Des Moines Register
05-03-07
Regents act to revise policy on notification of lawsuits
By ERIN JORDAN
REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
Iowa City, Ia. - The Iowa Board of Regents is poised to change its policy and
require Iowa's public universities to promptly report new lawsuits and legal
settlements to the board.
The regents heard a first reading of the policy revision at their meeting Tuesday
night in Iowa City.
The change comes about because the University of Iowa did not promptly alert
the regents about a 2005 legal settlement with a law professor who was accused
of forging student evaluations of his work.
The university paid Kenneth Kress $226,000 in return for his resignation and
agreed to provide him health insurance through June 2008.
As part of the settlement, Kress agreed to resign effective Jan. 9, 2006, and
release the state from any legal claims arising from his employment.
The Des Moines Register reported the settlement last month. Regents Executive
Director Gary Steinke and board President Michael Gartner said the newspaper's
account was the first they had heard about the settlement.
"That reported settlement of $250,000 or so is equal roughly to full tuition for 50
needy Iowa students, not to mention the cost of maintaining his office, adding to
his pension, etc.," Gartner wrote in an April 20 e-mail to fellow regents.
Regent Robert Downer, an Iowa City lawyer, was concerned that the reporting
process would jeopardize the regents' ability to hear appeals of personnel issues
at the three state universities.
"I'm looking at a possible taint to the board's objectivity if we get specific
information about the parties too early in the process," Downer said at Tuesday's
meeting.
Tom Evans, the regents' legal counsel, said the universities would not pass on to
regents specific information about the claims, to protect the appeals process.
Downer indicated he was satisfied with that response.
The board will likely vote on the policy revisions in June.
Reporter Erin Jordan can be reached at (319) 351-6527 or ejordan@dmreg.com