Regents to lose decades of knowledge with Harkin, Downer departure

With the impending April 30 departure of its two longest serving members, the Iowa state Board of Regents stands to lose decades' worth of collective knowledge and experience on the myriad issues facing higher education in Iowa today.

And although they come at the issues from different sides of the political aisle, Republican Bob Downer of Iowa City and Democrat Ruth Harkin of Cumming agree that the board and the Iowa Legislature must work together to address the budget shortfall at the University of Northern Iowa and to ensure that the best possible candidates apply to be the next president of the University of Iowa.

Both Downer and Harkin said, very early in their legal careers, they started thinking about the possibility of serving on the board that oversees UI, UNI, Iowa State University and the Iowa School for the Deaf.

"I was always fascinated by the regent system, and the reason why was because of its influence and power in the state of Iowa," Harkin said. "It's the most influential and important entity that we have in Iowa — based on its employees and budget."

Downer said his early attempts to join their board were unsuccessful partially because of a widespread "feeling in other areas of the state" that UI and Iowa City were "essentially two sides of the same coin" and no Iowa City resident could be truly objective on board issues.

"I don't know why Iowa City was singled out for this," Downer said — noting there already had been regents from within Ames and Cedar Falls.

That changed in 2003, when then Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack nominated Downer to the nine-member board — which is required to maintain a gender and partisan balance. Harkin — who is married to now former U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa — was nominated by Vilsack two years later to fill the remaining four-year term of a vacant seat.

Both were reappointed by then Democratic Gov. Chet Culver in 2009 — although Downer, who did not support Culver in the 2010 campaign against Jim Nussle, said his reappointment came as a pleasant surprise.

Although there have been controversies and challenges over the past 10 and 12 years, both Harkin and Downer still attest to the system that was designed to shield the regents from direct partisan influence. And they've discouraged occasional legislative calls for changing to system by having regents be elected rather than appointed or creating a chancellor system to oversee the overseers.

Ultimately, Harkin said, the effectiveness of the system is shown by "the number of Iowans and out-of-state students we educate and the many academic awards we've achieved at all three regent universities."

Comparing Iowa's system to that of other states, Downer said that the regents may well fit within Winston Churchill's definition of democracy: "As the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."

Downer also said he views the ongoing disagreements and periodic controversies as "a sign" of how invested Iowans are in maintaining the quality of higher education in the state.

"You don't have that when there is complete apathy," he said.

Funding models

Downer is especially critical of state regent systems — like in Michigan — in which each university has its own independent board without a coordinating board to make sure everyone is working together.

He said he worries that, like the Michigan system, a new funding formula approved by the board last year risks pitting Iowa's three public universities against each other in order to attract more in-state students and collect a larger share of state funding.

"It creates rivalries within a community that should be unified," Downer said, who was the lone vote against the formula. "We're all working very hard to see that the next generation is better prepared for the future than the current one is. I hate to see those kinds of rivalries that are being created."

Downer also worries that the formula undervalues the boon to Iowa's economy that comes from the surplus of out-of-state students who choose to come to the state for their college education — with about 40 percent of those non-residents finding their first job in Iowa.

OUR VIEW: Regents need to revisit new funding formula

"We have something that obviously is pretty special here, and we should be working together to promote it," Downer said. "It's an extraordinary opportunity to connect with young people who are looking for a place to sink their roots."

The regents' proposed new funding formula hasn't made much headway during the current legislative session, and it seems less than likely the controversial formula will be approved this year without significant debate and changes.

Harkin, who voted for the funding model, said that passing the new formula isn't as important as the more "basic challenge" of having the board and the Legislature work together to provide "more funding for UNI because they have a budget shortfall."

"How that is done is a point the Legislature and the Board need to be grappling with in the future," Harkin said. "It doesn't have to be quite as complicated as what the regents voted on, but we do need to provide more funding for UNI."

Downer agreed that providing additional support to UNI is "imperative."

