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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — University of Iowa officials are expanding programming in Des Moines.
The Des Moines Register (http://dmreg.co/28XR8nN ) reports that AIB College of Business campus could potentially become a full branch campus in Des Moines for all three of Iowa's regent universities.
AIB's board of trustees gifted the college to the University of Iowa in 2015. The university is expected to take over the nearly 20-acre campus on July 1.
Tom Rice, director of University of Iowa-Des Moines programs says officials are content to taking things slowly, but there will be four undergraduate majors and one graduate major in the fall. Rice says that each of the five programs will have at least two in-person classes offered on the campus. The five programs are political science, enterprise leadership, sport and recreation management and two social work programs.
Each class is expected to attract eight to 20 students, four days a week. More than 1,000 students were enrolled at the business school in January 2015.
Rice said the university is retaining only a handful of former AIB employees to mainly oversee the maintenance of the campus. The level of programming for the fall means there will be fewer than 15 full-time employees on the campus.
A marketing analysis commissioned by regents reported that downtown Des Moines would be the ideal location for a regents resource center in the metro area, but the AIB campus would be an acceptable starting point.
According to the study, it may be several years before enrollment at the campus under the University of Iowa's management would be able to match the number of students who once attended the business school.
Everyone I talk to about opening a new campus says it takes time," Rice said. "We're beginning to do some marketing now. We see this as at least a two- or three-year project just to get the community aware of what's out here and to get us truly set up."
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Information from: The Des Moines Register, http://www.desmoinesregister.com
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