Straws in the Wind - Part 394

From Inside Higher Ed: An 11th-hour change to Iowa legislation last month required almost all University of Iowa undergraduates to complete courses in American history and in American government. And the provision, which became law, said only the Center for Intellectual Freedom—the civics center Republican lawmakers previously created at the university—could offer these mandated courses, starting in fall 2028. 

Now, the advisory council overseeing this civics center faces a logistical issue. The university had more than 22,000 undergrads this past spring, per the Iowa Board of Regents. And the civics center officially has just one faculty member: its interim director... The Iowa center’s interim director, Luciano I. de Castro, said it only taught 19 students last semester in its two courses, Political and Economic Institutions of the U.S. and American Culture and Values. Now, the center needs to hire more faculty, or somehow get more affiliated instructors, to significantly expand its capacity, all while searching for a permanent director...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/state-policy/2026/06/24/iowa-civics-center-must-teach-thousands-it-has-one.

Straws in the Wind - Part 287

From Inside Higher Ed: The Republican-controlled Iowa House passed three bills last week that would order curricular and other changes at the state’s three public universities: the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa. Whether they will also pass the state Senate, which is also in GOP hands, remains unclear.

House File 2487 would require the universities to identify any general ed course requirements that “include diversity, equity, inclusion, and critical race theory–related content” by the fall 2028 semester. The legislation says the Board of Regents “in its discretion shall direct an institution to eliminate such a course or course requirement.” The bill doesn’t define DEI or CRT. For new undergraduates enrolling at the universities after July 1, 2028, a second bill, House File 2361, would generally require they complete a “comprehensive survey of all American history” course, and another on “all” American government to earn a four-year degree. The universities would have to accept these courses as fulfilling their “general education or core curriculum requirement for social sciences or humanities.”

The civics centers at these public universities—faculty critics often dub them conservative centers—would designate courses that meet the mandates, according to the legislation, which also requires the Board of Regents to review all undergrad gen ed requirements and core curricula at those institutions.

The third recently approved bill, House File 2245, would require the board to use search committees comprised of five voting board members when undergoing university presidential searches. The bill would require presidential candidates to be kept secret unless all five members agree to make their names public...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/03/16/iowa-house-oks-bills-affecting-public-university-curricula.

Straws in the Wind - Part 237

From Inside Higher Ed: A voting student position on the Iowa Board of Regents would be eliminated under a new bill advanced by the Hawkeye State’s House higher education subcommittee... If passed and signed into law, the bill would replace the student regent with a ninth one appointed by the governor. In addition, seven new nonvoting member seats would be established: three for students, two for state senators and two for state representatives. The proposed legislation also details several new policies and programs the board would be required to establish and would give members of the state’s General Assembly the ability to override board and university expenditures through a joint resolution.

The policies outlined align with the key higher education priorities for Republicans in the statehouse who hold a majority. They include:

• Establishing a post-tenure review process
• Developing approval standards for new academic programs
• Barring faculty senates from “exercising any governance authority over the institution”
• Conducting biennial reviews of all general education requirements and low-enrollment academic programs
• Creating an ombudsman office that will “investigate complaints of violations of state or federal law or board policy” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/01/23/iowa-lawmakers-seek-end-student-vote-board-regents.

Straws in the Wind - Part 111

From KCRG: Following a three-hour closed session, the Iowa Board of Regents announced its decision on faculty members who had praised Charlie Kirk’s death on social media. The board has ordered three universities to launch immediate investigations into their faculty and staff to determine if they broke social media policies. All staff under investigation will be placed on administrative leave or removed from the classroom.

Some board members shared frustrations, with one member saying no investigations were conducted prior to the boards decision, which prevented any terminations from being issued this week. Another member added, while some of the social media posts are “appalling”, the First Amendment protects those statements.

Source: https://www.kcrg.com/2025/09/17/board-regents-orders-investigation-into-university-staff-social-media-posts/.

Straws in the Wind - Part 70 (Addendum to #59)

From KCCI: A second University of Iowa employee is on paid administrative leave following an online video that appears to show the employee discussing recent diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) laws and ways faculty members can get around the laws. A video posted to conservative news site Townhall appears to show a University of Iowa employee — identified in the story as Cory Lockwood, the senior associate director of the Iowa Memorial Union — talking about how the university has complied with recent DEI laws enacted by the state legislature. "There's DEI work happening," he appears to say in the video. "I think, you know, somebody's not going to have that in their job description because of the statehouse."

