After months of research and debate, the state Board of Regents will decide today in Iowa City whether to arm university public safety officers with Tasers.

The three university presidents recommended the Taser use to the board, backed by support from the university and local communities.

The University of Iowa and ISU presidents also have recommended changing the title of certified officers and their division from “public safety” to “police,” Department of Public Safety Capt. Gene Deisinger said.

“The Taser and name-change issues are very important at this time for our department,” he said.

Mark Chidister, assistant to ISU President Gregory Geoffroy, said the president “doesn’t anticipate any surprises” in the Board of Regents Taser decision.

GSB President Andy Tofilon said he expects the regents to approve the recommendation.

“I really think that they are going to trust the university presidents and the respective university communities,” he said.

Regent David Fisher of West Des Moines said he sees the Tasers as a major issue.

“There will be discussion about the laser weapons for campus security,” he said. “I think it will be supported, but there will be lots of questions so we can feel more comfortable with the vote.”

The proposal presented to the Regents includes feedback from campus and surrounding communities.

“I feel very positively about the proposal that was put before the community,” Deisinger said. “We were very up front and public about what a Taser is and what it does. We’ve wanted to be very open about this.”

State certified officers are recertified annually in the use of nonlethal force, he said. The Tasers will be no exception to this policy. The last time the Board of Regents considered a request to arm certified university police officers was June 1989, when the request was rejected.

The Board will also receive recommendations from MGT of America, a consulting firm from Tallahassee that was selected to investigate “the identification of areas to be studied to improve efficiency, effectiveness and accountability of the Regent enterprise,” according to the meeting docket.

“That presentation will identify issues we want to study,” Fisher said.

“They are guidelines for us to go forward.”

Follow-up studies, both internal and external, will follow if the recommendations are approved.

The board’s annual report on faculty resignation is another area of special interest to Geoffroy, Chidister said.

“This remains a great concern,” he said. “Dr. Geoffroy is looking for ways to build our faculty in the future.”

The Board also will hear a recommendation for the renaming of Hawthorn Court as the Charles F. Frederiksen Court. Frederiksen retired as director of residence from Iowa State in 1996.