Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-10-20 TranscriptionOctober 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 1 Council Present: Dickens, Dobyns, Hayek, Mims, Payne, Throgmorton Council Absent: Botchway Staff Present: Markus, Fruin, Dilkes, Karr, Andrew, Boothroy, Yapp, Rackis, Hightshoe, Laverman, Bockenstedt, Rummel, Kneche, Ralston, Havel, Kelsey, Karpel Others Present: Neal (UISG) Hayek/ Okay, uh, we'll welcome everyone to the October 20, 2015, work session. Uh, Council Member Botchway cannot be here. He's got a work obligation that came up last minute. He wanted me to mention that. Questions from Council re: Agenda Items: Hayek/ Um, we'll jump right in. First bullet point is questions regarding agenda items. Don't interrupt each other! (laughs) (several talking) Payne/ You don't have any, Jim? (laughter and several talking) ITEM 14b RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING FEES FOR POLICE DEPARTMENT SERVICES AND RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO. 06-365 Dilkes/ I just want to note on ... 14 ... on 14b. It's the res ... it's the fees for the alarms, the false alarms. Hayek/ Yeah. Dilkes/ We ... we gave you a new copy. We just changed that language a little bit just to clarify, um ... uh, what was being said, but nothing substantive. Hayek/ Okay. ITEM 5. CONSIDER ADOPTION OF THE CONSENT CALENDAR AS PRESENTED OR AMENDED. Karr/ And we're going to adopt the Consent Calendar as amended, deleting 5d(6), Kemp's Addition, for consideration at a later meeting. ITEM 12. SNOW EMERGENCY PARKING FEE CHANGE - ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 3, "FINANCES, TAXATION, AND FEES", CHAPTER 4, "SCHEDULE OF FEES, RATES, CHARGES, BONDS, FINES, AND PENALTIES", SECTION 8, "PARKING VIOLATIONS", TO This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 2 ADD A $50 PENALTY FOR SNOW EMERGENCY PARKING VIOLATION. (FIRST CONSIDERATION) Neal/ For Item 12, why was $50 chosen? (several talking) Dilkes/ It's a snow emergency. Markus/ Mark, you want to come up? Rummel/ Hi there, Mark Rummell, uh, Transportation and Resource Management. Uh, the $50 was, uh, set up, uh, a few years ago and the idea is to just help encourage people to follow the snow emergency. Um, we get so many vehicles that don't follow it, and then we have to ... uh, take it and tow those so that we can clear the streets. Neal/ Okay. Markus/ Why don't you mention it was dropped from the ordinance by mistake. Rummel/ Yeah, we had a, um ... uh, a fee structure change a couple years ago, and during that time the ... the amount was, um ... unintentionally left off the ... the fee structure, so we're just trying to get it put back on. Neal/ Oh, okay. Thanks! Rummel/ Yep! Council Appointments (Agenda Item # 141. Hayek/ Other agenda questions? Thank you, uh, Nicki, for offering one. (laughter) Okay! Let's move on to ... Council appointments. I believe there is only one for us to make this evening ... on the Airport Commission. Uh, no gender requirement, two applicants. Does anyone know either of the applicants? Dilkes/ One of the applicants is Dennis Bockenstedt's, um, spouse and we've, um, had a conversation about whether that's a conflict. I don't think it's a conflict that precludes her from being on the commission. There may be some ... issues that will require her to recuse herself, but... Mims/ Well, I didn't know that when I was going to make my statement, but just given ... the length of time in the city, the gentleman who's lived here one month and she does have an interest in aviation stuff so I was going to support Julie. Hayek/ That's... that's where I (both talking) Mims/ ...then I'm fine with that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 3 Hayek/ That's where I was leaning too. Dobyns/ There's really nothing else to go on, Susan. I mean, it's pretty (both talking) Mims/ There's really not. Dobyns/ ...elsewhere so ... (both talking) That's the only thing I could find to tip the balance. Throgmorton/ Let's do it! Review University of Iowa enrollment and housing proiections: Hayek/ Okay! Okay, uh, that brings us to the next bullet point, which is a review of the U of I's enrollment and housing projections. Got Mr. Rod Lehnertz from the University. Welcome! Lehnertz/ Thank you. Throgmorton/ Hi, Rod, how you doing? (several talking) Lehnertz/ Good to see all of you tonight. How are you? (several talking) So, uh... Mayor, thank you for the introduction. Again, Rod Lehnertz, uh, Interim Senior Vice President for the University and, uh, in talking with Geoff we thought it'd be a good time to come in and give you a little update as to where we have been, where we are, where we're headed with respect to enrollment and also some updates related to student housing or on -campus housing. Uh, this ... class of students we have at the University of Iowa is the largest in the history of the University. We added roughly 520 additional students from the previous year. That took us to about 5,200 incoming freshmen and this is ... this group is made up, uh, 47% are residents of the state of Iowa and then a combination of out-of-state and international students, uh, make up the balance. We have, uh, of the 5,200 students who are on our campus as freshmen, 20% of those are minorities. This is also, uh, the highest percentage the University has had, the most diverse class, in the history of the University. It's also the most advanced class, the most prepared class, uh, with ACT averages at about 26, and, um ... uh, the performance of the students coming in, set them up for success at a higher rate than we've seen for any student body coming to the University. Um, as ... as some demographic background, we had a couple three years of record enrollment growth in freshmen coming in in the years at or surrounding the flood of 2008. Uh, since that time we've had a flat, uh... uh, growth approach, primarily related to our need to recover the campus and ... and the inability during this stretch of time to be able to take more students on. The infrastructure increase is needed to take on more students, uh, impact, bus traffic, the number of buses on campus, the number of pedestrians on the sidewalks that are both Iowa City streets as well as University streets and sidewalks, and uh, we knew we would be disrupting a good part of our campus and our community, and we've done a good job of that over the last eight years, and um, we now see the light at the end of the tunnel. There's still a lot of construction going on, but certainly more order, and as we look forward to completion of the major flood projects, This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 4 and I'll include in that the Children's Hospital project, uh.... in this calendar year as we approach the summer and reach the summer and through that fall, we'll have a campus that is recovered, that is transformed, and is ready for these new students. Uh, there are ... um ... plans moving