DES MOINES — A transparency task force of the state Board of Regents recommends that public comment hearings be held around the state a few days prior to each regents meeting, but a citizens’ group and one task force member say that still insulates the regents from contact with the public. The task force, during [...]

One state legislator who is a member of the transparency task force of the state Board of Regents wants the group to recommend that the regents hold public comment time at every meeting. The task force, appointed by the regents this spring to address transparency issues, meets Wednesday in Des Moines and is scheduled to [...]

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held Friday for the new University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. The ceremony, to be held at 3:30 p.m. Friday, will be held on Colloton Patio at the UI Hospitals and Clinics. Pediatric patients who have received care in the Children’s Hospital will lead the groundbreaking event. The $292 million, 480,000-square-foot facility [...]

Hancher Auditorium, which provided the stage for thousands of performers in its 40-year history, will soon be the star of its own show. As workers prepare for the flood-damaged Hancher-Voxman-Clapp complex to be razed in the coming months, University of Iowa photographers and videographers are capturing the work before, during and after the demolition for an [...]

The flood of 2008 was a catalyst that in many cases accelerated plans for development and redevelopment in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Iowa City, said officials in those three communities that saw major damage five years ago. Many projects were in the back of city leaders’ minds or on wishlists that they thought would be [...]

A 10-year extension of Kirkwood Community College’s instructional equipment levy will go to voters during the regular school election in September. The Kirkwood board of trustees Thursday voted to put the levy extension on the ballot in the numerous counties Kirkwood serves. It requires a simple majority vote to pass. The 6-cent levy has been [...]

The flood of 2008 was a catalyst that in many cases accelerated plans for development and redevelopment in Cedar Rapids, Coralville and Iowa City, said officials in those three communities that saw major damage five years ago. Many projects were things city leaders had in the back of their minds or on wish lists that [...]

The University of Iowa Children’s Hospital ranked in seven specialty categories in the latest U.S. News & World Report “Best Children’s Hospitals” rankings. The 2013-14 list, released Tuesday, ranked the UI Children’s Hospital 30th in cancer; 34th in cardiology and heart surgery; 43rd in diabetes and endocrinology; 25th in nephrology; 30th in neurology and neurosurgery; [...]

  CEDAR RAPIDS — Mount Mercy University received a full 1o-year re-accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission, school officials announced this week. The commission’s decision came this spring after a vote by the committee overseeing the re accreditation, a regular process for colleges and universities, Mount Mercy officials said. The university was assessed in five [...]

  IOWA CITY – The University of Iowa will mark the start of construction on several building replacement projects that are part of recovery from the 2008 flood with an event Friday on the UI Pentacrest. “Arts and Minds: A Celebration of Partnership” will open with a performance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and [...]

IOWA CITY — It’s likely that finalists for the vice president for strategic communication position will visit the University of Iowa campus soon, a UI spokesman said Monday. The search committee is in the process of identifying finalists for the position and hopes to bring them to campus for public interviews in the “relatively near [...]

An attorney for a University of Iowa College of Law employee who sued for discrimination recently proposed a $400,000 settlement of the case. The Iowa Attorney General’s office, which represents the university in the matter, declined the settlement offer. Attorney Stephen Fieweger sent the settlement letter, dated April 29, to Assistant Attorney General George Carroll. It [...]

Campus policies that cover where students can gather for rallies or demonstrations vary among Iowa’s public universities and several other Eastern Iowa colleges, but officials with those schools say a recent Iowa-based lawsuit on the issue won’t prompt changes for them. The lawsuit, filed in April by a student at Des Moines Area Community College, [...]

The University of Iowa will move ahead with planning on a new Museum of Art facility, and officials said they will look to a public-private partnership for the project. The state Board of Regents gave approval to proceed with planning Wednesday. There’s no cost estimate on the museum plan yet, but UI officials said they will [...]

The service operating agreement between the state Board of Regents and Iowa Public Radio was renewed for six years by the regents Wednesday, and it includes clearer language that IPR will conduct itself consistent with Iowa open meetings and open records laws.

Jim Leach, who represented Iowa for 30 years in the U.S. Congress, will join the University of Iowa faculty this summer as a visiting law professor and the UI Chair in Public Affairs. It’s a three-year renewable term, and Leach will begin on campus full-time starting Aug. 1, UI President Sally Mason announced during a [...]

IOWA CITY — The service operating agreement between the state Board of Regents and Iowa Public Radio was renewed for six years by the regents Wednesday, and it includes clearer language that IPR will conduct itself consistent with Iowa open meetings and open records laws.

New state Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter said he thinks the idea of partisan rifts between the regents and the Legislature has been overplayed, and he said the board will remain committed to openness under his leadership. The regents elected Rastetter Wednesday as president during a meeting in Iowa City. Rastetter, of Alden, has [...]

IOWA CITY — The state Board of Regents elected Bruce Rastetter today as its new president during a meeting in Iowa City. Rastetter, of Alden, has been serving as interim president of the board since May 1, after the six-year board term of former president Craig Lang expired. Lang, a Republican farmer from Brooklyn, had [...]