The Iowa Board of Regents has tabled a vote on proposed bylaws for the University of Iowa Center for Intellectual Freedom after board members expressed concerns about just who would have control of the center’s advisory committee.
Developed by interim center director Luciano de Castro, the drafted bylaws would establish executive and scholar committees within the center’s advisory council to handle different academic and advisory duties.
While the board’s governance, finance and human resources committee gave initial approval for the bylaws Wednesday, regents suggested changing policies relating to eligibility requirements for committee membership, specifically that a certain number of people on each committee must be currently or formerly tenured at an R1 research institution.
Echoing concerns she shared when the center’s advisory board was first brought to the board of regents, Regent Nancy Dunkel said Wednesday she was concerned about out-of-state control of the center if Iowans are barred from committees due to not having tenure.
Regent Robert Cramer said during the board’s Thursday meeting that the bylaws still need some work.
“I do think we want to get those right, and we want to have them right not just for us right now, but for 10, 20, 30 years from now,” Cramer said.
As the center advisory council will hold its first meeting Nov. 18, Regent Christine Hensley suggested tabling approval of the bylaws until the council has time to discuss them, and then “determine next steps” from there.
The vote to delay the bylaws vote was unanimous.
“It has been a long process, and we have had a lot of input from various individuals, but I agree with the comment that it’s important that we get them exactly right,” Hensley said.