Gazette Online, IA
09-18-07
Regents ask for naming guidelines
By Diane Heldt
The Gazette
diane.heldt@gazettecommunications.com
COUNCIL BLUFFS - The state Board of Regents wants to revise its naming
policy to provide more guidelines when it comes to corporate naming on the
campuses of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of
Northern Iowa.
Regents President Michael Gartner this morning asked the regents' office staff to
come up with proposed policy revisions that are comprehensive and retain some
flexibility for the three universities, while providing certain clear guidelines about
corporate naming on the campuses.
The request came after the regents discussed the issue for about 45 minutes
during a meeting at the Iowa School for the Deaf in Council Bluffs.
The three presidents at ISU, UNI and the UI said flexibility for them is key when it
comes to soliciting gifts for naming, and they hope any new rules will allow them
that flexibility.
"I think as few rules as possible because it's hard to know what the
circumstances will be as they arise,'' ISU President Gregory Geoffroy said.
The regents asked for a report from the board office in reasonable time but did
not give a deadline for receiving the recommendations.
Board President Pro Tem David Miles said he would like to see the new
guidelines prohibit naming a college or building on the three campuses after a
product, which he said seems ill-advised. Miles said he also wants additional
scrutiny for corporate gifts to make sure any appearance of a conflict of interest
is avoided.
Miles also suggested the proposal include the clear right for the regents to act in
unusual circumstances and remove any name that's granted.
The board also heard from a bonding expert about the impact corporate naming
has on a public institution's ability to issue tax-exempt bonds to pay for building
projects on campus. The expert said law is murky in the area and there are a lot
of legal issues involved.
The regents had four options laid out for them regarding naming buildings or
colleges after a business or commercial product. The options laid out by regents'
office staff are:
* Make no change to the current policy.
* Require that Iowa's three public universities develop guidelines and rationale to
determine the appropriate recognition of a donor. That would include the
contribution level for naming a major unit, and that the institutions review the
donor for any potential conflict of interest, review the potential impact on the
academic and research autonomy of the university and evaluate the impact on
future giving by that donor and others.
* Revise the policy to bar the naming of a college or other major academic unit or
a facility after a business or commercial product; this would not preclude the
naming when the name of the corporation and the founder of the corporation are
the same. Auditoriums and classrooms could be named for a corporation or
commercial product.
* Develop separate policies for the naming of a college or academic unit and for
the naming of a building or wings of a building with different criteria for each.
The issue came to the forefront this summer when the University of Iowa College
of Public Health considered a $15 million naming gift from The Wellmark
Foundation. The idea stirred controversy, and college faculty initially rejected the
name Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield College of Public Health. Faculty
later voted to reconsider the gift, but Wellmark withdrew it.