DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Leaders of the Iowa Board of Regents say they hope a spending review of the state’s three public universities will lead to more online classes and other efforts to limit tuition increases.
The board recently approved a $2.5 million contract for Deloitte Consulting to conduct the review, The Des Moines Register reported (https://dmreg.co/1bigw7f ). Officials hope to scrutinize issues such as overlapping management and duplicate academic programs. Other areas such as athletics and infrastructure will be examined.
The board wants to have a list of changes by the end of 2014 that will be pulled from recommendation by the consulting group. A final report will go to the Legislature, and cuts and reorganization could start next year.
Regents President Bruce Rastetter said the cuts could free up money for other spending at the universities.
“Any cost savings will be reinvested in universities,” he said. “This isn’t a zero-sum game where if an inefficiency is found (the money) is cut.”
The spending review will be the largest in the history of Iowa’s public universities. A similar study in the late 1980s had a $1.25 million price tag. But many of the recommended changes were never executed because of intense lobbying from faculty who said educational quality would be harmed.
A slowdown in tuition hikes also never happened. The newspaper reported that tuition jumped nearly 70 percent in the decade after the 1989 review.
Some faculty expressed concern about the quick pace of the latest review.
“That’s a very narrow time frame,” said Joe Gorton, University of Northern Iowa faculty union president. “I just don’t see how you facilitate acquiring, gathering or collecting a meaningful amount of input from the faculty.”
But officials said the review will be transparent and will include public meetings on campuses and other forms of communication.
___
Information from: The Des Moines Register, https://www.desmoinesregister.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.