It’s a rare month in which University of Iowa Health Care isn’t
in the news with developments in medical research, patient care, diagnosis
and treatment of children, and many other areas. Visitors to campus realize
that the medical complex is important, but they may not realize the effect
that the complex has on undergraduate education. We asked President Mary
Sue Coleman about UI Health Care and other topics, including the effects
of a March reduction in the University budget
 |
When
you visit The University of Iowa, it’s hard to ignore the huge medical
complex on the west side of the Iowa River. But unless you’ve been
a patient, it’s difficult to understand how large and prominent our
medical facilities are. What does the medical complex mean to the University?
As
an academic medical center, University of Iowa Health Care is considered
one of the elite in the country for its size and the prominence of its
faculty and research. It’s extremely well regarded.
People are surprised to realize that when you include all the facilities in Iowa City and our clinics around the state, UI Hospitals and Clinics have almost 800,000 patient visits a year— 41,000 admissions and 740,000 outpatient visits annually. With an operating budget in excess of $500 million, the UIHC encompasses a broad spectrum of clinical services, including the Children’s Hospital of Iowa and the NCI-designated Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center. It also is a teaching hospital, closely affiliated with the College of Medicine and with the other health-related colleges, Dentistry, Nursing, Public Health, and Pharmacy.
We educate a lot of students in those colleges. The College of Medicine and the hospital have revenues that pay 94 percent of their budgets. The state of Iowa contributes about six percent, most of it for care of indigent people throughout the state. So we are a statewide resource for Iowa’s citizens.
On
the research side, it’s sometimes not widely known that the presence
of the hospitals makes a big difference to researchers in such fields
as engineering and physics, as well as medical researchers.
That’s
a real positive that the University can point to—it’s easy for
researchers to cross disciplinary and college lines and do interesting
research together. One good example is Professor Kate Gfeller, whose primary
academic area is music. She is doing groundbreaking work in otolaryngology
and speech pathology, working with children who get cochlear transplants.
The presence of the medical facilities enriches everyone, and this cross-fertilization
ultimately results in better patient care.
So
it’s a resource for the state of Iowa and the United States in terms
of patient care and research. What does it mean to undergraduate students?
We
have a very good Student Health Service, first of all, and it is overseen
by the hospital. If a student has serious problems, he or she will have
access to all the medical expertise in the hospitals and clinics. There
are numerous students who find work in laboratories and other research
facilities in the health care facilities. If that complex weren’t
there, we’d lose hundreds of student jobs.
But it’s also an area for students to find volunteer opportunities. Of course, the big one is Dance Marathon. Students have embraced that activity so fully, they work all through the year to make it work. I think one of the important facets of Dance Marathon is that it allows our students to get to know the children who are cancer patients and their families. They work with them long after Dance Marathon is finished and stay in touch with them even after they graduate. It’s a volunteer opportunity for them, yes, but they learn more than they give back in volunteer service.
We’ve
been seeing the first consequences of the multiple cuts that have been
made in the University’s funds this year because of Iowa state budget
cuts. How do these reductions affect undergraduates?
The
University of Iowa has experienced three reductions in state appropriations
in this fiscal year—a total of $38.1 million University-wide. The
most recent reduction of $5.9 million—$4.9 million of it from the
General Education Fund, which most affects undergraduates—is especially
difficult for us to cope with because of our increased spring enrollments
and because most of our funding for this fiscal year is already committed.
Administrative units will receive a 50 percent higher cut than academic units because protecting academic quality is our highest priority. In addition, we protected financial aid and library acquisitions from any cuts at all.
In our summer session, we are eliminating 11 course sections, 222 student enrollments, and 809 credit hours. Because of that, we will lose $175,000 in tuition revenue, but we are saving more in instructional costs than we would lose in the tuition revenue.
Within the College of Education, we’ve closed journalism education, communication studies education, health occupations education, and a minor in human relations. A new fee has been announced to cover student teaching costs. Since the number of lecturers the college employs will be reduced, class sizes will rise.
Faculty positions have been eliminated by combining two sections of a chemistry class into one and cutting two first-year chemistry classes for the fall. Fewer elective classes in psychology and fewer tuition scholarships in women’s studies will be available.
We’ve reduced student hourly employees in the library. We’ve reduced international activities on campus, particularly visiting lecturers.
We will strictly enforce our enrollment management guidelines. For this year, that means a firm application deadline of May 15. For next year, the deadline will be April 1. And we have shifted the cost for admissions and other student services programs to mandatory fees. In other words, we are cost-shifting to students.
Other areas, such as reductions in the number of full-time equivalent faculty, cuts in capital equipment replacement, suspension of admission to some graduate programs, and lowered support for start-up funds for new science instructors also may affect some undergraduate students in the future.
We are still waiting for word from the Iowa statehouse regarding state appropriations for the next fiscal year. We will keep parents apprised of developments. Thank you for everything you are doing to help us weather these difficult economic times in our state.
How
is the work going to restore Old Capitol after the disastrous fire in
November that destroyed its dome and caused extensive water damage?
I’m
impressed by what I’ve heard of the construction plans so far. It’s
going extremely well. But it may not show on the outside for a while.
We have had to make sure that the building is stabilized. We’ve had
to bring the humidity back down very slowly. The people who are doing
the work are experts and I feel confident they will be able to bring the
building back. Hopefully, we’ll get started with reconstruction this
season, but I’m realistic. This will be a slow process.