Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

INSIDE IOWA STATE
November 30, 2001

Tuition hike, stadium parking receive regents approval

by Anne Krapfl
During its meeting Nov. 14-15 in Cedar Falls, the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, approved an 18.5 percent tuition increase for the 2002-03 academic year (9.5 percent inflationary adjustment and 9.0 percent increase to improve quality in order to achieve strategic plan goals). Student regent Lisa Ahrens, of Iowa State, cast the lone dissenting vote against the increase.

For in-state undergraduates, tuition and fees will rise $668, to $4,110 for two semesters. Out-of-state undergraduates will pay $12,802 next year, an increase of $2,026. .

In other action, the regents gave Iowa State the green light to begin planning for a $5 million parking project at Jack Trice Stadium. The university plans to add three lots (442 additional spots), repave four others, triple the size of the lot just east of the Jacobson/Olsen complex and extend Stadium Drive from South 16th Street up to South Fourth Street, paralleling Elwood Drive. The funding source is parking and event revenues. The additional lots are intended to better serve football fans, visitors to Reiman Gardens and ISU students living in residence halls who bring their cars to school. .

Hamilton Hall renovation
The regents also approved a budget ($2 million) and schematic design for a renovation in Hamilton Hall, home to the Greenlee School of Journalism. The proposed work is phase 1 of a master plan for the building. The work includes remodeling about 9,000 square feet on two floors, replacing the roof, repairing windows and making improvements to the building's technology infrastructure.

As part of several months of planning, the regents approved a set of "principles" that regents institutions will use to develop new early retirement programs. The current early retirement incentive expires June 30, 2002. President Gregory Geoffroy indicated last month he will extend the option, for those who qualify on June 30, 2002, for two years. But each school still must develop a new plan. The approved principles are:

Comply with governing law.
Be designed as a voluntary window incentive program requiring administrative approval and be distinguished from other retirement programs.
Be independently designed to allow each institution flexibility to meet its strategic goals and human resource needs.
Be advantageous to each institution's programmatic, economic and human resource perspective.
Offer economic benefits to employee participants.
Be evaluated periodically to assure that the program accomplishes its intended objective.

The regents' next meeting is Dec. 12-13 in West Des Moines.