As part of Transparency Task Force recommendations, Iowans have the opportunity to express concerns regarding the Board of Regents meeting agenda.

This is the first attempt at having public hearings prior to a Board of Regents meeting.

Scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 6, at the board’s office at 11260 Aurora Ave. in Urbandale, individuals wishing to voice opinions will need to register their name on a sign-in sheet. Depending on the number of attendees, each person has three to five minutes to speak to the board office staff.

“[This is an] open forum for anyone to come in and express their opinions, their thoughts and questions related to the Board of Regents,” said Sheila Koppin, communications director for the Board of Regents.

Koppin said the hearing is not intended for discussion and that board members will not be in attendance but will view video recordings of the hearing prior to the meeting.

“[The hearing] is for us here in our office to make note of what the public wants to express to us so that we can express that information to board leadership and make determinations about future presentations, public presentations, to the board,” Koppin said.

Future meetings are planned for each of the regent institutions.

“There will be a schedule of public hearings that will be held at varying times on each of the campuses to give the public the opportunity to attend,” said Shirley Knipfel, transparency officer at Iowa State. “They’re going to vary from campus to campus for every meeting. … That will all be public information.”

Knipfel said that Iowa State might try to attempt to offer varied times at accessible locations in order for working citizens or interested students with busy class schedules to attend the hearings.

“It’s a new process,” Knipfel said. “We’re moving forward to implement the regents’ directions as quickly as possible to improve transparency across the regent’s institutions. We’ll go one step at a time and see where it goes.”

Those who have comments regarding the board’s September agenda but cannot attend Friday’s meeting, are able to post comments on the board’s website. Each hearing will be recorded and posted on the board’s website after the hearing.