A proposed tuition increase for the three Iowa regent universities will be one of the biggest areas of discussion during the September Board of Regents meeting. The board will be meeting today and Thursday in Iowa City. Regent Roger Lande said board members will be considering a proposal to increase ISU tuition by 9.9 percent for the 2001-2002 school year. “That one is going to create the most comment,” he said. “There’ll be a lot of discussion on it.” The ISU Government of the Student Body hopes to lower the proposed tuition increase to 6.74 percent. GSB leaders, along with student leaders from the University of Northern Iowa, will be giving a presentation to the regents. Originally, the University of Iowa student government planned to oppose the tuition increase, but its student government voted Monday to support the 9.9 percent increase, which is 0.6 percent higher than the regents’ recommendation for the University of Iowa. Regent David Fisher said student tuition presentations during meetings has been a tradition as long as he has been a regent. “I think it’s a good process and a healthy process,” Fisher said. “I can tell you that regents do listen, and [student] input is most important in our decision-making process.” Lande also said student participation is beneficial to the regents’ discussion. “I think that is always helpful,” Lande said. “We’ll certainly welcome their participation.” Regent David Neil said he would like to see more student involvement. “I think it’s great. I think we need more dialogue from the student unions,” Neil said. “The only time we really hear from them is on tuition, and I would like to hear from them on other issues also.” Fisher said another major issue at the meeting will be the initial proposal for the amount of money the regents will ask for in state appropriations. “The main thrust on the appropriations request is that the governor and the legislature fully fund the salary requirement for this year,” he said. Fisher also said the group will be discussing capital-improvement projects on all of the state-university campuses. He said each institution has been asked to prioritize their capital projects and that the regents are hoping for support from the state legislature in funding for the construction.