Regents to request no new money for UI
The University of Iowa could see its state dollars go flat next school year.
At its meeting next week, the state Board of Regents is due to consider its annual appropriations request — $8.2 million more for Iowa State University, $7.7 million for the University of Northern Iowa, and zero for the UI.
Under the request, the UI’s appropriations would remain nearly $231 million.
The request also makes no mention of the new funding model the regents controversially proposed last year.
The proposal would have based state appropriations largely on in-state undergraduate enrollment. Under the model, which lawmakers did not approve during the last session, the UI stood to lose millions of dollars.
The regents will consider the move at their meeting Sept. 9 in Cedar Falls.
Children’s Hospital price tag swells
The new UI Children’s hospital will cost more than expected.
The UI will submit a revised budget description to the regents next Wednesday for the hospital.
The new estimate rings in at around $360 million, a $68 million increase.
Upgrades in safety, clinical programs, and design make up the brunt of the increase. Other considerations such as premium payments for skilled labor have driven up the cost as well.
The money will come from donations and hospital revenue bond proceeds.
The regents will consider the budget at their Sept. 9 meeting.
Officials to request program termination
A UI Ph.D. program could soon disappear.
The regents will consider the UI’s request to terminate the graduate program in translational biomedicine in the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science.
The request addresses the regents’ priorities to pursue “educational excellence and impact” and become more efficient.
The program “prepares skilled clinicians to pursue new knowledge about health and disease through patient-based research.”
Thirteen students have enrolled since the program’s creation in 2002, and four have graduated. No students have enrolled since 2012. Just one student remains.
Termination would be effective immediately. The regents will consider the move on Sept. 9.