Review: Regent schools' admissions index is working

The state's graduation rate for students at four-year public universities has led the nation for the past decade, and the Regent Admission Index (RAI) continues to be an accurate predictor of success in college. Jason Pontius, associate chief academic officer on the board staff, told the state Board of Regents April 25 the interinstitutional team that completed a review of the RAI isn't recommending any changes at this time. 

The biennial review is intended to assess the efficacy of the RAI on desired outcomes such as first-year grades, retention and graduation rates and the threshold (score of at least 245) for automatic admission to a regent university. The RAI, which considers a standardized test (SAT or ACT) composite score, high school GPA and a set of high school core courses, is used to automatically admit Iowa residents to regent universities, and often is used to automatically admit non-residents.

Since fall 2021, regent university applicants may choose to not submit a standardized test score and undergo an individual review instead. For fall 2022 admission, 20% of enrolled Iowans and 51% of enrolled out-of-state students used this option.

In a related study, the same team reviewed an alternative national test, the Classic Learning Test, for its acceptability as a standardized test in the RAI. Rachel Boon, chief academic officer on the board staff, said there isn't enough data yet about its predictability of student outcomes. In the meantime, it could be part of an individual, holistic review of a student applicant.

Input to FY25 salary policy

Preceding their June consideration of employee salary policies for the next budget year, regents received comments last week from the elected leaders of non-unionized employee groups. Presenting from Iowa State were P&S Council president Patrick Wall, ISU Extension and Outreach; and Faculty Senate president Sarah Bennett-George, apparel, events and hospitality management.

Bennett-George illustrated the faculty role in each of Iowa State's three land-grant missions: as "primary stewards of the student experience," discovery of new knowledge and service to the state through applied research, well-equipped student graduates and programming for Iowans. Faculty do all that working, on average, about 50 hours per week, a consistent data point during her 12 years at Iowa State. But in those 12 years, annual faculty salary increases never kept pace with annual inflation, she noted. As a result, Iowa State faculty "consistently are positioned at the bottom of our peer group for faculty compensation."

"Without additional state funding to support a strong salary policy, Iowa State will not be able to maintain a competitive edge to either recruit or retain the very strong faculty I am proud to represent this afternoon," she concluded.

Wall likened the college student experience to youth baseball. The misperception that simply showing up guarantees the skills to land a good job is sort of like believing a $400 bat guarantees successful hitters. Just as hitting lessons and practice produce hitters, P&S staff are the skill development coaches who help produce marketable college graduates.

"The people I work alongside every day care deeply about the success of every student, as well as every Iowan across our 99-county campus," he said. "We teach, we advise, we conduct research and most importantly, we turn students into the heavy hitters demanded by companies in Iowa."

"State appropriations for the regent institutions are a direct investment in the Iowa workforce of tomorrow. Please keep investing in staff," he told board members.

DEI directives

The presidents of the regent institutions each presented a progress report on how their university is implementing the board's 10 diversity, equity and inclusion directives. In a campus memo later in the day, President Wendy Wintersteen and senior leaders outlined Iowa State's actions for complying with the directives.

Officer elections

The board elected regents Sherry Bates and Greta Rouse to serve two-year terms as the board's president and president pro-tem, respectively. Both had served in interim roles since February. The board recognized regent Michael Richards during his last meeting. Richards has served as a regent since spring 2016 and as board president from May 2017 to January of this year.

Iowa State agenda items

In Iowa State business, the board approved:

• Two new degree programs for fall implementation: a Master of Digital Health in the kinesiology department and a Bachelor of Arts in sports media and communication in the Greenlee School. The digital health program is the first approved from an initial six "degrees of the future," a 2022-31 strategic plan-supported initiative to create degree programs that address workforce and student demands.
• The appointment of Mary Sirna as director of equal opportunity, effective March 25.
• 3% price increases for campus lot and Memorial Union ramp parking permits for the year that begins July 1. The new rates are $205 for general staff, $642 for a reserved lot and $1,108 for a 24-hour reserved stall.
• A budget ($9.2 million) and project description for three building additions to the large animal ward of the Lloyd Veterinary Medical Center, to expand equine reproductive services in response to a growing demand in the state. College of Veterinary Medicine funds will pay for the project. Construction would begin in spring 2025 and last about 16 months.

Regent David Barker requested that proposed dining and student housing rate increases for 2024-25 be pulled from the consent agenda for consideration at a future meeting.

Free speech survey results

The board heard a short summary of the results of the second distribution of the regents' free speech survey in February. All regent university employees and students and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics employees received an email invitation. The first survey was administered in November 2021 to establish a benchmark. Although the 2023 student response rate dropped, Pontius said the racial/ethnic background of respondents was close to ratios in the overall student populations, making the survey reliable.

Free speech survey: All regent employees and students

A few student survey highlights:

• A majority (87%) of students agreed that they felt comfortable expressing their opinions related to things they were studying in class. Agreement with that statement increased by nearly 10 percentage points from 2021 to 2024.
• Eighty-three percent of all student respondents (88.3% of Iowa State respondents) agreed their university provides an environment for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs.
• Among student respondents, 79.1% agree that their university does not restrict speech on campus. This view has increased by nearly 13 percentage points since 2021.

A few employee survey highlights:

• Most employees (76.9%) at all universities (79.4% at Iowa State) agreed that their university provides for the free and open expression of ideas, opinions and beliefs. This view has increased by eight percentage points since 2021.
• Among all employee respondents, 73.9% agreed with the statement that their university does not restrict speech on campus, even when it makes people feel uncomfortable. Agreement with the state increased a full 10 percentage points from 2021 to 2024.