Inside Iowa State: Iowa State University

July 26, 2002

Regents OK indoor athletic training facility

by Anne Krapfl
Plans and an $8.72 million budget for an indoor athletic training facility received approval from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, July 18 in Cedar Falls. The 92,000-square-foot building will be constructed over the existing artificial turf practice field west of Jack Trice Stadium. Construction should begin this December and be completed a year later.

Private gifts raised by the athletic department and the ISU Foundation will pay for the building.

The practice field and safety zones will account for 88,000 square feet, leaving a little space for storage, an office and restrooms. The athletic department will continue to raise funds for the building to add a portable flooring system; additional storage and restrooms to accommodate large, non-practice events; and possibly air conditioning. In the meantime, potential users of the building could rent these amenities.

ISU budget approved
The regents also approved Iowa State's $409.7 million operating budget for the year that began July 1. About $239.8 million comes from state appropriations, representing about a 13 percent reduction in state support from last year. Nearly $23.1 million in new tuition revenue this fall will be used to offset the state reductions ($14.9 million), cover $4.7 million in mandatory cost increases and fund several strategic initiatives that benefit students ($3.4 million).

Geoffroy to apply pay raise to faculty fellowship
In other action, the regents:

Approved an architectural agreement so design work can begin on a 9,000-square-foot community building to serve the University Village student residential community. The new center will replace 100 University Village, which is slated for remodeling to a childcare facility. It will include a retail grocery store to replace the Pammel Grocery.
Considered preliminary capital (building) requests for FY04. The board's top priority is $14.9 million for fire safety and deferred maintenance; about $5 million of which is for ISU. The other two ISU projects in the board's top six projects are a renovation and addition to Coover Hall to provide modern teaching and research facilities for the electrical and computer engineering department ($15.6 million); and planning for a renovation and addition to the veterinary teaching hospital ($2.6 million).
Approved a 2.5 percent pay increase for President Gregory Geoffroy. His FY 2003 salary is $281,875. Geoffroy said he will apply the pay increase toward the $150,000 pledge he and his wife, Kathy, made last fall to establish a faculty fellowship in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.