The Iowa Board of Regents will consider several construction projects at Iowa State and will discuss progress of several other projects — including the flood reconstruction and learning communities  — in open session Tuesday in the Memorial Union’s Sun Room.

The meeting will begin with several oral reports, including one on the first meeting of the Economic Development Committee by President Pro Tempore Bruce Rastetter and regents member David Miles, and an update on policies and procedures relating to the safety of minors on regents campuses from the institutional heads of the universities. President Craig Lang will be presenting an oral report on regents activities preceding the consent agenda.

The Board of Regents also will be considering approval of a $12 million project to install the fire sprinkler system in Friley Hall. The proposed project is to install a new fire sprinkler system on all the floors of Friley, a residence hall on the west end of campus that houses more than 1,200 students.

Iowa State also will be pursuing a budget increase for the Curtiss Hall Renovation Phase 1 project that is proposed to add additional exterior window replacement and installation of central cooling for 5,400 more square feet.

Finally, there will be an update on the reconstruction and flood recovery following the flood during the summer of 2010.

ISU learning community co-director Doug Gruenwald will give a presentation on learning communities and their impact on student success at Iowa State. The presentation also will include a student speech about his experience with learning communities.

The regents will vote to submit an annual diversity report as part of the consent agenda. The diversity report explores the changes in minority and female percentages of university positions including administrative, professorships and tenure track positions since 2001.

According to the report, Iowa State is currently lowest in the percentage of female full-time tenured and tenure track as compared to Northern Iowa at 41.2 percent and University of Iowa at 30.8. However, it has the largest minority percentage at 19.5 percent while Northern Iowa has 14.2 and 17.2 at Iowa.

The meeting will run from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. There will be a break for lunch between noon and 12:45 p.m.