Iowa Regents Approve Smaller Tuition Hike

Regents President Bruce Rastetter says the board wants the universities to develop two-year budgets, hoping the Iowa legislators will reciprocate with more appropriation predictability.
 
“And that’s what we’ve asked the universities to think about in terms of their needs so we can be more forward looking for parents and their students on what tuition may look like over the course of two and three years out rather than just year by year,” he said.
 
Rastetter also said Iowa State President Steven Leath and Iowa’s Bruce Herrald asked that their salaries not be increased, so the Regents postponed those increases, as well as one for UNI’s interim president, until January.
 
Regent okay with Leath land purchase
 
A member of the Board of Regents also defended the land transaction between Regents President Bruce Rastetter and Iowa State University President Steven Leath.
 
Earlier this year, Rastetter’s business firm purchased Hardin County land and sold some of it to Leath.
Media reports raised questions about the transaction, and the Des Moines Register editorially criticized it.
Monday, Regent McKibben, noting his experience as a land transaction attorney, praised the transaction, saying everything was done right.
 
Rastetter told a press conference that news media showed a lack of perspective in overlooking interpersonal relationships among Regents and University staff members.
 
“And I couldn’t help but think when I read the articles in the paper, about the neighbors contacting the Des Moines Register,” he said. “The reason those neighbors contacted the Des Moines Register is that Steve Leath did what any Iowan would do, he went and visited his neighbors on a Saturday afternoon and introduced himself as a land owner. And those neighbors are excited about Steve Leath being their neighbor.”
 
The Regents meeting had adjourned, and ISU President Leath wasn’t present to hear Rasetter’s statements, although he did hear Regent McKibben’s strong endorsement of the transaction during the meeting.