(Radio Iowa) The Board of Regents Facilities Committee has given approval for an interior upgrade to the Hillcrest Residence Hall at the University of Iowa. U-I Vice President Rod Lehnertz, says the request for designs on the project was approved in 2019. He says the project will cost 23 million dollars funded by a combination of dorm revenue bonds and university housing renewal and improvement funds. He says Hillcrest was built in 1939 and is the largest dorm on the west side of the Iowa City campus. “At 267-thousand square feet, 820 students live within that residence hall Additionally, the residence hall serves all of the residents on the west side of the campus with food service for all of those halls, along with a fitness center, laundry, and a convenience store,” he says.

Lehnertz says the interior will get a total upgrade. “Door replacement throughout the building. Upgrades in drywall, veneer, flooring, painting, closet systems, window treatments in all of the rooms and then the service spaces that serve the building — including custodial closets, restrooms, study room furniture,” according to Lehnertz. He says the upgrades have proven to be popular with students. “For instance, Quadrangle Residence Hall on the east side is now 105 years old and still a very popular residence hall with students because of the modernizations,” Lehnertz says.

Lehnertz says the building will stay open and the work will be done over three years, mostly in the summertime.

(Radio Iowa) – Buena Vista University has opened a 25-hundred-square foot building in downtown Storm Lake that’s being described as an “idea incubator.” It’s called “The Foundry” and B-V-U president Brian Lenzmeier says the space is for students as well as businesses and entrepreneurs in the community. “This is a place where visiting businesspersons can idle for a while when they’re in town, bounce ideas off of colleagues, conduct meetings, do research and establish new contacts,” he says, “making connections to build out their businesses.”

The Foundry is already home to a tech start-up called Levity. It was launched by two computer science majors who graduated from B-V-U in 2020. Lenzmeier says there’s plenty of office space for other start-ups as well as open space for meetings and for self-employed people to share equipment and ideas.”It’s a place where budding entrepreneurs will be connected to not only the university, but to our Storm Lake community, to Buena Vista County and to northwest Iowa,” Lenzmeier said. Gary Sterling, The Foundry’s manager, started to get calls when details about the project were released earlier this year.

“I had one call specifically from Sioux City, one from Spencer with people actually asking: ‘Can I use your space? Can I use it to interview people? Can I use it to have a small meeting?’ And I’d say: ‘Well, we’re not quite there yet. We’re close. but give me your name and I’ll make you know when this is ready to go,'” he said, “so with that I knew we were doing the right thing.”

The Foundry is part of the Donald and Charlene Lamberti Center for Rural Entrepreneurship at Buena Vista University. Lamberti, the founder of Casey’s General Stores, donated two-point-nine million dollars to B-V-U in 2019 to establish the center and The Foundry was part of that original plan. A grand opening and ribbon cutting for The Foundry was held earlier this week.

Officials with the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) say cybersecurity concerns forced them to take some of their computer systems offline, Thursday, following the discovery of security problems. As a result, online classes were canceled Thursday.

KCCI reports cybersecurity teams were in the process of checking DMACC’s system. The college said there is no evidence that any student or faculty information has been compromised, but they said their investigation is still underway.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Republican Party chairman Jeff Kaufmann says he and the G-O-P leaders of New Hampshire, South Carolina AND Nevada are wholeheartedly united behind maintaining the same sequences for presidential caucuses and primaries in 2024 that was used in 2020. “I am unwavering,” Kaufmann told Radio Iowa. “I am granite…Iowa is going to be first-in-the-nation and we are going to hold a Caucus.” The Democratically-led Nevada legislature passed a bill on Monday that seeks to change that state’s Caucus to a Primary and schedule it as the opening event in the presidential nominating process.

“Iowa has proven time and time again that this is a good place not to pick the president, but to start the process,” Kaufmann says. Earlier today, Kaufmann spoke with the Nevada Republican Party’s leader, who has publicly opposed a first-in-the-nation Nevada Primary, as the state could lose its delegates to the national conventions held by Republicans AND Democrats. “He sees everything that the Democrats in Nevada have done as pure politics,” Kaufmann says. “I mean this is a Harry Reid power play.”

Reid is the former Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate. Reid and other Nevada Democrats argue the state has a diverse population that mirrors the country’s demographics. The Iowa G-O-P’s chairman says the history of the caucuses shows candidates from diverse backgrounds can compete and win in Iowa like Barack Obama did in 2008 and Ted Cruz did in 2016. “I believe wholeheartedly and sincerely that Iowa Democrats, like Iowa Republicans, are practiced, they’re seasoned,” Kaufmann said, “and I think both parties can provide candidates that absolute best way to introduce themselves to the rest of the country.”

The Republican and Democratic National Committees approve the dates for state primaries and caucuses that help determine each party’s presidential nominee.

(Radio Iowa) – The president of the board that oversees the three state universities says they are looking forward to resuming regular operations this fall. Mike Richards has already lifted the emergency order that went into place on March 18th of 2020 at the height of the pandemic. “Campuses will return to offering in-person academic coursework to the same extent prior to the pandemic with no social distancing or masking requirements.

Faculty and staff will return to the campus beginning July 1st 2021,” Richards says. He says students at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa will NOT be required to be vaccinated to return. “Though vaccination is not required to return to the campus — all members of the campus community are strongly, strongly encouraged to receive a vaccination,” according to Richards. Richards says they will continue the effort to help students deal with COVID-19.

“Each of our institutions will make vaccines readily available for those who want to receive their shots. The vaccines are safe and effective, so please, everyone get vaccinated,” Richards says. “In short, Iowa’s public universities will embark on a welcome return to traditional campus activities this fall,” Richard says. And he added that will include full football stadiums. The Board of Regents met in Iowa City, and Richards announced the late adjournment of the legislature would require them to delay the first reading of proposed tuition rates.

“We will call a special meeting in June to hold a first reading of rates. As is our practice, we will not vote on rates in the June meeting. But our expectation is that we will hold a vote to approve rates at a meeting in late July,” he says. The Iowa Legislature approved a budget that gave no increase in state funding for the universities. The Legislature originally proposed a tuition freeze, but backed off that.

“Our universities need an appropriate amount of resources to continue to provide high-quaity education. But we also want to keep our universities accessible and affordable as possible for Iowans,” Richards says. “There are many factors to consider — and we will be thoughtful as we move forward in this process.” The Regents approved a salary increase for Iowa State University president Wendy Wintersteen to move her salary 590-thousand dolalrs to 600-thousand dollars. That puts her salary to the same level as new University of Iowa president Barbara Wilson, who begins July 15th.

They also approved continuing a 100-thousand dollar yearly retention bonus each year through 2023 for Wintersteen if she stays at the school. They approved a 105-thousand dollar annual retention bonus through 2023 for Board of Regents Executive Director, Mark Brown, while holding his salary at the same level.