The University of Iowa confirmed Lockwood is on paid administrative leave... Lockwood is at least the second University of Iowa employee to be placed on paid administrative leave after a video surfaced in which they discussed enforcement of Iowa's DEI laws... 

Full story at https://www.kcci.com/article/university-of-iowa-employees-dei-video-paid-leave-cory-lockwood/65578816.

Straws in the Wind - Part 59

From the Lawrence Journal-World: University of Kansas employees with official KU email accounts soon will be prohibited from listing their preferred pronouns — he/she and they/them, for example — as part of their email signature lines. KU Chancellor Douglas Girod sent an email to KU faculty and staff members Tuesday notifying them that signature lines that communicate which pronouns the sender prefers were deemed to be out of compliance with a provision approved by the Kansas Legislature during its last session. KU employees — including student employees — must remove all such pronouns and other “gender ideology” from their KU work accounts by the end of this month.

“All employees shall comply with this directive by removing gender-identifying pronouns and personal pronoun series from their KU email signature blocks, webpages and Zoom/Teams screen IDs, and any other form of university communications,” Girod said in his email message to employees.

Girod said the Kansas Board of Regents, the entity that oversees KU and the state’s other public universities, recently made the determination that such gender pronouns are out of compliance with the direction of the Kansas Legislature, which included the requirement in a budget bill that provides funding for the universities. A majority of members in the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature expressed various concerns about diversity, equity and inclusion policies on university campuses, and the budget proviso grew from those concerns. To not comply with the pronoun provision of the budget bill could put significant amounts of KU’s state funding at risk...

Full story at https://www2.ljworld.com/news/ku/2025/jul/22/ku-employees-must-remove-he-she-they-them-pronouns-from-email-signature-lines-as-part-of-state-directive/.

From KCRG: Governor Kim Reynolds has filed a complaint over a newly-released video of a University of Iowa employee talking about DEI. The video, posted on Fox News Tuesday, is heavily edited. It is unclear who took the video, or what led up the employee’s statements. In the video, Andrea Tinoco, Assistant Director of Leadership and Student Organization Development, makes several comments regarding DEI at the University of Iowa. During the conversation with the unknown individual, Tinoco says their website was scrubbed to remove DEI terms. The video then skips part of the conversation. Tinoco continues by saying they are “finding ways to operate around it”, and gives an example, stating “oh, we can’t use that word? ... Okay, ‘civic engagement’.”

...She then goes on to say DEI will stay in class, and that she doesn’t care. She also describes the University of Iowa as the “most combative” of the three universities, and says she is proud of the fight. Finally, Tinoco claims that DEI and student organizations still exist, despite the changes in the law. Governor Reynolds released a statement in response to the video Tuesday. She also filed a complaint against the University of Iowa with the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

“I’m appalled by the remarks made in this video by a University of Iowa employee who blatantly admits to defying DEI restrictions I signed into law on May 9, 2024,” said Reynolds. “I already issued a letter to the Board of Regents on January 23, 2025, reminding university representatives to comply, not only with state law, but an executive order signed by President Trump ending implementation of DEI policies at public institutions. I will be referring this matter to Attorney General Brenna Bird for her review as it relates to Iowa’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Act.” ...

Full story at https://www.kcrg.com/2025/07/30/governor-responds-video-univ-iowa-employee-admitting-defying-dei-policies/.

New Federal Official in Charge of Higher Ed

From Inside Higher Ed: David Barker, a member of the Iowa Board of Regents, was nominated by President Donald Trump on Friday to be the Assistant Secretary for Postsecondary Education. If confirmed, Baker would work under nominated undersecretary Nicholas Kent, and oversee higher ed programs and policy. According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Education, Barker would focus on improving outcomes and accountability by reforming accreditation, improving federal student aid programs and ensuring grant programs match the Trump administration’s priorities. Barker holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago and has taught at both the University of Chicago and the University of Iowa. Barker was an Iowa regent for six years where he advanced cost control measures, promoted academic freedom and ended “discriminatory DEI programs,” according to the release. 

Source: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2025/05/12/trump-nominates-assistant-secretary-postsecondary-ed.

Official announcement: https://www.ed.gov/about/news/press-release/us-department-of-education-celebrates-president-trumps-nominee-assistant-secretary-postsecondary-education.

Bio: David Barker is a partner in Barker Companies, which owns, manages and develops apartments and other real estate. He also has been an adjunct professor at the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago, teaching real estate investment, urban economics and corporate finance. Barker has published articles in academic journals, and his research has been covered in publications such as Time Magazine, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist.  

