Regents committee advances First Amendment training reports and authorizes 2025–26 free‑speech survey
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Summary
University officials reported high First Amendment training completion for incoming students and the board authorized the 2025–26 free speech survey; regents raised questions about membership requirements in the Center for Intellectual Freedom bylaws and asked for membership details before the board vote.
The Board’s Free Speech and Student Affairs Committee heard updates from all three universities on First Amendment training and authorized the Board Office to begin the 2025–26 free‑speech survey.
University of Iowa officials reported that free‑speech training is embedded in the required ‘‘Success at Iowa’’ course and that 98% of incoming first‑year and transfer students complete that module. Iowa State and UNI representatives described analogous strategies (Cyclone 101, embedding training in orientation and graduate‑assistant academies) and said they are refining metrics to better capture on‑time completion for faculty, staff and students.
Committee members pressed for more detail about the Center for Intellectual Freedom bylaws. Regent Hensley and others expressed concern that language in the draft bylaws could make the executive committee a majority of current or former tenured R1 professors, potentially excluding Iowan faculty or skewing local representation. Board staff said the executive committee has not been finalized and promised to provide a count of proposed members’ tenured/R1 affiliations prior to the board vote. Professor Luciano DeCastro was present as a technical resource for the bylaws discussion.
The committee authorized the board office to begin work on the 2025–26 free‑speech survey in consultation with committee members; the plan is to field the survey in January–February and report results in April. Committee members said they would watch completion and reporting metrics and wanted the board office to make survey materials available to regents ahead of the April report.
Why it matters: The Center for Intellectual Freedom and the board‑mandated survey are intended to measure campus climate on free expression and to provide annual legislative reporting. Regents emphasized transparency on membership and measures of success to ensure the center meets legislative intent.
Next steps: Staff will provide membership composition counts and the Board Office will begin survey preparations; the bylaws remain slated for board action after committee review and any requested amendments.
