Iowa City Press Citizen, IA
08-02-07
Board tables naming discussion
By Brian Morelli
Iowa City Press-Citizen
CEDAR FALLS -- The Iowa state Board of Regents set aside a portion of a policy manual update that could affect the Wellmark-University of Iowa College of
Public Health naming controversy.
"That's going to come up next meeting," Regent President Michael Gartner said
Wednesday of a full discussion on the issue that regents would like to have before the policy is approved.
This came up during a regent board meeting Wednesday. Other items on the agenda included a discussion of campus security that included some new procedures for the fall semester, such as implementing a text alert system, but no talk of arming campus police.
Gartner, who has been quiet on the naming issue since interest began snowballing in early July, said he would not comment on his views of naming a college after a corporation until the next meeting, which is Sept. 18-19 in Council
Bluffs.
"I'll tell the board before I tell you," Gartner told the Press-Citizen.
As the policy update had been written, it would offer clarification of whom and when a unit could be named, touching on donors, alumni and prominent faculty or administrators. However, notably absent is a mention of corporate naming, which until recently had not come up.
There are no colleges named for corporations in Iowa, and the practice is rare nationwide.
The College of Public Health is considering accepting $15 million to give naming rights to Wellmark, which had initially proposed the Wellmark BlueCross and
BlueShield College of Public Health. Public health faculty refused being named after an insurance company, but they will consider other possibilities.
Also on the agenda was a presentation from campus security leaders from UI,
Iowa State University and University of Northern Iowa.

Gov. Chet Culver requested a report for each university regarding security protocols, technologies, prevention and counseling techniques that are currently in place.
The report stated there are 67,701 people enrolled in the regent system, 44,000 employees, and more than 2.2 million visitors per year to campuses that total
5,000 acres and 455 buildings with campus housing capacity at 15,000.
At Wednesday's meeting, regents asked about sexual assaults, jurisdiction and new security measures in the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre in April, which extended into right-to-privacy issues.
However, no one addressed or asked about the hot-button issue of arming campus police.
This fall, UI will have an opt-in text alert system called "reverse messaging." This will allow emergency notifications to be sent to faculty, staff and students' cell phones. This will be more efficient and rapid than mass e-mail notifications, officials said. UI also plans to install five sirens with voice-over capabilities, to enhance training response measures and to look into staffing.
The regents will more thoroughly discuss campus security at the September board meeting. At that time, each university will make a recommendation about whether to arm campus police. The regents must present a review of campus security to the Iowa Legislature by Oct. 15.
"The governor has taken a very strong interest in this issue," Regent Executive
Director Gary Steinke said Wednesday, noting Culver had met with the heads of the state Department of Homeland Security and the state Department of Public
Safety, who took part in the discussion via telephone. "This has the attention of the governor and the lieutenant governor, and they want to use resources in state government to help the universities."