Barker previously was an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he conducted research on real estate and the banking industry. He holds a B.A. degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago. He serves on the Governor of Iowa's Rural Empowerment Initiative and is an honorary Colonel of the Iowa State Militia.

He was appointed to the Board by Governor Kim Reynolds on March 1, 2019, with his term beginning on May 1. He was reappointed by Governor Reynolds on March 12, 2025. His term expires on April 30, 2031.

Source: https://www.iowaregents.edu/the-board/member-bios/david-barker.

Coronavirus Research at UCLA

UCLA To Study Vaccine Effectiveness in Health Workers

The research will compare the incidence of positive COVID-19 tests within both groups, as well as the severity of the illness in those who test positive.

3-29-21 NBC-Los Angeles 

UCLA received a $4.9 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines among health care workers, the university announced Monday. Researchers at the David Geffen School of Medicine will study both vaccinated and non-vaccinated health care workers from 16 medical centers who get tested for the virus after experiencing common COVID-19 symptoms like fever, cough or a loss of sense of taste or smell. 

Though researchers expect to gather data over the course of a year, some results will be available very soon, according to Dr. David Talan, a professor of emergency medicine and infectious diseases at UCLA who will co-lead the trial with Dr. Nicholas Mohr, a professor of emergency medicine, anesthesia and epidemiology at the University of Iowa's Carver College of Medicine. The research will compare the incidence of positive COVID-19 tests within both groups, as well as the severity of the illness in those who test positive.

Results are expected to help determine how effective the vaccines are at both preventing infection and lessening the impact of the virus when infection does occur. Talan said gathering results from doctors and nurses whom the public knows and trusts should provide more certainty for those who are still wary about getting vaccinated. "Health care workers all across the world have stepped up to meet the overwhelming needs of patients, families and communities during the pandemic and have been prioritized to be the first offered the COVID-19 vaccine,'' Talan said. "We have an obligation to learn as much as we can about the vaccines' effectiveness and safety."

An estimated 10,000 people, including health care personnel at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, are expected to enroll in the study. The medical center at UC San Francisco is also among those in the participating network, which includes facilities ranging from Miami to Seattle.

Mohr agreed that the results would have broad application. "We are entering an important next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic," Mohr said. "Studying the experiences of health care personnel will give us insights into how we can protect both health care workers and the general public once vaccines are more widely available."

Source: https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/coronavirus/southern-california-coronavirus/ucla-to-study-vaccine-effectiveness-in-health-workers/2561912/

Here, There, and Everywhere

In (early) retrospect, the UCLA decision to continue in fall as it was in spring and summer seems wise:

From AP: As waves of schools and businesses around the country are cleared to reopen, college towns are moving toward renewed shutdowns because of too many parties and too many COVID-19 infections among students. With more than 300 students at the University of Missouri testing positive for the coronavirus and an alarming 44% positivity rate for the surrounding county, the local health director Friday ordered bars to stop serving alcohol at 9 p.m. and close by 10 p.m.

Iowa’s governor has ordered all bars shut down around The University of Iowa and Iowa State, while the mayor of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, did the same in the hometown of the state’s flagship university.

“What we’re seeing in our violations is they’re coming late at night,” said Stephanie Browning, head of the health department for Columbia, Missouri. “Big groups gathering. They’re not wearing their masks, they’re not social distancing.”

In Utah, the city council in Provo overrode a mayoral veto to pass a mask mandate, which includes a $500 fine for organizing large mask-less gatherings, days before students return to Brigham Young University from around the country. But the council was nevertheless worried that college students sharing dorms, bathrooms and showers could become “super-spreaders” and bring the virus off campus, council chair George Handley said.

“We’re already seeing what’s happened across the country at other universities,” he said.

But a recent warehouse party organized by a BYU student’s promotional company called Young/Dumb also raised concern when pictures of hundreds of revelers without masks surfaced online...

Full story at https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/College-towns-growing-alarmed-over-outbreaks-15522146.php

New Free Speech Fellows

The University of California’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement announced a new class of fellows today, continuing its critical work to help educational institutions and communities foster and protect free speech and civic engagement. The 10 projects, selected from among a highly competitive pool, represent students, professors, law enforcement, policymakers and senior administrators—all of whom are tackling challenging and timely issues pertaining to expression, academic freedom and campus life.

"Our third class of fellows is pursuing critical issues shaping the national conversation around expression and civic engagement,” said Michelle Deutchman, the Center’s executive director. “Their projects will contribute to a rich legacy of research, insight and expertise on free speech in higher education; we are proud to welcome them to the Center.”