forward, our current plans with respect to enrollment for the following your ... year are expected to keep at that same level, so not another increment above the 500 more we had this year, but maintain, uh, that level. So, uh, the more than 5,000 students coming, uh, to the University as freshmen. Um, it is very early in the process to understand the efforts of recruitment last year and what kind of momentum or ball rolling that might create to see more students than we would expect, but our intent is that we would have... maintain that same level last year ... that we had for this fall, rather than, uh, incrementing upward again. Uh, and um, it's yet to be seen, uh... on purpose or not whether we go above that, but we're confident that we'll be able to reach those levels again. Uh, when we look at more students on campus as we have this fall, apart from the difficulties related go on-going construction and the interruptions related to that, we are well positioned to take those additional students. The infrastructure issues of...of our Cambus system. Uh, we are a little crowded in our recreation area, uh, the, uh, the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center, uh, turned out to be, uh, more popular than we even expected it to be. Uh, it has been a real (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) uh, for activity for students, and ... and that is one area that, uh, will be tight, but we've got other options for them on campus, as well, and have been able to manage that, and then you look at (mumbled) first, many people look at housing and where we stand with respect to housing. So, uh, we ... as you likely know opened our first new residence hall in 47 years with the Mary Louise Peterson Residence Hall opening this, uh, fall semester on Grand Avenue. Uh, that welcomed 501 additional beds to our campus. It has been very popular. It was very popular because it was new, but it's also been a great addition to that pocket of about half of our on -campus residents. Uh, if you look at the building, apart from the tower, uh, there is a streetfront area, about two stories tall. It is two stories tall. That offers, um... teaming spaces, uh, informal food, uh, offerings, entertainment, those kinds of things, and that has, uh, that was designed not only for that hall but for the other residence halls on that side of the river because when those were built, the most recent in 1968, uh, they did not incorporated those public or social spaces and so we added more to the scope of that project to make sure that we could improve the situation, the social situation for, uh, students on that side of the campus. Additionally, that residence hall becomes the first one specifically designed with the notion of what we call, and our peers call, uh, living/learning communities. Uh, every floor is themed for either an area of interest or an area of education, and the students that reside on that floor work not only as ... as co -residents on the floor but also, uh, within teams, learning either their trades or the areas of interest or ... or study. Um ... we ... we, uh... do this in the other residence halls, but the residence halls are not designed for it. This one has gathering spaces in the middle of each floor so they can socialize, team tutor, different things like that to get together. So, this is a first new model for us. It's been a great residence hall, uh, on that front. Uh, we are under construction on the second new residence hall since 1968, and that's the Madison Street Residence Hall. That'll be our largest residence hall on campus by bed count — about 1,050 beds — uh, being constructed by designibuild methods. We look for that project to be complete before the fall semester 2017, and uh, our ... tough year will be the next year, uh, before that residence hall is open, because after this academic This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 5 year, we will take down the Quadrangle Residence Hall, which is the oldest residence hall on the west side of the campus. Currier Hall is the oldest on our campus. Uh, it's a poor use of land use. It's only two stories tall and takes a wide, uh... uh... uh, and broad space. It is also the former site, or roughly half of the footprint of that building is the former, or the future site for our new College of Pharmacy building, which will start construction as soon as we can take that building down. So ... that building, Quadrangle, has 347 beds and we will be, while we're up 500 this year, we'll be down the 347 next year with more students on campus. We'll be able to address the students. What it primarily will mean for that one year period is that we will not be able to welcome very many returning students to the campus. We have to first and foremost make sure that we are ... our freshmen can be housed on campus, and we'll do that next year. We just won't have as many returning students. When we gain back, uh, plus some, the residence hall beds with Madison Street, we'll be able to address the freshmen students as well as an increasing number of...of returning students, and ... we currently have about 6,000 beds on our campus. Uh, as that compares to our peer institutions, we are far fewer than most. Uh, Iowa State has roughly twice as many beds as we have on campus. Uh, many of our peers require freshmen to live on campus in the on -campus residence halls, but we do not. Uh, more and more of our peers are requiring sophomores to live on campus. The statistics show that returning students that... returning and new students that live on campus perform better academically. Uh, it would be better. We ... we would have to add between 10,000 and 12,000 beds to be able to pull that off and are not headed in that direction. Um, we, uh... are in the, uh, study phase of an additional residence hall that has received permission to proceed with planning, by the Board of Regents, for a west, an additional west campus residence hall. The timing of that project is not at all, uh, set, uh, nor would be the scope or location or ... or, uh, anything related to that. What we did was ask for permission to proceed so we could study the options related to that. If we did that hall, or when we would do that hall or other halls, we'd begin to look at the returning student demographic and those halls, at our peers and on our campus, would become more ... what they call 'sweet style' residence halls. A bit more like an apartment setting where you might have rooms (mumbled) either two or four flanking a shared kitchenette and ... and living space. Uh, we wouldn't have full kitchens in those spaces because we'd still have the, um, the board system with our ... with our on -campus food service, but it offers a bit more privacy and a bit more community space that the returning students have come to expect. So, our next residence halls, should we and if we and when we come to those, would not be of the style we've been building