The five Board of Regents institutions – or as we prefer to call them, “Iowa’s Public Universities and Special Schools” – have an unparalleled record of service to Iowa and our citizens. Iowa’s Public Universities – the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and the University of Northern Iowa – are the primary providers of baccalaureate and advanced degrees in our state. In addition to educating Iowans, they conduct cutting-edge research, serve as an engine of economic development for the State, and provide numerous outreach services for all Iowans. Simply said, they are vital to advancing the prosperity and quality of life for Iowa and all of its citizens.

Iowa’s Special Schools – the Iowa School for the Deaf and the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School (including the Statewide System for Vision Services) – are the only institutions of their kind in the state, and provide vital educational opportunities to young people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or visually impaired.
In its role as the Board of Trustees for the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, the Board of Regents also governs the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (“UIHC”), the State’s only comprehensive academic medical center. UIHC, consistently recognized as one of the best hospitals in the U.S., works in close partnership with physicians from across the state and serves patients from every county in Iowa. UIHC forms an essential component of UI Health Care, a partnership with the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and UI Physicians, which provides high-quality patient care, conducts groundbreaking biomedical research, and educates Iowa’s next generation of health professionals.

Finally, in conjunction with Iowa’s Public Universities (who hold the broadcast licenses for WOI, WSUI, KSUI, KUNI and KHKE), the Board oversees the work of Iowa Public Radio, a vital public service and information resource for Iowans.

Through the investment and support of many generations of Iowans over the years, Iowa’s Public Universities have developed outstanding reputations for excellence in educating Iowa’s young people, conducting life changing research, growing Iowa’s economy and delivering needed services to our State.
The Board of Regents takes very seriously the importance of Iowa’s Public Universities and Special Schools to the state, as well as our responsibility to govern the institutions on behalf of all Iowans. This report describes the successes and challenges faced by these outstanding institutions as they have continued to serve Iowans during difficult times. We are proud of the work of Iowa’s Public Universities and Special Schools, particularly given the appropriation cutbacks faced by our institutions beginning in FY 2009, through FY 2010, and into the new fiscal year, FY 2011.

We believe that readers of this report will recognize that Iowa’s Public Universities are irreplaceable resources for the state, and we hope that you concur that our institutions have performed well and have been governed appropriately in the past year. Our message is simple: As the Iowa economy improves, the State of Iowa must restore its historic financial commitment to Iowa’s Public Universities. Iowans did not build world-class educational institutions overnight. For the sake of future generations of Iowans, we dare not leave the future of the UI, ISU and UNI, or our special schools, to chance.

Though FY 2010 was a difficult year (and we enter FY 2011 with dramatically reduced State support), Iowa’s Public Universities did an outstanding job of adjusting, while protecting the outstanding quality of our institutions. We enter FY 2011 well poised to serve Iowans today and for generations to come.

As illustrated throughout this Annual Report, Iowa’s Public Universities and Special Schools share common strengths that unify the institutions and strengthen their impact on Iowa, its citizens, the nation and the world. We now turn to the special contributions of each institution.