Over the course of a year, the fellows will research complex topics such as student activism, student leader information networks, targeted harassment of faculty and the relationship between students and campus law enforcement. Their projects will include developing educational materials and programs that can serve as a roadmap to safeguarding and encouraging the free exchange of ideas while simultaneously ensuring the institutional values of equity and inclusion. Each fellow will spend time on one of the 10 UC campuses to dialogue with students, faculty, administrators and others to inform their ongoing work.

The Center’s 2020-2021 fellows are:

Ernesto Arciniega, UCLA Hispanic Literatures PhD student

- "Lighting the Way for Undocumented Students at the UC: Empowerment, Campus Policies, Free Speech and Civic Engagement”

 

Cerri Banks, Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs, Skidmore College

- "Black Administrators and Black Student Activism - Media’s Impact on Navigating Relationships and Transforming Learning”

Cassie Barnhardt, Associate Professor, Educational Policy and Leadership Studies, University of Iowa, College of Education

- "Comparing Contemporary Campus Mobilization at Scale: Tactics, Intensity, and Media Attention”
 

Ryan Coonerty, Third District Supervisor for Santa Cruz County, California
- "Skokie: Free Speech and Community”
 

Jill Dunlap, Director for Research and Practice at NASPA – National Association of Student Personnel Administrators, and Alice Yau, Police Officer-Instructor-Trainer, Chicago Police Department 

- "Coming Together: Student and Law Enforcement Understanding of Campus Free Speech Policies and Procedures”
 

Nina Flores, Assistant Professor, Social and Cultural Analysis of Education, College of Education, California State University Long Beach

- "Tweets, Threats, and Censorship: Campus Resources to Support Faculty Through Incidents of Targeted Harassment”

Nicholas Havey, UCLA Higher Education and Organizational Change PhD student

- "Are Campuses Echo Chambers? Exploring the Information Networks of Student Leaders”

Jennifer Lambe, Associate Professor, Communication, University of Delaware

- "Best Practices for Balancing Free Speech and Diversity in Higher Education”

Elizabeth Niehaus, Associate Professor, Educational Administration, University of Nebraska – Lincoln

- "Self-Censorship or Just Being Nice? Understanding College Students’ Moral Reasoning around Free Speech in the Classroom”

 

Brian Soucek, Professor of Law, University of California, Davis

- "Institutional Values, Academic Freedom, and the First Amendment”

Source: https://mailchi.mp/20c18e20d1f2/uc-national-center-for-free-speech-and-civic-engagement-selects-third-class-of-fellows

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Note: More details about the individual projects can be found at: 

https://freespeechcenter.universityofcalifornia.edu/fellows-20-21/

Easy to Google It

Inside Higher Ed today has a piece on an incident in which a student at the U of Iowa used a "keylogger" device to obtain a professor's password and then changed his grades.

Want one? I just typed "keylogger" into Google and an ad for one popped up instantly.

In any case, the multifactor authentication system that just went into effect at UCLA is noted as a way to defeat keyloggers. Even with a stolen password, someone could not get into the university computer system without also having the second device to log on, typically a smartphone.

The Inside Higher Ed article is at:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/11/01/new-type-hacking-puts-professors-accounts-risk

Killing Tenure

From Inside Higher Ed:

Lawmakers in two states this week introduced legislation that would eliminate tenure for public college and university professors. A bill in Missouri would end tenure for all new faculty hires starting in 2018 and require more student access to information about the job market for majors. Legislation in Iowa would end tenure even for those who already have it.

The bills, along with the recent gutting of tenure in Wisconsin and other events, have some worrying about a trend...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/01/13/legislation-two-states-seeks-eliminate-tenure-public-higher-education

At the top

Inside Higher Ed picks up on the poor-returns-to-endowments thing, with UC tied with Ohio State U for the top (worst) results.* Of course, all we have to do is get rid of the minus (-) sign and we could be at the bottom (best) along with Yale.
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*https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/30/low-endowment-returns-dont-stop-regulation-push
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Anyway, with all the concern about rankings, we're on top:

BART?

From Inside Higher Ed:

For months, officials at the University of Iowa have been saying that they would launch a Bias Assessment and Response Team this fall. Such teams exist at many other colleges and universities and typically use the acronym BART.

Many advocates for minority students have pushed for the creation of BARTs, and the Black Student Union at Iowa reviewed and approved the idea of starting one.

But on Thursday, the university's chief diversity officer, Georgina Dodge, announced a change of course. The university will not be unveiling a BART at the start of the academic year, she said. Rather, it will respond to criticism of the BARTs elsewhere by creating a model that would not in any way intrude on faculty members' academic freedom.

