A state Board of Regents study group will present its final report and recommendations on a nearly seven-month study and pause of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at regent universities at the next regents meeting next week.

The report recommends that the regents and the regent universities restructure central DEI structures to include staff essential to compliance and accreditation unless otherwise specified by federal law. This includes department-level DEI positions and positions at central DEI offices that aren’t related to compliance, like student support offices.

The regents will review the report on Nov. 15-16 at the University of Northern Iowa.

The report comes after two anti-DEI bills were introduced into the Iowa Legislature in the 2023 session. While the Iowa bills failed, 22 other states also introduced bills to ban DEI initiatives this year.

In a statement posted to the University of Iowa’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the UI said it will commission a task force to review campus DEI efforts to comply with the recommendations expected to be handed down by the regents at next week’s meeting.

Liz Tovar, Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion executive officer and associate vice president, said in a joint statement Peter Matthes, vice president for external relations and senior advisor to the UI president, that diversity and inclusion are important to the university and that their role is critical in preparing students to become global and economic leaders.

“We view this as an opportunity to align the remarkable work done on our campus as well as to ensure that compliance and accreditation standards are maintained to support the success of our students, faculty, and staff,” Tovar and Matthes said in the statement.

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In March, regents President Michael Richards formed a working group to conduct a study and review of all diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI, programs at the three regent universities.

On June 1, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed Senate File 560 into law, which required the regents to conduct the study and review the institutions’ programs and efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The study group report consists of recommendations for the regents to consider, including:

• Ensuring no students are required to enter a DEI statement or disclose their pronouns.
• Develop a regents policy banning the consideration of race in admissions.
• Initiate a review of DEI-related general education courses.
• Develop policy on annual guidance on separating political advocacy from professional and university business.
• Explore recruitment strategies for hiring diverse candidates.
• Develop a proposal for free speech and civic education training.

The university’s performance was evaluated by the study group based on the contract and grant requirements and the state and federal laws that were presented, including Iowa Code 19B, Iowa Code 216, and Iowa Code 261H, among others.