to date, but there's no timeline, uh, specifically for that kind of hall. Uh, we are studying the options and the demographics related to, uh, that kind of hall and how it would impact the campus. Hayek/ Is ... is the other half of the Quad site that will not host the Pharmacy School... Lehnertz/ Uh huh. Hayek/ ... in ... in the mix for potential future residence halls (both talking) Lehnertz/ When we designed and planned for the Mary Louise Peterson Hall, uh, a hall of the size of that hall, roughly 500 -bed hall, uh, could be located directly north of Peterson This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 6 Hall, on the site that you're speaking of, because the ... the, uh, Pharmacy building that we will build will occupy about half of what the Quadrangle site occupies now. When that is done, that will be green space, uh, for the residence in that area, but it does serve as an opportunity for a future residence hall, should be ... and we would land bank it for ... for that need, not knowing what would come up in future years or generations. Throgmorton/ Rod, have you made any estimates at all about the increase... well, about the, uh, the demand for off -campus student housing, and how it's being affected by your addition and deletion of dorms and etc. Do you have any quantitative estimate of the trend in that? Lehnertz/ In ... in (both talking) Iowa City and/or Coralville or areas of off -campus (both talking) Throgmorton/ Yeah, yeah. Lehnertz/ Uh, no. Uh, our, uh... we ... we see the buildings that are being built. We see projects like St. Thomas, or St. Patrick's site, uh... uh, with possible student housing and the new, different kind of student housing, higher amenity student housing. Uh, we don't ... we do on occasion, have on occasion, visited with and met with, um ... uh... uh, Iowa City staff on ... on talking of those, uh, matters, but have not studied it. Uh, and ... and urn ... have not quantified what Iowa City has. We know, again, under leadership that ... that could come tomorrow or could come 20 years from now, we could see, uh... uh, leadership say should we have more students live on campus. That would become an internal question to us with an external implication if...if the University of Iowa were to go to (mumbled) Now we have almost all freshmen live on campus. Um, nearly every freshmen. Um, a much smaller number of sophomores live on campus, primarily because we don't have the housing on campus. Um, because we have been, if you will, sold out as a residence hall system for ... uh.... a number of decades. We, from my perspective, have always been sold out. Markus/ So, Rod, are the freshmen required to live on campus? Lehnertz/ No, they're not, but we have about, I think the number ... the number fluctuates, but about 97...%. Markus/ So they (both talking) can chose to live off -campus (both talking) Lehnertz/ They can chose to live off campus. We obviously, through our orientation process and attracting students and marketing students here also make clear the benefits, the social benefits, of living on campus, living in communities that ... that reside on campus, both the proximity and also engagement with the student body. So the objectives are clear for freshmen to live on campus, but we see it as an obligation of ours to make sure that every freshmen can live on campus. We do not require it. Dobyns/ Rod, I went to the University of Minnesota and I realize being in a big urban setting the ability for Minnesota to absorb off -campus student housing is far different than, you This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 7 know, our smaller market. So you mentioned Iowa State, uh, that they're (mumbled) only one mentioned. I'm thinking of other markets where, um, you know, their students might not be so easily absorbed into the market and affect the market quite a bit. I'm thinking of, uh, Lawrence, Kansas; Manhattan, Kansas. Um ... maybe Champaign -Urbana, um, can you comment on like universities with similar sized (both talking) Lehnertz/ Sure. Generally we have less than all of our peers, less on campus housing. Now one of those demographics comes from... Lawrence, Kansas for instance is a little bit of a ... a different setting... people often think that it's just like Iowa City, uh, and in many ways I suppose it is, but um ... the University of Kansas is very separate from Lawrence itself. It sits up on the hill and uh... and the town is ... is a distance from the campus, and ... um, as such, so is ... so are the living quarters. Iowa City has been developed, obviously, with the core of the campus right across the street from the heart of the downtown, and we have over the year developed... we, our community has developed apartments that serve as... um, ideal opportunities for students to live, in apartments, but also live right on top of the campus. Dobyns/ What I take from what you ... and I'm taking two statements, um, that statement suggested there is a very real, genuine geographic reason why, um, off, uh... you know, we have the percentage of, uh, students who might live, um, off campus, is because, you know, the University and Iowa City are (both talking) wed. Lehnertz/ That's my take (both talking) Dobyns/ Geographically... Lehnertz/ ...living here for a long time, I take that to be one of the ... one of the reasons we have fewer residence hall beds on campus. Dobyns/ Now we can't predict what, you know, President Harreld will think going forward, but going backwards, my sense is that this, uh, discrepancy to other, uh, like universities in their, uh, smaller market cities has actually been going on for decades, between the University of Iowa. In other words, this is not something new. Lehnertz/ No... Dobyns/ We've always been less than other places for a long time (both talking) Lehnertz/ Correct. Hayek/ So, the uh.... I think Jim's question was getting at...at demand on or for off -campus housing and I ... and I was looking at these numbers. It ... it looks like after you build Peterson and Madison and you take out the Quad, you've got 1,100 or 1,200 net new beds. You're already eating into that to the tune of 520 students, the most recent increase, and so if you add another year in which there was a similar increase, you're basically (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 8 Lehnertz/ Not gaining ground, but treading water (both talking) Yeah, and additionally I'll point out that the halls that are older, and we've done some of this work, uh, on campus, but the halls that are older, for instance. Our two most recent before this — Reno Hall and Slater Hall — have, uh... have residents that live right on ... there's an entire floor of residents that live right on the first floor. Uh, we would prefer that not to be the case for several reasons. Security, the first of those. We ... we would prefer that you have the security of being able to get up to the floor and secure at that floor for