Regents Create 'Transparency' Task Force, Hope to Increase Public's Trust

The Iowa Board of Regents voted to create a transparency task force this week, in an effort to "bolster the trust of Iowans."

Board President Craig Lang said the regents needed to establish new transparency policies based around Iowa's newly amended "Sunshine Laws" to enable the universities to regain public trust of their constituents and to make sure future university operations are conducted as transparently as possible.

Lang proposed a nine-member transparency task force to develop recommendations for the regents, with public input, on ways to create and maintain transparency.

The task force members would include:

• One member of the Governor’s Iowa Public Information Board;
• Two members of the Iowa legislature – one member to be appointed by the Speaker of the House and one from the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Majority Leader;
• One regent to be appointed by the board president who will serve as the chairperson of the task force;
• Three members from Iowa’s public universities, one from each university to be appointed by the university president;
• The executive director of the Board of Regents or designee;
• One member of the public;
• The board’s general counsel or designee who will act as an ex officio member of the task force; and
• Additional members to be considered by the board president, as appropriate.

Members would be appointed next month, with a progress report to be presented at the regent's June meeting.