Ever since the Board of Regents named Bruce Harreld as the next University of Iowa president, faculty across the state have expressed their concerns regarding the nontraditional choice.

It’s a conflict that was brought to the surface after years of bottled up frustration from faculty and staff, and the result was an upset UI community.

The UI Faculty Senate issued a letter of no confidence to the Board of Regents in early September, saying many staff felt “a lack of transparency and disregard for the feedback provided by the UI community, which stands in contradiction to our valued principles of shared governance.”

The controversy of who was selected has brought to light a more important discussion: the fact the faculty feel like they weren’t heard by those governing the three state universities.

The issue of no confidence added to the already boiling pot of tension between the faculty and the regents, as numerous faculty expressed disappointment about the selection despite outward community disapproval.

The students shortly followed suit in their opinions, with the graduate student government backing the faculty.

Each university is basically its own little city. The UI faculty have their own opinions. So far, the conflict following the hiring has bubbled in Iowa City.

But the University of Iowa is part of the Iowa Board of Regents shared governance; a shared governance under which Iowa State is nestled, as well. So when the ISU Faculty Senate got involved in the conversation, it goes to show the decision to hire Harreld affects more than those wearing black and gold.

The ISU Faculty Senate last week approved sending a letter detailing its thoughts to the Iowa Board of Regents about Iowa’s Faculty Senate’s “no confidence” vote to Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter and Iowa’s Faculty Senate President Christina Bohannan, as well as send a copy to President Steven Leath.

“We support the ongoing dialogue between the University of Iowa Faculty Senate and the Board of Regents to re-establish trust and confidence that faculty input is important and respected,” the letter read.

The intent, Rob Wallace, Faculty Senate president, said at the meeting, is to let “the faculty at [the] University of Iowa know that we value the same principals that they do.”

The opinions are loud and clear, but are they being considered?

“Because faculty will continue to be ignored in their protests over Harreld’s appointment, I urge students, staff, alumni and donors to the UI — as well as the parents of students and citizens of the state — to … voice their concerns. You are much more likely to be heard, and less likely to be dismissed, than UI faculty,” said University of Iowa associate professor of English, Cinematic Arts and Gender and Women’s and Sexuality Studies Corey Creekmur in a letter to the editor to the Daily Iowan.

Harreld hasn’t even officially begun his duties as UI president. He doesn’t officially take office until November, yet the community is already in an uproar.

The decision has been made. Harreld will enter a situation in which much of his constituency has expressed displeasure in his hire. The community should understand there really is no going back.

All we ask is that the concerns are being heard and that the regents take into consideration the community’s apprehensions are addressed.