Dec. 8, 2011
School of Education awaits final approval from regents
by Anne Krapfl
Iowa State's proposed School of Education is expected to receive a final green light Thursday from the state Board of Regents. The board will hold a telephonic meeting, originating from the ISU Alumni Center, beginning at 1 p.m. Live audio streaming of all public portions of the meeting is available from the regents website.
The proposed school will have its home in the College of Human Sciences and combine two departments -- curriculum and instruction, and educational leadership and policy studies. It would be administered by a director and assistant director. Its three divisions --educator preparation studies, educator foundation core and educator leadership studies -- each will have a coordinator.
Proponents say the proposed school will allow Iowa State to:
- Better address education challenges in Iowa and nationally through collaboration across teacher and administrator preparation and areas of content expertise, and with programs and organizations outside the university
- Create a greater sense of unity and shared mission across education programs at ISU
- Save on administrative costs (an estimated $200,000, which would be used to hire additional faculty and staff to enhance the quality of the programs)
Following a year of planning, faculty and staff in the two affected departments and the teacher education office approved the proposed school in a 53-9 advisory vote in May. Executive vice president and provost Elizabeth Hoffman recommended the proposal in June to the Faculty Senate, which approved the proposed school in October.
Approval for new centers and institutes
The regents will be asked, in a first and final reading, to approve changes to the board policy manual (Chapter 6) on approving new centers and institutes. The proposed changes would prohibit universities from naming centers or institutes for:
- An elected official, until that person no longer is in office
- An employee of the regents system, until at least two years after employment or an appointment ends or two years after the individual's death
The proposed changes also remove language about funding thresholds (university or external) requiring board involvement. All new centers and institutes would require board approval.
Iowa State's proposal last spring to name a new public policy institute for alumnus and U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin was opposed by several board members, but passed on a 6-2 vote.
2012-13 faculty professional development assignments
The three regent universities will present for the board's final approval their lists of faculty preliminarily approved for a professional development assignment (PDA) in FY13. At Iowa State, the list includes 29 faculty (1.7 percent of faculty eligible for a PDA), 19 of whom requested semester-long appointments.
Iowa legislation approved last spring and in effect through June 30, 2012, limits PDAs at each university to 3 percent of that school's faculty. Iowa State has the least restrictive eligibility rules of the three regent universities. Any faculty member employed at least halftime may apply for a professional development assignment. The other two universities require some combination of full-time status, tenure or length of service.
2012-13 tuition and fees
The board will be asked to approve tuition, mandatory fees that all students pay, and nonmandatory fees, which cover services students pay for only if/when they use them (for example, transcript fee, ID card replacement fee, thesis fee). As proposed in October, tuition would increase $240 (3.75 percent) for resident undergraduates and $480 (2.63 percent) for out-of-state undergraduates. Proposed graduate tuition would increase $280 (3.7 percent) and $504 (2.6 percent) for resident and nonresident students, respectively. Iowa State proposes to hold mandatory student fees at this year's rates for all students.
Iowa State also will seek board approval:
- For a department name change, from apparel, educational studies and hospitality management, to apparel, events and hospitality management. Event management is now included in the department, while the educational studies program was moved to the human development and family studies department.
- To demolish the Andrews-Richards House (south of the Hixson-Lied Student Success Center on the east side of campus). Constructed in 1956 and unoccupied for several years, it has several serious deficiencies that would be costly to correct. The site would be landscaped once the building is down. The estimated demolition cost is $250,000, to be covered by university funds.
- To begin planning for a $3.1 million remodel of the MacKay Hall auditorium, some adjoining classroom and department spaces and the building's south entrance. The cost will be covered by general university funds.
