Price Lab, UNI Updates: Details on Academic Program Cuts, Lobbying By Chamber of Commerce and More

It's a busy week for the and communities.

Here's a roundup of some of the things that are going on:

New details about the programs the Iowa Board of Regents will consider for closure or restructuring were released last night. The most notable thing about this 38-page document is it details the number of faculty who will be reduced from each department on the list. There are no numbers available yet about how much money cutting those salaries will save the university.

We've attached the whole document as a PDF. The board's Education and Student Affairs Committee will consider the issue tomorrow, March 21, at 8 a.m. in the Nebraska Room, 335 Iowa Memorial Union in Iowa City.

The UNI Faculty Senate passed a resolution Monday asking the Board of Regents to delay voting to approve planned academic program cuts. Here's the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier's report.

The Greater Cedar Valley Chamber of Commerce is hosting a legislative session tonight in Des Moines. They will meet with legislators to lobby on behalf of the Cedar Falls and Waterloo business communities. On the agenda:

"We support UNI President Ben Allen and Provost Gloria Gibson in their decision making and encourage the Administration and Legislators to align themselves with the tough decisions required to secure a good future for UNI, given the current realities of funding higher education in Iowa and the US."

United Faculty and the American Association of University Professors issued a joint press release Monday calling into question the numbers used to decide which academic programs would be cut. We've attached the full press release as a PDF, and here's an excerpt:

"There are significant number of errors and inconsistencies in the academic program cuts drawn up by administration. The cuts proposed at UNI will have a domino effect that impacts the education of virtually all students at UNI. They could also cripple UNI’s STEM education initiatives that the governor himself has promoted as being important for Iowa’s future prosperity."

The Iowa Senate approved $11.2 million in funding increases for UNI next year. The bill now goes to the House, which had previously proposed cutting funding to higher education. about the Senate bill, and about the decreases in funding to the state universities over the last ten years.

Patch will have ongoing coverage of issues related to Price Lab and the UNI budget cuts. To stay tuned in, visit the Cedar Falls Patch topic page. Get notified of the latest on Price Lab and other UNI news by signing up to the Cedar Falls Patch newsletter, and "like" Cedar Falls Patch on Facebook to stay updated and join the conversation.