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Diane Heldt, Regents Prepare for Next UI Presidental Search

[Note: This material is copyright by The Gazette, and is reproduced here as a matter of "fair use" for non-commercial, educational purposes only. Any other use may require the prior approval of The Gazette.]

  ‘‘I thought he was joking, but that is the issue,’’ Gartner said. ‘‘It’s just happenstance that the issue has arisen over the presidential vacancy; if not that, it would have arisen over something else.’’

  Expect to hear more about who governs Iowa’s public universities, despite state law saying it is the regents. Controversy over the recent handling of the UI’s presidential search has some legislators and UI faculty suggesting a hard look at how the regents govern the UI, Iowa State University, the University of Northern Iowa and the state’s two special schools.

  ‘‘I think this model has served us fairly well, but it doesn’t hurt to look at the entire system,’’ state Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, said. ‘‘It’s been a long time since the Legislature has looked at ‘What should the role of the regents be?’ ’’ Gov.-elect Chet Culver has said he wants to study regents governance.

  Although the law gives the regents authority over the universities, a tradition of shared governance exists with faculty, staff and students giving feedback.

  ‘‘I wish there was a mathematical calculation we could come up with to strike the right balance, but that equation doesn’t exist,’’ outgoing Gov. Tom Vilsack said. ‘‘I do think it’s a shared responsibility in the sense that input is important.’’

  The notion of shared governance was put to the test when the regents shocked the UI campus Nov. 17, voting to reject four recommended candidates for the UI presidency and restart the presidential search. Five campus groups last week overwhelmingly approved resolutions of no confidence in regents leadership, and Regent Tom Bedell of Spirit Lake resigned, citing the controversy and its impact on board efficacy.

  Questions that should be asked, UI Faculty Senate President Sheldon Kurtz said, include: Should the same board govern all three universities; how many members should the board have; should the governor appoint the board president or should the board elect its leader, as it does now; and what issues should the board oversee?

  Geographic representation also is important, Kurtz said. He questioned why four of the nine regents hail from the Des Moines area.

  ‘‘We ought to think about how our Board of Regents ought to relate to the institutions, be organized, structured and operated,’’ he said.

 The current practice

  Gartner said the regents are not micromanaging the institutions, and that ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, UNI President Ben Allen and UI Interim President Gary Fethke are happy with the balance.

  Allen said discussion is ongoing nationally about the relationship between governing boards and institutions they oversee. He’s unsure whether a Legislative-led look at the board would be helpful.

  ‘‘I’ve been free to provide leadership, and that’s important to me. I’ve not encountered any micromanagement,’’ said Allen, ISU’s provost before becoming UNI’s president six months ago.

  UI faculty leaders who were interviewed said their concerns stem from what they see as a decreasing level of shared governance.

  Professor Steve Collins, on the faculty since 1976, worked with the regents as Faculty Senate president in 1990 and 1991 and led the presidential search that resulted in the hiring of Mary Sue Coleman. While Collins has been a critic of current regents leadership, he said that through the ups and downs of the governance system, it has served Iowa well overall.

  He supports bringing in experts from outside Iowa to talk about how boards best operate. The biggest issue, Collins said, is the institutions’ and presidents’ appropriate degree of autonomy.

  ‘‘I do think it would be useful when the air is cleared to reflect on the last several years and try to learn whatever lessons ought to be learned,’’ he said. ‘‘Whether or not that reflection should or ought to lead to changes in the law, I have questions about. I see the current problems as temporary.’’

  UI campus faculty, staff and student leaders, and many area legislators, have called on Gartner of Des Moines and Regents President Pro Tem Teresa Wahlert of Waukee to resign, citing ineffective leadership. Both have said they don’t plan to step down.

  ‘‘There will always be disagreements if the conclusions the board makes are unpopular within campus culture,’’ Wahlert said.

 Understanding regents' role

  Several current regents said they have a good understanding of their oversight role and how shared governance benefits that.

  The bumpiness of the past year may stem partly from the large board turnover in 2005, when three regents resigned and one retired and four new regents were appointed, said Regent Mary Ellen Becker of Oskaloosa, a member since 2001. She called the recent problems between the regents and the UI ‘‘personality issues.’’

  ‘‘Frequent changes are not terrific for the Board of Regents,’’ Becker said. ‘‘It’s important for the board to gel and get that group sense of direction set.’’

  Some of Iowa’s law regarding the regents is antiquated and could stand an overhaul, Regent Bob Downer, an Iowa City lawyer, said. But he, too, does not feel there’s been any inappropriate level of regents ignoring campus voices.

  Former Regents President Marvin Pomerantz said state law is clear: It does not provide for shared governance. Pomerantz of Des Moines sparred during controversies with faculty at all three universities while president in 1987-93 and 1995-96.

  However, UI faculty leaders interviewed this month said, Pomerantz cared deeply about education and was open to listening to their debate. ‘‘I made a point to meet with the staff. I made a point to meet with the faculty,’’ he said. ‘‘They understood. But they didn’t always like it.’’

  The UI’s Kurtz said he would like to see more of that attitude from board leadership. Given the presidential search controversy, it’s a good time for governance to be examined, he said.

  IOWA CITY — The state Board of Regents will start discussions about the next University of Iowa presidential search committee when it meets Monday.

  The meeting will be in open session and begin at 5 p.m., an agenda the regents posted Friday says.

  Several regents have said they want a committee that is vastly different from the one involved with the conflictplagued search for a successor to David Skorton, who left the UI in June for the Cornell University presidency. The regents on Nov. 17 rejected four recommended candidates and disbanded that committee, touching off a flurry of criticism from UI faculty, staff and student leaders.

  Regents President Michael Gartner of Des Moines said UI deans and donors should lead the new search, and the committee should be smaller than the first 18- member group led by Regents President Pro Tem Teresa Wahlert of Waukee.

  A majority of the regents support moving ahead quickly with a new search, Gartner said.

  Five campus groups last week overwhelmingly passed resolutions of no confidence in Wahlert and Gartner, and Regent Tom Bedell of Spirit Lake resigned Thursday citing the months of conflict.

  Gov.-elect Chet Culver said he is concerned about the UI situation but confident that Gov. Tom Vilsack will keep it among his top priorities in his final days as governor.

  ‘‘We should not lose sight of the fact that the highest priority for all involved parties should be to work in an inclusive way to get the best possible president for the University of Iowa,’’ Culver said in a prepared statement. The new search committee should include none of the same members, though regents should be involved, Gartner has said.

  Regent Bob Downer of Iowa City said last week he had in mind several deans who would be good search leaders, though he declined to give names.

  He and Regent Mary Ellen Becker of Oskaloosa said more campus input is needed in the next search.

  An immediate and intensive search also is a priority of all UI deans, who sent a memo Tuesday to Interim President Gary Fethke asking for an entirely new search committee of manageable size consisting of UI leaders and chaired by a respected senior faculty member. They want a president selected by July 1.