those residents. But, additionally, uh, if you have residents living on the first floor, you have no space in those halls for social gathering places or meeting rooms or study rooms or tutoring rooms, and so over time our housing and dining program is also anticipating that they will take more rooms off-line in the existing stock of rooms we have. Um, we can't think in those terms if we're at full capacity and wish we were bigger. So, uh, bringing on a Madison Street residence hall will afford us some of that, a little bit of that flexibility. Again, not to be able to predict how many more students we're going to have coming to our campus. Again, we don't ... we don't at this point, um ... we're not targeting to grow the number another increment this year. We just maintain, uh, what ... this year is a record number, but maintain that. Payne/ But in ... four years if you ... if you maintain that for the next three years, that means there's 2,000 more students (both talking) Lehnertz/ Yeah, yeah ... the pipeline in effect. Payne/ The pipeline effect. Lehnertz/ Yeah, so, uh, when you look at the pipeline effect, the most impactful on a student housing perspective would be sophomores and more sophomores that might want to live on campus, and I will say that we have, uh... we have advantages to living on campus that have been unique to previous, at least student generations. Uh, where we are more connected, we have more amenities, we have nicer dining facilities and the things ... and obviously have always had really good proximity to the undergraduate education. Uh, those, um ... those factors and the living/learning communities have led us to see a general increase in sophomores thinking about or wanting to live on campus, and if you increase the pipeline... juniors and seniors may be different. Maybe some day if we had all the hall space we ever wanted, we'd see juniors and seniors also coming, but let's admit, we also, all the residence halls, are dry and so once you're a junior and a senior, um... Hayek/ You mean like the rain doesn't get in (both talking, laughter) Lehnertz/ No rain! No leaking! Hayek/ I got (both talking) Lehnertz/ Uh, yeah, we make sure of that, but generally if. ... if students, urn ... if...if a student has the freedom and legally can have a beer in the refrigerator, they can't if they stay in a This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 9 residence hall. And whether or not that comes into play for any student or not, uh, we and other universities have seen that juniors and seniors typically, even if given the opportunity to live (mumbled) so it's returning students, meaning the sophomores, and we have more that might be interested in coming with a larger pi ... pipeline. Payne/ So for the city what that means is ... there has to be more apartments, or for the surrounding area for those people (both talking) Lehnertz/ Well there'd be more demand for apartments, more people (both talking) the University over a four-year pipeline that would have demand for, whether they're juniors, seniors... graduate students, sophomores, uh, yeah. There'd be more demand on that front, if...if we maintain the roughly 5,000 students coming in as freshmen ea ... each year. Dobyns/ Rod, things are the way they are for I guess reasons, especially if it's been, you know, for a long time. You know what I'm hearing is that it's... students, uh, students who are on campus may, you know, do better academically. That would incentivize to maybe having more dormitories. I think we realize that the amount of footprints that are close to the central, uh, campus is very limited. That's why you're having to sort of, you know, switch around and so that would keep you from, you know, the University from going forward building more on campus housing. I take a look at the city side, and I guess some of the concern that sort of promulgated this discussion was the fact that the, um, increased amount of students, both undergraduate and graduate, increases the demand for housing, and we have problems with affordability, uh, much driven by the amount of students who, uh, who come in. Then on the other hand, um, this is probably not a bad source of property taxes for the City of Iowa City. It's not as good as it once was, with changes of apartments from commercial to residential, so we've lost that, but my sense is that ... we are in a equilibrium over the decades between all those competing needs and incentives. Um, and my sense listening to you, urn ... you know, the only changes are on our side. It's a change in tax, um ... uh, apportionment from commercial to real estate. From you guys, I don't think much has changed in terms of your competing (both talking) Lehnertz/ Our model... Dobyns/ ...in your model. Lehnertz/ I think generally that's true. If we've got more students, and more students in the pipeline, we've got a few more residence hall beds but we don't have anywhere near what we would need to do, for instance, to emulate Ohio State, who is requiring freshmen and sophomores, and a much bigger university, uh, of all freshmen and sophomores live on campus, required. Uh, we don't require anyone to live on campus. Urn ... there's been no indication to date that that would be a model we would head toward. That doesn't mean that somewhere down the road we might not, but we don't have the capability to do it beyond a freshmen class now. Dobyns/ Have your students ever come to you, and I guess primarily undergrads (mumbled) your comments on this that if (mumbled) there's probably, um, a sense of affordability, is that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 10 if there was more on campus housing, uh, perhaps it'd be more affordable on campus and then the price off campus might be better because the demand was less. Has there been any ... now, um, I ... I didn't take a whole lot of economics classes (laughter) so (laughs) (mumbled) help on this one, but uh, has there been any undergraduate or graduate concerns that could there be more on campus housing for their own issues of affordability? Lehnertz/ Uh, we've not received any specifically related to affordability. Of course in the graduate program and one hall that I'll mention, if you call it a hall, that I'll mention. We did, uh, complete the, uh... uh, private/public partnership project on ... on the Hawkeye Campus with Balfour Beatty and the construction of, um ... uh, Aspire, which is ... in fact, because that's a private organization running that, company running that, uh, undergrads are not allowed to live there. Uh, we have a ... it's ... it's an on campus site and we have bond covenants that do not allow us to compete against ourselves and uh, so the bond covenants that cover, uh, the cost of the residence hall system, uh, we ... we can't ... that is graduate student and public housing only. Uh, it has however been very successful and in fact they are underway with Phase 2 on that same site to