"We have seen that the ways BARTs are functioning at some other institutions are not effective, and we want to build a better BART," she said.

BARTs differ somewhat from campus to campus, but the one at Ohio State University, which Dodge has said in the past was a model for efforts at Iowa, describes itself this way: "BART receives, monitors, refers and, as necessary, coordinates university responses to hate- and bias-related incidents that impact all or a significant portion of the university community. Incidents may involve bias or hate as a result of age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, HIV/AIDS status, military status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status."

Asked where she saw problems with a BART, Dodge cited the example of the University of Northern Colorado.

The BART at Northern Colorado became controversial this year after faculty members reported being told how they might change their classroom instruction to avoid offending some students. Many faculty members and others said the BART was effectively policing academic speech...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/19/u-iowa-re-evaluates-concept-bias-response-teams

Questioning of Redistribution of Tuition to Student Aid

Inside Higher Ed has been reporting on complaints and political reaction at the University of Iowa about redistribution of tuition toward student aid.  The complaint is basically that middle class families are being taxed to provide such aid.

The University of California has been engaged in such redistribution for years and in fact often cites its aid policy when tuition has been raised. But there could be spillover from Iowa and other locations where the practice has been questioned as tuition here rises.  If redistribution were not used at the U of California, and if state support continues to drop, the only sources left for aid would be federal programs (Pell Grants), state programs (Cal Grants), and private donations.

Private universities engage in such redistribution but their practices are less subject to external political forces.

The Inside Higher Ed report is at:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/08/iowa-proposes-end-use-tuition-revenue-financial-aid

All A-Twitter at the U of Iowa

Inside Higher Ed today points to a U of Iowa $37,000 scholarship for a student with the best Twitter tweet. Despite President Obama's recent Twitter town hall, yours truly hopes UCLA can resist the impulse to follow the Iowa example. Excerpt:

One question. One hundred and forty characters. $37,000.

It's no game show -- the University of Iowa's Tippie MBA full-time program is awarding one full financial award package to an applicant who most creatively answers the question, "What makes you an exceptional Tippie MBA candidate and full-time MBA hire? Creativity encouraged!", in 140 characters or less on Twitter.

The award will go to a student entering the program this fall...

The full article can be found at http://www.press-citizen.com/article/20110706/NEWS01/107060311/Tweet-your-way-to-Tippie-award?odyssey=tab|topnewhs|text|Frontpage

GOP Plan Targets Sabbaticals for Iowa Professors

Inside Higher Ed spotlights the article below today:

GOP plan targets sabbaticals for Iowa professors (excerpt)

Ryan J. Foley, Associated Press, December 1, 2010

IOWA CITY, Iowa. Newly empowered Republican lawmakers in Iowa want to cancel paid research leaves for university professors in a budget-cutting move, even as the Board of Regents considers approving them for dozens of employees for next year.

Incoming House Speaker Kraig Paulsen said taxpayers cannot afford faculty sabbaticals, a sentiment backed by the president of Iowa's largest public employees' union, in an unusual alliance. But professors said the savings Republicans are promising won't materialize, and the move would cost universities in grant money and productivity…

Several schools across the country have already reduced or canceled sabbaticals, according to the American Association of University Professors. The University of Iowa has cut its sabbaticals in half over two years…

A potential fight is already brewing in Iowa, where its three public universities have asked the Board of Regents to approve sabbaticals for professors in the budget year that begins July 1. Details are expected to be made public Thursday. …The University of Iowa has asked the regents to approve 58 sabbaticals for next year, a slight increase after two years of sharp cuts, said Faculty Senate President Edwin Dove, who defended the practice. UI professors wrote 26 books in 2009 while on sabbatical, published 147 research articles, created and updated nearly 100 classes, and submitted 50 grant applications, Dove said.

…House Republicans have said their plan would save $6 million and be part of a budget-cutting package introduced next year. But their projected savings apparently includes salaries that professors will earn whether they are on sabbatical or not. The actual savings would be the roughly $250,000 universities spend to hire replacement teachers, university officials said.

Still, their plan is getting support from Danny Homan, president of the largest state employee union, which typically supports Democratic candidates. Most members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have been furloughed to balance the state budget. Homan called sabbaticals "paid vacation." "They are being paid to not do what they were hired to do, and that's teach in the classroom," he said. "It's time that practice ends. We don't have the money." …

Full article at www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-facultyleaves-iow,0,5635197.story

Musical question for AFSCME-Iowa: