CHAPTER 263C
CENTER FOR INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

  
     
263C.1  Definitions.
  As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:
  1.  “Board” means the state board of regents.
  2.  “Center” means the center for intellectual freedom established by section 263C.2.
  3.  “Regents institution” means an institution specified in section 262.7, subsections 1 through 3. 
  4.  “University” means the state university of Iowa.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §2
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263C.2  Center for intellectual freedom.
  1.  A center for intellectual freedom is established as an independent academic center under the board at the university.
  2.  The center shall conduct teaching and research in the historical ideas, traditions, and texts that have shaped the American constitutional order and society.
  3.  The board may name the center in accordance with any philanthropic naming policies or practices of the board or university.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §3
Referred to in §263C.1
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263C.3  Functions of the center.
  1.  The center shall provide scholarship in all of the following subjects:
  a.  The texts and major debates that form the intellectual foundation of free societies, especially that of the United States.
  b.  The principles, ideals, and institutions of the American constitutional order.
  c.  The foundations of responsible leadership and informed citizenship.
  2.  The center shall offer university-wide programming related to the values of free speech and civil discourse.
  3.  The center shall work to do all of the following:
  a.  Expand the intellectual diversity of the university’s academic community.
  b.  Foster civic engagement among university students and faculty.
  c.  Coordinate with the center for cyclone civics at Iowa state university and the center for civic education at the university of northern Iowa to enable academic offerings that may be offered to students at any of the regents institutions either in person or online.
  4.  The center, in collaboration with any of the regents institutions, may offer courses; develop certificate, minor, and major programs as well as graduate programs; and offer degrees.
  5.  The center shall offer at least one three-semester credit hour course in American history and civil government. If a regents institution has established general education requirements for undergraduate students that include an American heritage course requirement, the center shall ensure that the course satisfies that requirement. The center shall coordinate with the center for cyclone civics at Iowa state university and the center for civic education at the university of northern Iowa to ensure that the course is offered to students at each regents institution either in person or online.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §4
Referred to in §263C.9
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263C.4  Bylaws.
  The center shall establish bylaws governing the center subject to the approval of the board. In addition to any other bylaws established, the bylaws must include all of the following requirements, which shall take precedence over any other requirements in the bylaws:
  1.  The center shall educate students by means of free, open, and rigorous intellectual inquiry to seek the truth.
  2.  The center affirms its duty to equip students with the skills, habits, and dispositions of mind they need to reach their own informed conclusions on matters of social and political importance.
  3.  The center affirms the value of intellectual diversity in higher education and aspires to enhance the intellectual diversity of the university.
  4.  The center affirms a commitment to create a community dedicated to an ethic of civil and free inquiry, which respects the intellectual freedom of each member, supports individual capacities for growth, and welcomes the differences of opinion that naturally exist in a public university community.
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263C.5  Funding — use.
  1.  The center may accept and administer private and external donations and gifts. The university of Iowa center for advancement shall be the designated foundation for philanthropic gifts or funding for the center.
  2.  Any moneys appropriated to the center, and any private and external donations to the center, shall be used only for the direct operation of the center.
  3.  Any additional funding required to operate the center shall be proportionally provided by the regents institutions, subject to approval of the board.
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263C.6  Center faculty.
  The university shall employ tenure-eligible faculty members to provide instruction through the center. The university shall incrementally increase the number of such faculty to five based on market research and student demand. Faculty members appointed to the center may hold joint appointments to other academic units of the university. Faculty members who are not affiliated with the center shall have no authority to approve, deny, or modify the terms of appointment of faculty to the center.
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263C.7  Advisory council.
  1.  No later than December 31, 2025, the board shall appoint an advisory council for the center.
  2.  The board shall appoint a minimum of nine members to the council. A majority of the members appointed to the council shall constitute a quorum. No more than one member of the council may be an employee of the university. 
  3.  The board shall determine the initial length of each member’s term in accordance with this subsection. A majority of the members initially appointed to the council shall serve initial terms of four years. The remaining initially appointed members shall serve initial terms of two years. The board shall appoint new members to fill vacancies on the council in accordance with this section.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §8
Referred to in §263C.8
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263C.8  Appointment of director.
  1.  The advisory council established under section 263C.7 shall conduct a nationwide search for candidates for the director of the center. The council shall adhere to all relevant state and federal laws in conducting the search. The council shall submit finalists for the position to the board. The board, upon approval of a candidate, shall appoint the candidate as the director. All subsequent directors shall be chosen in the same manner.
  2.  The director shall have the academic standing to be eligible for tenure at a regents institution.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §9
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263C.9  Duties of director.
  1.  The director of the center shall have the sole and exclusive authority to manage the recruitment and hiring process, and to extend offers for employment, of the center and to terminate employment of all staff of the center in accordance with state and federal law.
  2.  The director shall conduct a market assessment to determine course demand and the number of faculty required to meet any unmet needs of the center and may conduct additional market assessments as needed. A market assessment shall include the subjects described in section 263C.3, subsections 1 and 2. 
  3.  The director shall have the authority to invite guest speakers to the university on behalf of the center.
  4.  The director shall report directly to the board.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §10
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263C.10  Annual report.
  Beginning in 2026, the director of the center shall submit an annual report to the governor, the general assembly, and the board of regents by December 31. The report shall provide a full account of the center’s achievements and shall identify any opportunities, challenges, and obstacles in the development of the center.
2025 Acts, ch 163, §11
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