take the rest of what was Hawkeye Court, uh, Apartments down and replace them with the updated versions. Markus/ So with Hawkeye though, you don't have to ... you just can't rent to undergraduates (both talking) Lehnertz/ Correct. Markus/ ...because that would be viewed as competition. But are you required to rent exclusively to grad students? Lehnertz/ No. (both talking) Now it's almost all grad students. It has been...that's their, Balfour's model is to open it up to grad students first and medical students, professional school students, and, uh, to fill their quotient of rooms they can go public, uh, but it's ... it's vastly graduate, professional students (both talking) Markus/ Is that true with the expansion then too? Lehnertz/ Yes. Markus/ And what about affordability there? I would think that graduate students would be a bit stressed in terms of their income. Lehnertz/ Yeah, you know we had some concerns there because Hawkeye ... Hawkeye Court was paid for and was really inexpensive. It was also really bad, and uh, and you know, inappropriate to keep for the long-term, and we had tried several times to study the, um... renovation and modernization of those. They were built in such a way it was really impossible to do so. The plumbing is in the exterior wall. You'd have to ... to fix that you'd have to take the concrete walls down, and so there was almost no way to really fix that building, just keep patching it up and ... and it was a real problem for us. Uh, yet we This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 11 didn't have a model for replacement until we got to this private/public partnership. It did increase the cost some, and that was one of our initial concerns. The thing filled up immediately, and uh, to the point where Balfour Beatty said we need more on that site and, uh, and we had a Phase 2, uh, option in ... in the planning. Markus/ So you can't do a public/private partnership... Lehnertz/ For undergraduate? (both talking) It's a good ... it's a good point. We can not, by bond ... by current bond covenants. We cannot do (both talking) Markus/ Unless you retire that debt. Lehnertz/ Unless we retired all of the debt that would be associated with that, and we've got a lot of debt to ... to cover, so I, um ... it's never been an option to us. Are there other models we can possibly look to and emulate at...at other either municipalities or institutions? Possibly. Uh, it has not become an institutional need to the point where we've, uh, decided to (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) explore explicitly, but uh... at first blush, uh, simply doing a private/public partnership for an undergraduate residence hall would not be an option for us. Markus/ So the risk is really in the private sector for student housing because ... if push comes to shove, the University can establish mandatory freshmen. They could go to mandatory sophomore attendance on campus. If you saw a decline in your numbers, which caused you some fiscal stress, you can correct that by instituting (both talking) Lehnertz/ ... requirements ... (both talking) Yeah, we could and I'm sure there are institutions that have. We've never had to and ... and by our decade's worth of...of sellouts and our general, uh, prognosis for the number of students we have, um ... it ... that is not a likely problem, and we couldn't require sophomores cause we have far too few, uh, beds available for that. Markus/ So one of the things that we talk about on occasion is the University, um, establishing some sort of criteria for ranking the private housing. Do you see the bond covenant as ... causing some conflict there for you, as well? Lehnertz/ Well we ... we would want to certainly, um ... we'd want to certainly work with bond counsel to make sure that we wouldn't step over any ... any covenant restrictions. I don't see it, uh... um, out of hand. It's a thing we couldn't do, again we've ... we've never gone that direction, uh, to start ... starts to imply, of course, that we're... doesn't start to imply it. We'd be endorsing a ... apartment complexes and filling up the ones that we want to fill up is I think the, uh, that would be the intent. Um. ... as you and I have talked, Tom, before, uh, I think it's ... it's either ... your take or the reality, and ours too, that the Iowa City market's a free market and it's part of the reason you're seeing some outside developers come in, because they see a ripe environment and a demographic that, uh, is ... set up well to do what has worked at other, uh ... university towns before, where we've ... before this point had primarily been local developers building small-scale, um, inexpensive housing This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 12 and there seems to be ... we've seen it at other institutions, as well, especially at our peer institutions, but it...it does appear there's a turn in that, and we also see, I think you've seen, that outside... developers also often have a backing that allow them to be what we might consider locally, um, less risk adverse. They'll see the site and say'we'll go get it and make this thing happen.' Because they've done it someplace else and they repeat their model, uh, other places. We see all of that as ... as open market to us because they're not competing... with us. Again, we don't require the freshmen and almost every freshmen lives on campus. If something turned in the way ... housing was done in Iowa City and we saw ... I suppose if our numbers were hurting, and we don't anticipate that, we could require freshmen to live on campus, but ... uh... hasn't been a need to do that. Hayek/ So (mumbled) happy to see some outside interest in the apartment market. I think it ... I think it, uh, ups the bar for quality and may incent some of the current landlords to reinvest in their properties to be more competitive. Urn ... and bres... and brings a new level of sophistication to ... to ... to that industry. (mumbled) interesting to me, so we're... we're... we've bumped up to 5 ... by 520. We'll probably maintain at that rate, as best you can tell (both talking) Lehnertz/ That's the target at this point. It's so early right now, we have no idea, but that's the intent. Hayek/ So but ... you know, there's... there's a lot of...there's flux, you know, and ... and there was pressure from the Regents to change our model, not sure where that will ... how that will pan out with the legislature, um ... you know, we would love to be able to look into the future and be able to forecast... enrollment projections out several years. You probably would too, but what ... what's your guess as to where we are in three to five years? Lehnertz/ Yeah, so uh, there ... well, I don't know that I can prognosticate it. We have some ... some things that we know. Urn ... we have steadily received, uh, by percentage less State funding and we are not alone. That is everywhere, and more extreme in other states, or many other states. But, urn ... 