The proposal for the Swine Medicine Education Center was pushed up on the Board of Regents agenda due to a question from Regent member Michael Gartner about the intent of the building.

The request to establish the building was eventually passed and it will be the only one of its kind in North America.

Gartner said he was concerned if the building would represent a reallocation of resources and if it would be taking money away from other veterinary sciences such as beef and poultry.

John Thomson, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said, “I appreciate the opportunity to clarify any concepts or concerns people have.”

He said the center is “in no way changing the focus of our college.”

Thomson talked about the strong relationship the college has with the University of Nebraska and said because most veterinary colleges don’t have a swine program a number of students from other universities come to learn about the swine program at Iowa State.

The Regents also approved a new master of industrial design degree program, which will be offered at Iowa State.

The program will be a two-year, studio-based graduate program with tracks in research, business and product development.

Lisa Nolan was approved by the Regents as the new dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, which will begin Jan. 15.

The Regents also approved sabbatical requests from all three regent universities.

The request to approve professional development assignments proposed a decrease of 11.2 percent from last year, with a total for teaching replacements at more than $422,000.

Warren Madden, vice president of business and finance, gave an update on ISU flood mitigation and repairs.

He said out of 60 projects that have been reviewed by FEMA, 10 have been completed.