Des Moines Register
10-25-06
Regents take flak on review at schools
University of Iowa faculty complain that a strategic planning initiative 'has not
been transparent so far.'
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Iowa City, Ia. - University of Iowa faculty leaders are alarmed that the Iowa Board
of Regents has launched a strategic-plan review at Iowa's public universities
without including faculty, students or Iowa lawmakers.
"It does seem to me that public institutions function the best the more transparent
they are," said Sheldon Kurtz, president of the U of I Faculty Senate.
"It has not been transparent so far."
The regents' Nov. 9 meeting in Ames will be the first time the new strategicplanning process will be discussed in public with the whole board.
Regents leaders Michael Gartner and Teresa Wahlert started talks with university
presidents July 20.
At that time, Gartner wrote an e-mail to the presidents of the U of I, Iowa State
University and the University of Northern Iowa, saying that "now is the time to
begin the process of strategic change at the three universities. We still have time
to manage that change; if we wait much longer, the change will manage us."
Among touchy topics mentioned in the memo is whether there are duplicate
programs at the universities and whether eliminating duplication would make the
system stronger.
These questions and others indicate the sweeping changes that could come out
of the review, Kurtz said.
"If the regents decide there should only be one college of education, instead of
three, that would have enormous impact," he said. "The people who have a
significant amount of knowledge to answer these questions are at the
institutions."
At the regents' November meeting, Kurtz will read a faculty resolution asking for
involvement in the planning process, he said Tuesday.
Neither the ISU nor the UNI Faculty Senate has spoken out concerning the
regents meeting privately with university presidents to start the planning process.
Michael Licari, vice chairman of the UNI Faculty Senate, said the organization is
aware of the meetings but has not discussed them.
Sedahlia Crase, president-elect of the Faculty Senate at ISU, said she has heard
little about the controversy, but added that she expects strategic planning at ISU
would be done in the open.
The regents' current strategic plan extends to 2009. Regents Executive Director
Gary Steinke said the universities need a new path, considering losses in
operating expenses and rising tuition.
He disputed the U of I claim that Gartner and Wahlert are being secretive about
the planning process.
"There's never been anything secretive about it," he said. "At the beginning of a
strategic-planning process, whether at a university, a company or the regents
enterprise, there is always a preliminary discussion that takes place among top
management."
Register staff writer Lisa Rossi contributed to this article.