20 years ago it was 60%. Ten years ago it was 50%. It's now 33% of the general fund ... of...of our, of our, urn ... uh, of our general fund is supported by, uh, State ... State -appropriated dollars. That national trend ... leads a univer... university to cover all of its costs, has limited revenue sources and appropriations, tuition and research dollars are it, and uh... um, you ...you have gifting, which has become more and more important over time, but is a percentage of what you're doing. Those are also ... 98% of all gifts are ... are dedicated toward a specific thing. It's not free for you to use those gift dollars as you might need them most, but rather what the ... uh, don ... donor entity, uh, sees as important. Um ... knowing that, and these things can change, but research dollars, federal research dollars, are down and uh, the fight for every federal research dollars is more and more severe every year. So the likelihood of any of our peers or us seeing a spike upward in that, when the trend has been downward, doesn't look promising. Uh, if we see ... State appropriation percentages dropping, then it comes down to, uh... uh... revenue from tuition, and ... with a state that is, um ... uh, very interested in limiting in-state tuition increases, urn ... we ... one way to impact revenue is numbers and so ... at the same time, the countervailing factor there is we are in a state that This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 13 has on a ... on a relative basis, has limitations with respect to population numbers, the age of that population, and the ... the, uh, ability to recruit, bring, and succeed with quality students. And so, um ... uh, we ... it, we ... it's not just an unending pot where we can say let's add 10,000 students to the University of Iowa. Uh, it...it took a lot to get 500 more. Hayek/ And you're under pressure with respect to ... to out-of-state and foreign... Lehnertz/ Sure, you know (both talking) we've got a ... we've got an attractive model because we're ... we could often be considered a far west suburb of Chicago and we're only an hour from the state of Illinois and we offer a good product and they have a lot of people in ... in Illinois, but we don't control the Illinois higher education system either. They could change things there. We have, uh, we've had considerable growth in, um, Chinese National students on our campus, and our international, uh... uh, mix has ... has gone up. There are worldwide factors that can suddenly impact that demographic, and so you can't count on saying we're going to get bigger because that would be fun and better for us. And we will always watch after whether or not ... a university of 31,000 or 32,000 students feels good as opposed to a university and community of 40,000 or 33,000, you know, it ... to ... to grow is not just as simple as saying (coughing, difficult to hear speaker) students... paying to go to the University of Iowa. It's about making sure that they have a quality education and a quality experience when they're here. Dobyns/ But, Rod, you mentioned that the ACT scores have gone up. Um, I'm sorry, did you have a question (several talking) I'm sorry! Um ... (laughter and several talking) Hayek/ He keeps trying to butt in (laughter) Dobyns/ The AT ... uh, AST scores have gone up, um, so if we just kept things static, would the ACT ... where the ACT scores were before, um, it sounds like, um, it was difficult to recruit the 500 extra in ... uh, in-state students. Um ... I mean it would suggest that maybe the University, um, is somehow despite all this becoming more restrictive in terms of ACT scores. Um, my sense of the Iowa Regents' system is that I'm thinking of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois, which have a whole host of other affiliated western, eastern Illinois universities, for students to go to. We actually only have the three (both talking) Um, so it seems to me is that the ACT scores, um, did they ... is perhaps the University of Iowa being too exclusive and not bringing in enough, um, students in that regard? Lehnertz/ Uh... no. I ... I don't think so. I mean I would ... expect that some of the increase incurs... occurs with in-state students. We have, um ... set standards for in-state undergraduate students. All three institutions do. If you reach that level you're in if..if you want. Out-of-state is different and we ... as we continue to grow out -of-state students, we also expect a lot of our out-of-state students. Could we simply drop standards, all three institutions drop standards (both talking) Dobyns/ ...I would say go back to the grade standards that you were at before. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 14 Lehnertz/ Yeah, I would ... I would say we just have, uh... I would say in general we have sharper, more prepared students coming, and I think that's a credit to the high schools they're graduating from. Um, and um ... over time we had seen over time, that's been a steady increase that students have become ... more prepared, better and more astute toward, uh, the college experience before they get here. Dobyns/ (mumbled) ...if you could maintain the AT ... ACT scores and (both talking) students coming in, that would be wonderful but, um, and I'm just trying to make sure I understood you. It sounds like it's the, uh, the one where the University can recover costs is growth. Lehnertz/ It is a way that you can, certainly (both talking) Now again, we would not do that at the cost of success. One of the things that we like about better prepared students is we hate to see students fail. It's one of the reasons that we like the freshmen in the residence halls. The failure rate is much lower, and we have a higher four-year graduation rate than we've ever had. Uh, and, um, in the last ... within the last decade we've increased that number by 10% for four-year graduation rates. It's not often highlighted at a ... at a Regent or a legislative level, but, urn ... one way to control student debt, student cost of education is ... get through in four years, not seven. And, um ... our graduation rate continues to, uh, increase. At the same time, when we look to some of our, uh, peers in the Big Ten, we can do better on that. And we'll continue to try to do better. One of the ways you do better in that is to make sure that the students aren't risking failure on their way in, that they are as prepared as they can be. The better the student coming in, especially if we can add 500 students, the better the students are, the better product coming from the University of Iowa, students are more successful, students are happier, uh, because they're succeeding, and that's a ... that's an, you know, it's an inexact science, an art to a mix to get just the right, uh, mix in there, and we have folks on our campus, um, our ... our Associate VP, uh, for Enrollment Management, Brent Gage, is in his first year here