NEWS

Sports end this year at AIB; no freshmen in fall

Timothy Meinch

Students and faculty at AIB College of Business learned Thursday that plans for a merger with the University of Iowa have changed significantly.

New details emerged from simultaneous meetings held by the Iowa Board of Regents and AIB officials Thursday afternoon: This spring will be the last season for AIB athletics, no freshmen will be enrolled this fall and all faculty contracts end in June. Roughly 450 students who were not on track to graduate before spring 2016 will not automatically become UI students and should seek transfer options, officials said.

Students seeking to transfer to UI would be subject to standard admissions criteria. This directly contradicts what was presented in a Jan. 26 news conference announcing the merger. AIB President Nancy Williams said then that "Our current AIB students will be able to finish their programs and earn their diplomas."

The Board of Regents, in Cedar Falls on Thursday, also announced that the AIB campus will become the Regional Regents Center, rather than University of Iowa Des Moines. The UI is not paying for the campus, which has an estimated value between $30 million and $40 million.

As part of the management of the new regional center, UI President Sally Mason said, the university would be open to working with Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to expand their academic and professional training in the Des Moines area.

What's next for students?

During the Jan. 26 announcement, Mason said that although the merger wouldn't be complete until June 2016, she fully expected the incoming crop of AIB students to be UI freshmen. She also said she expected the nearly 1,000 AIB students would be counted as UI students for the purposes of dividing up state funding among the regent universities.

Speaking to reporters after Thursday's Board of Regents meeting, Mason said UI advisers will be available on the AIB campus next week to counsel students on how or whether to transfer to UI.

"Academic advisers will begin immediately contacting students that will be affected," said Christy Roland, chief academic officer with AIB.

AIB students and faculty were advised of the changes earlier in the day, before the news conference in Des Moines.

"I think the whole thing has been a switch since they released everything," said Megan Bolten, an AIB softball player. "They definitely told us last week we would just become University of Iowa students."

As a senior who will graduate in June, Bolten said that the impact is minimal for her, but that it is concerning for many younger classmates and athletes. "I know our underclassmen are upset and don't know what to do. They kind of took their careers away from them."

Chris Costa, chair of the AIB Board of Trustees, reiterated that the decision stemmed from enrollment challenges facing private colleges.

"Small private colleges are facing tremendous competition in attracting students, and there's a national trend of closures," he said. "We want to find a way to honor our 94-year legacy of educating students."

News a shock for athletes

Costa credited the athletic department for a 17 percent climb in AIB enrollment over the past four years. Student athletes currently make up roughly 315 of the school's 1,000 students.

AIB Athletic Director Al Dorenkamp estimates that 90 percent of those student athletes receive scholarships and 60 percent of the athletes were recruited from out of state.

When asked Thursday about the future of athletics at the Regional Regents Center, Mason said, "I'm really not interested in another set of Hawkeyes."

Dorenkamp said advisers will work closely with students and athletes to determine transfer opportunities and other options to continue their education or athletics.

Dorenkemp broke the news about the end of sports at AIB with student athletes before the Thursday news conference.

"They're sad. They're confused. They're wondering," Dorenkamp said of the response.

Junior Adebayo Babalola said the news was a shock for athletes.

"Everybody's devastated. Everybody was crushed," said Babalola, who transferred from Grand View University to AIB with a basketball scholarship. He's originally from the Chicago area and said he has no idea what's next for him.

"I can't talk to anybody because we're still mid-season. And who's going to take a senior with one year left?" he said.

Freshman basketball player Landis Farmer, who just transferred from Des Moines Area Community College Ankeny, said he feels a bit lost.

"It's my freshman year," said Farmer, who is also on a scholarship for basketball. "That's exactly why I'm here."

School officials said athletic scholarships for AIB students will be honored through 2016 for those who choose to stay at the school next year.

Regent Larry McKibben of Marshalltown said he was excited by the idea of AIB as a regional center rather than a UI branch campus. McKibben said he had been prepared to ask Mason a number of challenging questions about the merger after her scheduled presentation during Thursday's board meeting.

Roland, AIB's chief academic officer, said many specific plans for students remain up in the air. She declined to estimate on projected enrollment for AIB's final school year.

AIB officials said Thursday that many students began submitting transfer requests in the last two weeks. "There are still so many unknowns right now," Roland said.

What is a Regional Regents Center?

The regional study centers offered by the Iowa Board of Regents are designed to serve Iowa residents who are geographically distant from the regent campuses in Iowa City, Ames and Cedar Falls.

They offer graduate and undergraduate degree programs, certificate programs and continuing professional education courses for working professionals.

The Southwest Iowa Regents Resource Center is on the campus of Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs.

The Northwest Iowa Regents Resource Center is on the campus of Western Iowa Technical Community College in Sioux City.

The Quad Cities Graduate Center is on the campus of Western Illinois University – Quad Cities in Moline, Ill., and has an office in Davenport.

Statehouse meeting Monday

UI President Sally Mason and AIB Board of Trustees President Chris Costa will speak before the Iowa House Appropriations Committee on Monday.

The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. in the Supreme Court chamber.