For the first time in nearly seven years, Iowa’s Board of Regents has a new president — Sherry Bates, a social worker from Western Iowa who’s been on the board for nearly a decade.
In becoming the board’s 23rd president, Bates succeeds Michael Richards — who announced in January plans to resign from the board in April after eight years, including seven as president. Richards, who stepped down from his presidential post immediately Jan. 16, first was appointed to the board in 2016 and reappointed in 2021 for a term that was to expire April 30, 2027.
He first was elected board president in 2018 and chosen again in 2020 and 2022.
Bates, in her unanimous election by fellow board members Wednesday to fill his spot, became only the second female Iowa Board of Regents president and first since 1981 — when Mary Louise Petersen’s eight-year presidency ended.
Given that Bates had been president pro tem since June 2021, the board Wednesday also unanimously picked Greta Rouse as its new president pro tem. Of the board’s eight president pro tems, four have been women — and Rouse will be the fifth.
Bates, who’s been serving as interim president since Richards’ announcement, has been on the board since December 2014. She was reappointed in 2017 and again in 2023 for a term set to expire in 2029.
“I have worked with Regent Bates for several years on a very close basis,” Richards said in nominating her as his successor. “I believe that she’ll be an excellent person for the president of the Board of Regents.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds will nominate a new regent to fill out the nine-member volunteer board that governs the state’s public universities. Although the board must maintain gender and political balance, Reynolds can choose either a man or a woman of any political affiliation — given the board currently has four women and five Republicans, including Richards.
Bates identifies among the three independents on the board, with Regent Nancy Dunkel as the sole Democrat.
The regent election comes as lawmakers have proposed legislation to change the Board of Regents makeup and its powers — proposing, among other things, adding two non-voting members from the Iowa Legislature. One of those would be designated by the House speaker and the other designated by the Senate majority leader.
That bill also proposes changing the way the board hires new university presidents — considered among its most important duties — to form a presidential selection committee. “The board shall not elect a president of an institution of higher learning unless the presidential selection committee recommended the election of the president to the board,” the proposal says.
And the legislation limits the board’s power to increase tuition — asserting that resident tuition and fees for undergraduates who start on or after the 2025-2026 academic year “shall not increase during the student’s first four full academic years of participation in the baccalaureate program.”
That isn’t meant to block the regents from increasing rates for first-year students — although the bill does cap resident undergraduate hikes at 3 percent.
www.thegazette.com
In becoming the board’s 23rd president, Bates succeeds Michael Richards — who announced in January plans to resign from the board in April after eight years, including seven as president. Richards, who stepped down from his presidential post immediately Jan. 16, first was appointed to the board in 2016 and reappointed in 2021 for a term that was to expire April 30, 2027.
He first was elected board president in 2018 and chosen again in 2020 and 2022.
Bates, in her unanimous election by fellow board members Wednesday to fill his spot, became only the second female Iowa Board of Regents president and first since 1981 — when Mary Louise Petersen’s eight-year presidency ended.
Given that Bates had been president pro tem since June 2021, the board Wednesday also unanimously picked Greta Rouse as its new president pro tem. Of the board’s eight president pro tems, four have been women — and Rouse will be the fifth.
Bates, who’s been serving as interim president since Richards’ announcement, has been on the board since December 2014. She was reappointed in 2017 and again in 2023 for a term set to expire in 2029.
“I have worked with Regent Bates for several years on a very close basis,” Richards said in nominating her as his successor. “I believe that she’ll be an excellent person for the president of the Board of Regents.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds will nominate a new regent to fill out the nine-member volunteer board that governs the state’s public universities. Although the board must maintain gender and political balance, Reynolds can choose either a man or a woman of any political affiliation — given the board currently has four women and five Republicans, including Richards.
Bates identifies among the three independents on the board, with Regent Nancy Dunkel as the sole Democrat.
The regent election comes as lawmakers have proposed legislation to change the Board of Regents makeup and its powers — proposing, among other things, adding two non-voting members from the Iowa Legislature. One of those would be designated by the House speaker and the other designated by the Senate majority leader.
That bill also proposes changing the way the board hires new university presidents — considered among its most important duties — to form a presidential selection committee. “The board shall not elect a president of an institution of higher learning unless the presidential selection committee recommended the election of the president to the board,” the proposal says.
And the legislation limits the board’s power to increase tuition — asserting that resident tuition and fees for undergraduates who start on or after the 2025-2026 academic year “shall not increase during the student’s first four full academic years of participation in the baccalaureate program.”
That isn’t meant to block the regents from increasing rates for first-year students — although the bill does cap resident undergraduate hikes at 3 percent.
Sherry Bates elected president of Iowa Board of Regents
For the first time in nearly seven years, Iowa’s Board of Regents has a new president in Sherry Bates -- a social worker who’s been on the board for nearly a decade.
www.thegazette.com