and he's a big data guy and he uses big data to predict what students will do on a failure and a success rate that is beyond anything that we've been doing previously and it's ... it helps us know that we, uh, set up scholarships ... scholarship programs that, uh, target the students in the right way, uh, that you strategize, uh, locations. We don't just look to Illinois. We look to other out-of-state opportunities that are, uh, that are reasonable for us to consider as a part of the mix at the University of Iowa. It's been impressive to, uh, work with him and see what he's brought to the table, with respect to effective recruitment and then management of that process. But it is ... to some degree, an inexact science with a lot of factors that we don't control impacting what we do on that front. Neal/ As a current student, I'm very concerned about the affordability of housing, especially when there's a shortage of on -campus housing. Um, last year we met with Sally Mason and she mentioned that enrollment was going to increase dramatically. So I'm wondering, um, are you still planning on increasing enrollment, even though you're saying you're still going to try and keep it level? Are you still doing recruiting efforts? Um, are you recruiting more out-of-state than in-state? This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 15 Lehnertz/ Yeah, so, um ... that's a good question, and uh, timing's everything. When Sally Mason spoke to you, what she was talking about was dramatic growth, and we saw more students this year, and as I've indicated, we prognosticate we will not grow again and see a multi-year, uh, escalation of students on our campus. Um ... uh, so ... that's sort of an answer, maybe a change to an answer that was given to you by President Mason. Uh, but ... it's, um ... it's one that we intend to manage on campus. Off campus, uh, affordability isn't necessarily in our bailiwick, but um, we ... we have competitive rates. We compare them, are approved by the Board of Regents every year, with respect to our residence hall systems and uh, they are ... an auxiliary on our campus. They cover their costs. So the cost of a new hall is born by the students on our campus. Not having a new residence hall since 1968 helps that cost. Neal/ So you said 520 new in-state students, um, is that including transfer students to other classes? Lehnertz/ Yeah, that is a ... that is freshmen. Neal/ Okay. So even if they're ... (both talking) Lehnertz/ We have a mix. It changes every year. We have a mix of transfers in. Also have a mix of transfers out, and those who... urn... make it and those who don't. We try to minimize that, obviously, to make as valuable a ... an experience your first year as we can on our campus so we don't see the leak of students that would leave after the first year, but we see a combination of transfers in and transfers out. Markus/ Along those same lines, um, last year we spent a lot of time debating and discussing the funding model, um, that was proposed by the Board of Regents. That's gone away. So has that changed the dynamic of...of growth or your thought processes about recruitment at all? Lehnertz/ Uh... I think ... I think to your point regarding Sally Mason's statements, they were ... I don't know when that was done, but it was probably in the mix of those, and one of...one of the things that was put out in that ... in ... in that plan was the more in-state, undergraduate students you have, the more money you get, or the less you have the less you get. Markus/ Right. Lehnertz/ So there was a big push on that front to go all state and go a lot in-state, and maybe risk, um ... uh, cannibalization between the institutions. There are pros and cons with those matters that were debated at a legislative level and in institutional and Regent level, uh, and um, ultimately was not enacted last year. Uh, there is still ... uh, importance stressed by the Board of Regents for the residence of our state and the students of our state and to making sure that they have, uh... they have clean and available, accessible, uh, and ... and have clean access to higher education, and in the state, and we believe in that. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 16 Markus/ Sure. Lehnertz/ Um, our ... our mix, again, relatively inexact. If you took that model and you did, did the math behind it to determine are there... it's... it's the same cost per student whether it's an out-of-state student or an in-state student, and so the margin, uh, is different between the two when you, um ... when it costs more to come here as an out-of-state student. And so when looking at that numbers game, um, and you would, um ... compare that to State appropriations as a reward for having more in-state, there's... there are two sides of that coin that can be debated as to which ... which one brings you ... (several talking) the best value, uh, the best message, all of those things feed into ... uh, decisions made in recruiting. Generally we're recruiting about a ... as it ... as it works out this year, about an in-state student and an out-of-state student. And that's about our (both talking) Markus/ So is the Board of Regents done with the issue do you think? Lehnertz/ Um, that (both talking) Markus/ ...they raised it? Lehnertz/ ...Board of Regents. (several talking and laughing) Markus/ Pardon me? Lehnertz/ That'd be up to the Board of Regents to determine that. Markus/ I understand that. You haven't heard any more from them? Lehnertz/ Um ... no, not specifically regarding that. Mims/ Rod, change gears a little bit, um, when you first started you said that this class was ... had the largest percentage of minorities so far, 20%. Do you have any breakdown on that, between international students, U.S. minorities, uh... Lehnertz/ I can get you that. Brent Gage has that. Mims/ Okay. Lehnertz/ Certainly. We ... we obviously have those demographic breakdowns and ... and I can provide that. Uh, our growth, we've gotten a lot of growth in international students. Mims/ I know and that's why I'm ... historically, uh, many institutions I think including the University of Iowa have kind of lumped those together and it has been very difficult, um, and ... and they've done better, but ... I think historically, and I'm not saying that that's the case now, but I think ... I think historically it was done to, um ... not make it obvious how few of our domestic minority students were actually being served by our institutions of higher learning, and I say that not as a criticism of the University of Iowa, but just This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 17 systemically across the country. And so I think it's important for us to understand, um, and I'll shoot you an email just as a reminder (both talking) Lehnertz/ Absolutely! And I can get you that. Brent Gage has all of that (both talking) Mims/ Yeah. So I'd be interested to see, cause I know there has been, um, a big