It took only a fraction of the meeting time, but one announcement overshadowed all other items on the agenda at Tuesday’s meeting of the Iowa Board of Regents.

Michael Gartner, president of the Board of Regents, officially announced that he would be resigning from the presidency effective Jan. 1, and a search for a new president will be held by telephone on Wednesday.

Gartner sent out a note to the board members Monday but was told his note did not constitute an official notice of resignation.

“As you know, I sent a note yesterday resigning as the president of the Board of Regents, effective Jan. 1. I was hoping we could elect a president today. I’ve been told that my note that I sent to the other regents did not constitute notice,” he said. “We posted notice that there will be a telephonic meeting of the Board of Regents tomorrow at 10 a.m. There will be one agenda item, which will be to elect a president of the board to serve out my stub term. That notice has gone out.”

The next item on the agenda was the approval of the 2008-09 tuition and fees increase. ISU students will see a tuition increase of 3.2 percent for Iowa residents – both graduates and undergraduates – with a 2.5 percent increase for nonresidents. Undergraduate upper-division engineering students will see a tuition increase of 11 percent for residents and 5.4 percent for nonresidents.

Mandatory fees will increase 3.3 percent across the board for undergraduates and 3.5 percent for graduate students. Fees for upper-division engineering students will go up 2 percent.

“While I could hope that the increase could be held even lower to basically to 2 percent,” Gartner said, “I realize the feeling of the board is basically the 3.2 percent package that was approved.”

Government of the Student Body President Brian Phillips, senior in political science, was happy with the decision.

“It’s fantastic, actually, as it is the lowest increase in tuition since the 1980s,” he said. “It’s unrealistic to think that tuition will go down.”

The Institute for Economic Research at the University of Iowa projects that the Higher Education Price Index, which measures inflation in universities’ educational and general expenses, will increase between 3.2 and 4.2 percent in 2008. The HEPI increased 3.4 percent in 2007 and 5 percent in 2006.

Phillips said one reason the tuition increase could be held to just $172 for resident undergrads and $404 for out-of-state undergrads was the $60 million of in-state appropriations the regents acquired and divided up for the fiscal year.

“The low tuition increase that we are seeing are a direct result of the high state appropriations,” Phillips said. “It is an inflationary increase so that tuition doesn’t actually go up any more.”

On the subject of Gartner resigning, Phillips said he has always enjoyed working with him, and stepping down is probably for the best because of the need for consistent leadership during next year’s legislative session.

“Michael Gartner has always been very good. He was always there to talk to student groups,” Phillips said. “[He wanted] consistent leadership and is taking the steps necessary to make the process as smooth as possible.”

Other items approved on the agenda were the passing of the Private College Grow Iowa Values Fund, the unanimous passing of the institutional agreements, leases and easements and the unanimous passing of the resolution for the sale and award of $25 million in utility system revenue bonds.