Iowa City, Iowa – A Republican lawmaker says a recently announced University of Iowa plan shows the institution is already responding to the creation of a new committee in the Iowa House. University officials are proposing a new “School of Social and Cultural Analysis” — and the closure of the Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies Department and the Department of American Studies. Republican Representative Taylor Collins of Mediapolis has led efforts to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs at the state universities and he will be chairman of the new House Higher Education Committee when the legislature convenes in January.
The proposed changes are to be discussed at the Board of Regents meeting in February, with the plan to go into effect for the next academic year. The dean of the University of Iowa’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences told The Cedar Rapids Gazette the proposed changes are the result of pragmatic and innovative thinking from faculty, using resources efficiently and serving students better. The university will no longer offer a major in Social Justice. Representative Taylor, who has led efforts in the legislature to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs, has criticized that major in the past.
Collins says there’s more work to do at all three state-supported universities.
The operating budget for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics — which Collins referred to as UIHC — is estimated to be nearly two-point-eight BILLION dollars.
Representative Taylor Collins (R-Mediapolis) will be chair of Iowa House Higher Education Committee. (official photo)