push, as you mentioned earlier the Chinese Nationals, and I certainly understand. Obviously the financial difference of what that means to the University when you've got people paying out -of-state and ... do the international students pay even more than our domestic out-of- state students? Lehnertz/ No, there... there's a growing, or I shouldn't say growing. There is a current, uh, throughout the country for additional fees. We do have fees, and some of the students come and are ... are doing English as a second language programs as an intro, uh, before they're ... got a full load of classes and so they're all ... so we do have some fees associated with some of their work, but they don't pay ... they don't pay ... it's an out-of-state (both talking) it's an out-of-state tuition. Mims/ Thank you. Hayek/ Should probably wrap up. This is a very, very good, uh, conversation and we, uh... always want to welcome you and ... and ... (both talking) Lehnertz/ Thank you. It's good to be here and give you an update whenever you need it on this or something else — you let me know. Hayek/ (both talking) ....good partnership and uh... we'll do our best to maintain the communication and I think these periodic get togethers are good so we can see where our respective institutions are headed. Lehnertz/ Yeah, it's a very exciting time for ... any news that would deliver otherwise, a very exciting time, a positive time, I think, at the University of Iowa and uh, what is about to emerge for both ... we at the University and we in the community, is ... will have never been better. Especially what we're going to see with 2016. Hayek/ Great (both talking) Mims/ Well thanks for all the work. I know, and you've elevated beyond some of the things, but certainly you've been very involved over the years with the new Hancher and (both talking) Lehnertz/ Absolutely! We're very proud of it (both talking) gateway to the University and gateway to the community and, A... Mims/ ...excited about this coming online. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 18 Lehnertz/ And thanks for your support and your help through this. Information Packet Discussion (October 9, 151: Hayek/ All right. Thanks, Rod (several talking) Okay! Uh, next item we have a couple of Info Packets. The first is from October 9th. Throgmorton/ IP #4, bravo to Dennis Bockenstedt. For getting that distinguished budget presentation award. (several talking) Mims/ Fourth year in a row (both talking) Throgmorton/ Yeah. Mims/ Fall luncheon, uh, staff luncheon on the 19th. Hayek/ Get your aprons! Payne/ And there's an invitation in the ... packet thing that Marian handed out. Hayek/ Anything else on that one? Okay. Next one is from the 151'. Throgmorton/ IP #4, KXIC interviews or the radio show with Jay. Marian, I thought I had already agreed to do November the 4h. Payne/ I thought it was on last time's too. I thought the same thing, Jim, when I saw it. (several talking) Karr/ I'll double check. And Matt has agreed to November 25`h Mims/ I can do the ... no, I can't do ... I think I'm signed up for (mumbled) so I can't do that one. Karr/ (mumbled) Mims/ Yeah, I can't. Dickens/ Put me down. Karr/ The 181i? Dickens/ The 181i, November 18th Mims/ I'll do December 2nd Hayek/ Uh, IP8 was the ribbon cutting, uh, news release for the Iowa River Trail. We had a very (both talking) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 19 Karr/ I'm sorry, can we go back. November 11th I just want to note, that is pre-recorded due to the holiday, so is there anyone ... I just wanted to note that one. That one is still open. Payne/ So the pre-recorded can happen whenever, right? Karr/ Yes, it can happen whenever. Yes, uh-huh. Are you interested possibly? Payne/ Yes. Karr/ Okay. I'll get a hold of you. Thank you. Payne/ I mean it looks like he wants to pre -record it on the ... on the 10th at 10 A.M. but... Karr/ I'll double check on that. Payne/ We can probably work out when. Karr/ Sure, I'll do that! Okay. Thank you. Hayek/ Uh, IP8 was the ribbon cutting. This was last Saturday's, uh, ribbon cutting. It was, uh, a very cozy affair, uh, what, 15 people maybe on the ... near the new bridge going over interstate 80. Jim and I were there and a handful of other, uh, people. Blue Zones was represented. Some City staff, etc. Urn ... but uh, it was ... it was a good, quick event but that is ... that is a great bridge. It, uh, it, you know, I mean it's wide, it's super -stable, um (several talking and laughing) Mims/ Our engineering staff is like (laughter) Hayek/ ...collapse under the weight of 15 human beings and bicycles (laughter and several talking) We had some kids there pumping their fists and getting the semis to give'em honks as they drove underneath. (laughter) But it was good, and that connects... that's the missing link in the 11 or 12 mile Iowa River Trail between Terry Trueblood and Mehaffey Bridge Road so ... it was a good event! Anything else on the, uh, packet? Council time? Council Time / Meeting Schedule: Throgmorton/ Well we do have a Human Rights breakfast on October the 28th. Dobyns/ How many are going? I'm going to that (mumbled) Karr/ I do have tickets for people who have, urn ... signed up. I have those tonight, and I do have extra if someone would like to come. Mims/ I was going, but I'll be out of town, so (mumbled) This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015. October 20, 2015 Iowa City City Council Work Session Page 20 Dobyns/ I'll eat your breakfast! Mims/ Okay! Hayek/ I think I'm going, Marian. I don't have my phone with me, but I'll get with you. Throgmorton/ I'd mention too there's a City of Literature board meeting on the 27th, which, you know, because I'm a board member I'll go to. I'm also going to a bourbon tasting on November the 12th at a friend's house in U Heights (laughter) I'll tell ya all about it afterwards (laughter) Payne/ If you can remember! (laughter) Dobyns/ That sounds really interesting! (laughter) Throgmorton/ It's not far from your neighborhood, you know! Dobyns/ ...that'd be a good thing to go to, Jim! (laughs) Hayek/ You can tell 'em we've amassed troops at the border (laughter) (mumbled) See what they say! (laughs) All right. Uh, that's it for the ... for Council time, unless anybody else has anything. Meeting schedule. Pending topics. Pendine Work Session Topics fIP # 3 Info Packet of 10/151: Mims/ (mumbled) as usual. Hayek/ All right. Upcoming events, Council invites. (several talking) Yeah. (laughter) Okay! So we're done. Karr/ (mumbled) note the reception (both talking) Hayek/ Yeah, there is the reception across the way for the ... the and the ... the (both talking) Karr/ Hopeline Champion Award, uh, DVIP is hosting a reception across ... if you have some time to stop over .... before tonight's ceremony. Hayek/ Okay, thank you. Good job! See you at 7:00. This represents only a reasonably accurate transcription of the Iowa City City Council work session of October 20, 2015.