Governor Reynolds has stripped Iowa’s higher education budget to the bone to pay for her extreme partisan agenda and wasteful corporate giveaways, and so once again, working Iowans are the ones suffering the consequences.
This week, the Des Moines Register reported that the University of Iowa is closing down seven centers that help with workplace-related training, dentist recruitment, farm safety, and assisting veterans in their transition to college as a direct result of Reynolds’ budget cuts.
Consistent with Reynolds’ other attacks on Iowa’s Labor community, the cuts include the Labor Center which provides invaluable research, resources, and protections for Iowans in the workplace.
“Governor Reynolds is once again closing the door on progress and opportunity for working families. Our families, farmers, veterans and so many more are losing out because the governor would rather pay off corporations than help our veterans transition to the college education they earned,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chair Troy Price. “Democrats believe that the people of Iowa are our greatest resource, and we’ll invest in that resource when we take back the statehouse and the governor’s mansion this November.”
DES MOINES REGISTER: University of Iowa to close 7 centers, slash support to 5 others and cut jobs of 33 people
The University of Iowa will no longer help Iowans with workplace-related training, dentist recruitment, farm safety, or assist veterans in their transition to college, officials announced Tuesday.
University officials plan to close seven centers and reduce funding for five others within the next year. Among the centers that will close is the Iowa Center for Higher Education, housed at the former AIB College of Business campus in Des Moines.
The closures and reductions will result in job losses for 33 people, the university announced Tuesday. University officials estimate they will save nearly $3.6 million once the cuts are complete.
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“We’re disappointed to be in this position because these centers and employees provide valuable outreach and service to Iowans,” Bruce Harreld, university president, said in a prepared statement. “But we can no longer ask our students to support activities previously supported by the state just a generation ago.”
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In the past decade, the state’s three public universities — the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa — have relied more heavily on revenue generated from tuition because of cuts in state appropriations.
In 2008, 49 percent of the universities’ revenue came from state aid and 45 percent from tuition. Last year, tuition generated 63 percent of revenue, compared with 32 percent for state aid.
In addition, the universities have undergone mid-year budget cuts the past two years. In March, both UI and ISU were told to find $11 million to cut from their budgets with just three months left in the fiscal year that ended June 30.