The Iowa Board of Regents will meet Wednesday in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where it will discuss the spring tuition increase, the establishment of ISU Global Corporation and a $30 million dorm bond award for Buchanan Hall. 

The Board is considering a 3 percent increase in undergraduate in-state tuition for the spring 2016 semester. This increase would add about $100 to a full-time undergraduate resident student’s fee for the spring semester at all three state schools. For part-time in-state undergraduate students, it would be distributed based on credit hours. 

Regents say the tuition revenues would be “committed to sustaining a quality teaching and learning environment” at the universities in Iowa, after the Iowa legislature appropriated $6.5 million of the requested $21.7 million. 

Another item on the board’s agenda is to authorize Iowa State and the ISU Foundation to establish ISU Global Corporation. ISU Global Corporation would lease, develop or own real estate and facilities that would operate in foreign countries. 

The corporation would be a nonprofit to support Iowa State’s international programs, specifically the ongoing program in the Kamuli District of Uganda that has been running for more than 10 years.

“They would like to build a campus, if you will, that would include some residential living space, dining area, meeting rooms, classroom areas and a food service facility for the students that are over there,” said Warren Madden, senior vice president for business and finance.  

A third topic of discussion concerning Iowa State is a resolution providing for the sale and authorizing the payment of $30 million in dormitory revenue bonds for the purpose of paying for the new Buchanan Residence building, as well as a number of other projects like the Friley dining renovation. 

“The timing of this is around the construction of the Buchanan site, and when the sale happens tomorrow we will find out what the interest rate of the bonds is, and that will determine the financial budget for the financing of the residence hall project,” Madden said.  

The bond is the second of two bonds sold to finance the several projects. The bonds will be repaid until 2035 in which debt-service payments will reach about $2 million.