The Daily Iowan WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2022
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receive $70 million Wilson talks free speech, recruitment UIfortohealth care expansion A new inpatient tower will bear the name of Richard O. Jacobson after his foundation gave the largest donaiton in the university’s history. Eleanor Hildebrandt News Editor
The High Impact Hiring Initiative at the University of Iowa has provided over $4 million in the past year for the recruitment and retention of faculty, providing funds to recruit 18 new faculty members to the university. The initiative, which began in February 2021, is funded by the UI’s public-private utility system partnership with energy companies ENGIE North America and Meridiam. The funding
The University of Iowa will receive $70 million to fund a new patient care building for the university’s hospitals and clinics. It is the largest philanthropic gift ever given to the UI, coming from the Richard O. Jacobson Foundation. Jacobson, who died in 2018, graduated from the UI in 1958, and the foundation focuses its grants to education, youth development, and medical research. In April 2020, the foundation gave UI Health Care $2 million to help cover COVID-19 expenses. In an interview with The Daily Iowan, UI President Barbara Wilson said she hopes the investment will allow the university’s health care system to turn away fewer patients. “We’ll be building a new tower in the hospital area, so it’s really exciting,” Wilson said. “We turn away many patients every year around the state who need critical health care and we just don’t have the space for those patients, over 2,000 individuals a year.” She said the gift is “transformational” for the university and is a “great endorsement” of UIHC’s current workings. The university knew it needed to expand its health care infrastructure before the gift was donated, Wilson said. The funding helped the university lean toward the decision to build the tower. The new building will be across from Kinnick Stadium once it is built. Wilson said the gift process began before she started her tenure at the UI in July 2021. Funds from the gift will not be allocated to research or education facilities. “This [gift] is really for the tower, which will be primarily a patient care facility,” she said. “We have other work to do on that side of the river and around research and other things. But this particular tower will be for patient care.” The building is part of a 10-year revitalization plan for the university. The plan focuses on
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University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson answers a question in an interview with The Daily Iowan on Monday.
Transcript: Wilson discussed the regents’ free speech training provided by the state Board of Regents, COVID-19, and the university’s 175th anniversary. DI Staff The Daily Iowan sat down with University of Iowa President Barbara Wilson on Monday four weeks into the spring semester. With the university closing in on its 175th anniversary, Wilson spoke on the upcoming celebrations planned and her vision for the university. Wilson also discussed this year’s free speech training provided by the state Board of Regents, efforts to foster inclusivity on campus, COVID-19, and student mental health. Read a transcript of the interview below. The transcript has been
The High Impact Hiring Initiative, providing nearly $4.25 million, is looking to enhance the university’s recruiting and retention of “transformative faculty.” Kate Perez News Reporter
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INSIDE
UI Health Care Black Faculty Council to focus on growth and outreach
Braden Ernst/The Daily Iowan
Scholarships remain with or without test scores
After the state Board of Regents voted to retire the ACT/SAT admissions requirement, prospective students are still able to receive scholarships with or without submitting a score.
grades, but also a strong test score,” Kluver said. The average high school grade point average of an incoming first-year student in fall 2021 was 3.81, Kluver said, and about a third of the entering students had a 4.0 or better. Submitting test scores can set a student apart from others, he said. “There will be opportunities for students that apply without a test score but have an excellent high school curriculum and good grades in high school, but the ceiling for scholarships increases if you’re a student that not only has a strong high school curriculum, excellent grades, and you’re in the 99th percentile of ACT or AP testing,” he said. Scholarships offered to incoming first-year students upon admission are based on merit, as well as factors like family contribution, a student’s racial and ethnic background, and whether they are
As rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations decrease throughout the state, Iowa’s coronavirus disaster proclamation expired Tuesday at 11:59 p.m.. Johnson County Health officials said they will continue to provide tests and information to the communicate, but won’t have as much data to report under the new rules. Signed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on March 17, 2020, the proclamation initiated the allocation of state resources against COVID-19 outbreaks and the suspension of state laws that would have hindered hospitals and public health agencies from responding to the pandemic effectively. The proclamation also gave Reynolds license to close businesses, cancel large gatherings, and limit nonessential surgeries, all of which she did at the start of the pandemic. In a statement on Feb. 3, Kelly Garcia, interim director of the Iowa Department of Public Health, said that, once the emergency proclamation expires on Feb. 16, the state will also terminate two state-run websites related to COVID-19: vaccinate.iowa. gov and coronavirus.iowa.gov. The sites allowed users to find COVID-19 vaccine appointments and to view the state’s accumulated COVID-19 data on hospitalizations, new cases, vaccination statuses, and deaths. Sam Jarvis, community health manager at Johnson County Public Health, expressed concern over deletion of these websites. “Overall, there is concern among many of us in public health that this is too soon to discontinue those two main areas for information,” Jarvis said. “So really now a burden is placed on local public health and other committee members to be able to continue to provide that information to
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Ten-Minute Play Festival Lillie Hawker/The Daily Iowan marks 25 years Calvin Hall, where the Office of Admissions for the University of Iowa is located, is seen on Monday. Short, 10-minute original works,
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The proclamation’s end means the end of state COVID-19 websites and reporting on negative tests. Anthony Neri News Reporter
The Black Faculty Council, created after the death of George Floyd in May 2020 as a support group for Black faculty, has expanded to a 10-member council with a goal to diversify departments within UI Health Care, recruit underrepresented populations, and retain more Black medical students. Page 3
as well as staged readings, will showcase University of Iowa undergraduates’ theater work at Alan MacVey Theatre from Feb. 17-20. The event is returning to the stage after COVID-19 restricted its ability to hold in-person performances. Page 8
Low COVID-19 rates coincide with end of disaster proclamation
Kate Perez News Reporter ACT and SAT scores are no longer required to qualify for certain scholarships at the University of Iowa, but admissions staff say test scores can still help set students apart when competing for funds. On Jan. 12, the state Board of Regents voted to make standardized testing requirement optional, including the ACT and SAT, for university admission of first-time undergraduates at all three of Iowa’s public universities. Upon admission, students are automatically considered for various merit scholarships. UI Director of Admissions Kirk Kluver said students are evaluated for scholarships whether they submit scores or not. “Some of our highest merit scholarship awards are generally for students that not only have a strong high school curriculum and strong