but over oceans, mountain ranges and glaciers under the northern lights of Iceland through university-sponsored study abroad programs that have reignited since the pandemic has waned.

Both of Iowa’s public research universities slipped in this year’s national U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, with the University of Iowa sliding five spots to No. 98 and Iowa State University dropping six to No. 121.

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.

The Gazette presents our College Guide for 2024-25.

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.

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.

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.

The firsts are rolling in for University of Northern Iowa senior Olivia Chambers -- who in August became the first UNI swimmer in school history named to a U.S. Paralympic team and on Saturday became the first UNI Paralympic medalist, earning her first Paralympic gold with a 4:29 time in the women’s S13 400-meter freestyle.

With tens of thousands of students back and bustling across Iowa’s public universities Monday, the campuses found themselves again dealing with scorching August heat and air-conditioning woes.

A century after its debut along the Iowa River that divides the University of Iowa campus, the Iowa Memorial Union early next year will embark on a “major redesign and renovation” that could include new franchised food vendors -- among other new union services and features catering to today’s evolving student needs, expectations, and preferences.

Within a matter of days, college and university communities across the state will experience the annual population swell of students returning to campus for another academic year.