(Radio Iowa) – The board that governs the state universities has launched the search for the next Iowa State University president — under a 2024 state law that says only board members are to vote and choose the finalists. Republican Representative Taylor Collins of Mediapolis says the law was passed because extreme factions from the campus communities were involved in searches for previous state university presidents. Regents president Sherry Bates says no committee has made or will make unilateral decisions on behalf of the board.

“At every board meeting, any recommendation by a committee requires the full board to approve before the recommendation happens,” Bates said. The search committees for the three current presidents of the state universities included faculty, students and community members. In 2016, the search committee for a new University of Iowa president was disbanded and the Board of Regents was criticized for selecting Bruce Harreld over the objections of faculty on the Iowa City campus. Bates, who has been on the Board of Regents for a decade, says she and the other Regents are volunteers who seek input from many sources.

“The universities are a 24/7, 365 day operation,” Bates said. “There is something going on every day and some of those issues require consultation, advice and counsel between our board members.”

Bates says the nine Regents then vote and make decisions. A 21-member search committee was formed in 2017 when Wendy Wintersteen was chosen as I-S-U’s president. The Board of Regents has given its executive director authority to hire a national consulting firm and form a search committee that Bates says will be as small as possible. Wintersteen plans to retire in January.