CEDAR RAPIDS- A legislative oversight committee intends to look into whether the state Board of Regents and its president, Michael Gartner, overstepped its management authority over Iowa’s three public universities, a top Republican lawmaker said.

Senate Republican leader Mary Lundby, of Marion, said the committee is especially interested in how the regents deal with the University of Iowa and whether board members created tension that could have led to the recent departures of two top university administrators.

“The rumors are serious enough and the questions are serious enough that it should be looked into,” Lundby told The Gazette Thursday.

Concerns at the University of Iowa center around the resignations of president David Skorton and Athletic Director Bob Bowlsby. Skorton, who worked at the Iowa City campus for more than 20 years, caught university officials off guard when he resigned in January to become president at Cornell University.

Last month, Bowlsby resigned after overseeing Hawkeye athletics for 15 years to become athletic director at Stanford University.

Search committees have been appointed to name successors for both positions.

Lundby said the Legislative Oversight Committee would begin its inquiry once it wrapped up hearings on the pay scandal involving the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium.

The Board of Regents have authority over the University of Iowa, Iowa State and Northern Iowa, as well as two special schools, and a budget of $3.26 billion. But the board depends on the Legislature for funding, which this year totaled more than $663 million.

Skorton and Bowlsby declined to comment if tension or disagreements with the regents contributed to their decision to leave Iowa.

“We’re just wondering why,” Lundby said. “We’re not pointing any fingers. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that this just happened to fall under this regents board.”

But Lundby also said the board led by Gartner appears to have a different management style than previous boards. She said past boards developed a more cooperative approach with campus administrators.

“From what we hear it seems to be a more heavy-handed management style now,” Lundby said.

Gartner disputes assertions that he or other board members have tried to micromanage decisions at the University of Iowa or other schools. But he acknowledged hearing concerns that he meddled in decisions made by the University of Iowa athletic department.

“I’ll tell you, I’ve got better things to do,” Gartner said.

Gartner described the board’s management philosophy as one of planning strategy and leaving operational decisions to campus administrators.

“We’re all interested in the same things, to develop and help develop the right strategies to hire a great president,” Gartner said.

Sen. Michael Connolly, D-Dubuque, said Democrats have agreed to have the committee examine the board’s management, but said he doubts a problem exists.

Connolly, a member of the oversight committee, said the current makeup of the board is the most talented to serve in years and praised Gartner’s leadership.

“Through the last 20 to 30 years, I’ve seen an ebb and flow of power,” Connolly said. “Sometimes university presidents ran the show; other times the regents did.”

Steve Parrott, spokesman for the University of Iowa, said the university would cooperate with any investigation by the Legislature.