It's not a question of providing "special treatment" for UNI, he said. It's a recognition that 90 percent of UNI's student body consists of in-state students. Thus, UNI is impacted by the current tuition freeze much more than UI and ISU are — and without UNI having access to the research funding that helps fuel parts of UI and ISU.

UI presidency

Downer and Harkin are the only regents who have been on the board for the hiring of the current presidents at all three public universities. But they will leave the board months before the UI Presidential Search and Screen Committee chooses a slate of finalists to replace retiring UI President Sally Mason.

The current leadership of the board has chided Mason over the past few years for not keeping the regents properly apprised of potential problems that could arise on campus. Yet Downer and Harkin say they haven't had any problems communicating with Mason.

"Sally Mason had a change of regent presidents during her tenure, and every regent president really has a different set of expectations," Harkin said. "Personally, I have not had any communication problems with President Mason. If I wanted to know something, I called her up and asked her."

Downer and Harkin said they take Mason at her word that her decision to retire was her own — and not something forced on her by the regent leadership.

RELATED: Sally Mason to continue on as 'president emeritus'

"This clearly has been a very stressful time," Downer said. "These are difficult jobs. They are exhausting jobs. I can certainly understand why a president at age 65 might decide it was time to get into a less stressful position, maybe to retire altogether."

Downer, however, said he would have preferred for Mason to stay on for another four years.

"(Former UI) President (Sandy) Boyd's 12-year tenure was just about right, in retrospect," Downer said.

Neither Downer nor Harkin said they had overwhelming concerns about the search process itself. The 21-member search committee had its first meeting last month, and the plan is to bring the handful of finalist candidates to campus during the second week of the fall semester.

Harkin, however, has expressed concerns that — because the names of the finalists will be made public — the search won't attract the full range of qualified candidates.

"Iowa really hasn't changed its system over the years," Harkin said. "In the time I've been on the board, however, many other regent systems have changed the way they select the presidents of their universities. ... And the applicants are changing their expectation in terms of not wanting to participate in a public search."

Downer is more concerned about the consequences of not having the final round be public.

"I am not persuaded that the model we have followed is resulting in less-qualified applicants or presidents," Downer said. "… I think having that sort of interaction is helpful. I know a number of alumni, donors and legislators participate. I do think that it creates positive feelings that might not be present if the process was less open."

After the regents

Harkin said that one of the key challenges to being a regent is the amount of time the position requires — not only the hours and days it takes to attend meetings but the even longer periods of time it takes to keep up on "all the homework" required between meetings.

Harkin said she will continue to serve on a number of boards after leaving the regents, but she is also doing a fair amount of writing — "including writing down many vignettes about the regents over the past 10 years."

Those passages may find their way into a book in the future.

"Once you become aware of all the things that happen with the regents, you're sort of interested for life," Harkin said.

Downer said he has come recognize that he has "a great affinity for non-paying jobs" and whatever free time he gains after leaving the board is likely to be filled quickly.

He already has committed to take on another "non-paying job" later this year, but said he was not in a position to be more specific.

"I will continue to serve," Downer said.

The incoming regents who will succeed Downer and outgoing Regent Ruth Harkin are Mary Andringa of Mitchellville and Patricia Cownie of Des Moines.

Hannah Walsh

The term for Regent Hannah Walsh also ends on April 30. Walsh, a University of Iowa political science major from Spirit Lake, has served on the Iowa state Board of Regents since late 2012. She is being replaced by Rachael Johnson, a University of Northern Iowa education major from Sioux City.

"Hannah has put heart and soul into this position," said fellow outgoing Regent Bob Downer. "While I've enjoyed working with the three other student regents who have served during my tenure, Hannah in a class by herself."

From previous student representatives, Downer said, "you would learn much about what was happening at their particular institution," but there didn't seem to be as much interaction with other students. Walsh, however, has gone out of her way to learn about the other institutions — even adding a certificate in American Sign Language, in part, to improve her familiarity with the issues involving the Iowa School of the Deaf, Downer said.

Walsh will remain at UI pursuing a master's degree through the UI College of Education.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at jcharisc@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @jeffcharis.