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Faculty and staff representatives urge better compensation, benefits and support during Board of Regents salary-policy presentations
Summary
Multiple employee groups from the University of Iowa, Iowa State and UNI addressed the board about FY 2026 salary policies, citing inflation, rising premiums, recruitment and retention concerns and the role of staff in statewide workforce development.
Representatives of faculty and staff groups from the three regent universities addressed the Board of Regents on April 24 as the board considered FY 2026 salary-policy presentations. Speakers from faculty senates and staff councils described compensation pressures, rising health insurance premiums, and the importance of retention strategies.
Caroline Sheeran, president of the University of Iowa Faculty Senate, said faculty do not enter academia for high pay and described the range of instructional and clinical work contributed by faculty across 12 colleges. She urged the board to consider compensation that reflects the opportunity costs of leaving for private-sector pay and highlighted programs that serve rural communities, such as telehealth and the People’s Law Library.
James Jorse, president of the University of Iowa Staff Council, described long service in patient financial services and other staff roles, and asked for continued board support for staff, their work in patient care and statewide outreach, and advocacy with the Legislature on higher-education funding. He emphasized staff pride, resilience and the breadth of services staff provide across the state.
From Iowa State, Megan Gillette (faculty senate president-elect) and Jason Follett (president of the Professional and Scientific Council) urged competitive salaries and benefits to retain midcareer faculty and professional staff, citing rising insurance premiums that in some cases offset raises. Gillette framed pay as essential to sustaining partnerships and programs that benefit Iowans; Follett urged the regents to be active advocates with state political leaders and more visible in promotion of university impact.
At UNI, Nathan Arndt (president of UNI’s Professional and Scientific Council) described UNI programs aligned to workforce needs—UNI-at-IACC, UNIQ, a new nursing and public health department—and how professional and scientific staff support those initiatives. Arndt said P&S employees are central to delivering student-facing services and asked the board to pay greater attention to staffing pressures as enrollment and program workloads increase.
Speakers repeatedly asked the regents to support competitive compensation, preserve benefits and advocate for legislative support for higher education.
