The University of Iowa announced Thursday it will close its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity March 27. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
The University of Iowa will soon close its Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity at the direction of the Iowa Board of Regents, with any division functions not required by law or accrediting bodies set for review and elimination.
The university announced Thursday in a news release the division will close on March 27, which will result in three employees being moved to other areas of the university and one position elimination, with that employee being placed on furlough.
Over the past year of restructuring and eliminating positions and programs relating to diversity, equity and inclusion at the behest of the board of regents and state law, the release stated the UI has eliminated 12 job positions, all full-time.
“This action will ensure the university is in compliance with state and federal laws as well as recent changes to accreditation requirements across numerous disciplines,” the release stated.
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Essential programs like TRIO Student Support Services and the Office of Civil Rights Compliance will be reassigned to different departments, according to the release, but the Office of Access and Support training program will close. Other student support programs will be reviewed to ensure compliance with state law before they move to University College, which also houses the university’s orientation services, honors program, Army and Air Force ROTC and more.
TRIO services will also move to University College, the release stated, and the Office of Civil Rights Compliance will move to the Office of the President under the purview of the associate vice president for administrative affairs.
A link to Board of Regents President Sherry Bates’s comments at a Feb. 27 board meeting was included in a notice of the closure posted on the division’s website, where she stated more work needs to be done to comply with the spirit of the law, rather than just the letter. She also directed state universities to scrub all mention of DEI from its current and archived webpages and said the UI had closed three Living Learning Communities in order to follow the law.
As of October 2024, state universities had already reallocated more than $2 million away from DEI programs through closures, cancellations and position eliminations.
“While we have made significant progress, we need to complete the work,” Bates said in her statement during the meeting.
The UI launched the Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity last spring as part of a restructuring of its central DEI office after being directed to do so by the board of regents. Five open positions with salaries adding up to $360,000 were eliminated in the transition.
The division, split into the Office of Civil Rights Compliance and Office of Access and Support, helped campus members ensure they’re meeting accreditation standards and complying with state and federal law, provided student support and opportunities for growth and more. Programs listed in the division include professional development, high-school-to-college transition aid and the University of Iowa Anti-Violence Coalition.
The task force in charge of reviewing DEI policies, programming and positions is also listed as a part of the division, where it lists all 10 directives made by the board of regents in fall 2023 as completed.
“The Division of Access, Opportunity, and Diversity works to maintain a productive and welcoming campus culture where everyone can contribute, find community, and work toward finding common ground,” the division states on its website. “We do this by ensuring compliance with federal and state laws, supporting both accreditation and research efforts across the institution, and sustaining effective pipeline recruitment programs for students.”
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