Regents approve new residence hall proposal, new engineering addition

The Iowa Board of Regents today (Wednesday, Sept. 10) approved two major capital improvement projects at the University of Iowa that underscore the UI’s student-body growth and the popularity of its engineering program.

The regents approved the UI’s request to plan the building of a new residence hall. The Madison Street Residence Hall would include some 800 beds, cost an estimated $80 to $90 million and be located west of the North Campus Parking Ramp on the site of the old Iowa City Water Plant.

UI leaders proposed the new residence hall in response to the continued growth of enrollment, as evidenced by a record-setting class of 2018. The new residence hall will be targeted to first- and second-year undergraduates and have a projected completion in 2017.

“We’re very pleased to be able to move forward on these new projects,” says Tom Rocklin, UI vice president for student life. “We anticipate we’ll remain working to accommodate large first-year classes, so this will help us meet student demand and continue offering the best possible living experience for our students.”

The Board signed off on a plan to build a 65,000-square-foot addition to the Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences. The $37 million addition would adjoin the current Seamans Center and extend the complex southward, toward Burlington Street. The new building is expected to be paid for without any state money.

An artist’s rendering shows the South Annex Addition to the Seamans Center for the Engineering Arts and Sciences. Image courtesy of BNIM Architects, Des Moines.

The building request comes as engineering experiences significant growth: 2,120 undergraduates were enrolled in the college in 2014, a 77 percent rise from 2005. The student interest ties nicely with engineering’s job-placement rate: 98 percent of engineering students in fiscal 2013—the most recent year available— found jobs within 90 days of graduation.

Meanwhile, engineering faculty continue to successfully compete for research funding, despite a competitive climate. Research expenditures grew to $56 million in fiscal 2013 from $29 million in fiscal 2004—a 94 percent increase. The college excels in computer simulation, human factors, environmental health solutions, biotechnology, medical imaging, hydraulics and water/air resources, photo-polymerization, and sustainability.

“I am delighted that the regents have approved our building addition project,” says Alec Scranton, engineering dean. “In the past several years the College of Engineering has experienced tremendous growth in the scope and impact of its teaching, research, and service programs, and we have outgrown our current facilities. The building addition will allow us to thrive for years to come, and to serve the state and the nation with our innovative educational programs and our dynamic research enterprise.”

This Madison Street Residence Hall will be the second dormitory built on the UI campus since 1968. The hall, along with all UI buildings, is designed to withstand a flood at the 500-year-level plus 2 feet. The Mary Louise Petersen Residence Hall is set to house about 500 students and scheduled to open in fall 2015.

The regents also approved a UI request to expand the dining hall in Burge Residence Hall, at an estimated cost of $10 to $12 million.

The Board of Regents is a nine-citizen body that govern the state’s three public universities and two special K-12 schools—the Iowa School for the Deaf and the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School—through policymaking, coordination, and oversight.