Dear State Auditor Sand,
For the past three and a half years — following the Iowa Board of Regents’ appointment of J. Bruce Harreld as president of the University of Iowa in September of 2015 — I have been paying close attention to the state’s public universities and to the board. While there is a good deal of information available from those institutions, and considerable reporting by local and state press about those institutions, over time I have encountered a number of questions that can only be answered by looking at the financial books of the schools, or of the regents as a whole. Because I have no ability to compel such access as a citizen, and as Iowa’s state auditor you obviously do, I am writing in that regard. [ Read more ]