Regents expect stronger oversight with leadership change

IOWA CITY — A recent change in leadership atop Iowa’s Board of Regents should address the lack of oversight some have accused it of, according to regent Christine Hensley — who spoke at an inaugural event over the weekend debuting the Legislature’s new Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa.

Her comments came in response to a question of why the board charged with governing Iowa’s public universities puts up with “hostility from the top leadership, or at least lack of cooperation from the top leadership in the university.”

“Leadership at the Board of Regents Office, at the regents level, has just changed recently, and I am hopeful that that will help us address that issue,” Hensley said during a panel discussion Saturday, acknowledging new Board of Regents President Robert Cramer, who was in the audience.

“I think that you know we have past leadership that just were not willing to deal with those issues, and I’m hopeful that the change in leadership will begin to address those.”

The board’s recent President Sherry Bates — first appointed more than a decade ago in 2014 by Gov. Terry Branstad, reappointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2023, and elected president in 2024 — resigned from the board last week.

Citing a desire to spend more time with family, Bates said she wanted to step back “to allow the next generation of regent leadership to continue our good work.”

The board unanimously elected as her successor Cramer — who was denied a spot on the board in 2013, when Branstad first tried to make him a regent but failed to secure the required two-thirds senate confirmation. Democratic senators at the time said Cramer — former chair of The Family Leader — would bring “political poison” to the board in the form of “lightning-rod politics.”

But with a shift in party dynamics in the Senate, Gov. Reynolds in March 2023 tried again to appoint him — this time securing confirmation, beginning Cramer’s first stint on the board May 1, 2023.

Discussion throughout the Center for Intellectual Freedom’s weekend event revolved around leadership — not just at the board and state level, but at the university level.

“I just want to point out … We don't have anybody from the (UI) administration attending, not one person,” Hensley said during the Saturday event. “They should at least be here so that they can hear the discussion, which I think would be extremely helpful. But I'm feeling confident that the change in the regents — we've got two openings that are the governor is looking at making appointments to — so I think that we're in a really positive place.”

In addition to more regent oversight than the universities have seen in the past, Rep. Taylor Collins, R-Mediapolis, promised legislative scrutiny of higher education — which has ramped up in recent years — will continue.

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To a question of whether it’s time to start “thinking about privatizing the public universities,” Collins said, “We don't just pass bills and forget what we did.”

“I believe in strong oversight, and I think you see from myself and Sen. (Lynn) Evans, who chairs the education committee, we've been very involved in making sure our acts are followed and executed.

“And legislative intent is very important,” Collins added. “There's the letter of law, and there's legislative intent. I think everybody knows legislative intent. The university administrator should have a legislative intent. And if we see the legislative intent is not being followed, we will get involved.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com