Board members and institutional representatives convene for a meeting of the Iowa Board of Regents at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023. (Nick Rohlman/The Gazette)

IOWA CITY — Before approving its state appropriations request in advance of the upcoming Legislative session, Iowa’s Board of Regents on Thursday tacked on another $1 million specifically for “extended mental health resources at our three regent universities.”

That $1 million addition will bring the board’s total ask to $39.3 million more than the $580.7 it received this year — or $620 million.

Regent Abby Crow — serving as the board’s student regent as she works as a University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics nursing assistant — suggested the appropriations-request amendment after regents met this week with student leaders across the campuses.

“A central point of our conversation was the need to extend mental health services and the benefits this will bring to students at our regent universities,” Crow said during the board’s meeting Thursday on the UI campus. “Student leaders also provided us with a unanimous letter imploring us as regents to support their efforts for expanded mental health resources and funding. And noted several excellent examples of direct impacts on programming and staffing that having extended funding could allow at each of the institutions.”

Board of Regents member Abby Crow contemplates on a series of comments from student body leaders on proposed tuition increases on June 14, 2023, at the University of Iowa Levitt Center for Advancement in Iowa City. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

This, Crow said, isn’t the first the regents have heard from students about the need for more mental health services at the University of Iowa, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa.

“In light of these ongoing discussions, I would like to make a motion to amend the fiscal year 2025 state appropriations request to include an additional $1 million to support our university’s efforts for extended mental health resources at our three regent universities,“ Crow said.

The board — excluding President Michael Richards, who was absent for the meeting — unanimously approved the amendment and the full appropriations ask, without discussion, after Crow noted the students also asked to be involved in conversations going forward “regarding the specific allocation of this funding.”

“And offer their insight as to what specific mental health-related resources, programming, or staffing might be the most good at their respective institutions,” Crow said.

A UI-specific version of the National College Health Assessment — administered to thousands of students in the spring — found an increase in reports of self-harm, diagnosed mental health conditions, and students receiving services.

⧉ Related article: UI health assessment shows rise in energy drinks, vaping

Among UI undergraduates who responded to the spring health survey, 56 percent said they had at some point in their life received psychological or mental health services, up from 50 percent who said so in 2021. Nearly 38 percent reported receiving services within the last year, up from 33 percent in 2021.

UI graduate students reported similar increases. And both groups reported as their “top conditions ever diagnosed” as anxiety, depression, and attention deficit disorder.

Iowa State’s most recent national health survey from 2021 found 23 percent of its female respondents had experienced “serious psychological distress,” while 53 percent of women and 47 percent of men were “positive for loneliness.”

According to that survey, 27 percent of the female respondents were “positive for suicidal screening,” along with 23 percent of men.

The rest of the regents’ request of lawmakers in the upcoming session includes $14.8 million for “general university” dollars — breaking down to $4.5 million each for UI and Iowa State and $5.8 million for UNI.

That, UNI President Mark Nook said Thursday, is the most important part of his campus’ request, “so that we can hold tuition flat for a year and develop some differentiation in our tuition relative to others public institutions in the state.”

In states surrounding Iowa, Nook said, the cost difference between research-intensive campuses like UI and ISU and regional comprehensive universities like UNI is about $3,500.

Mark A. Nook, president of the University of Northern Iowa, listens to a series of comments from student body leaders on proposed tuition increases on June 14, 2023, at the University of Iowa Levitt Center for Advancement in Iowa City. (Geoff Stellfox/The Gazette)

“In 2017, that difference was $88 here in the state of Iowa,” Nook said. “We’ve grown that to just a little over $1,000. I’d like to continue to be able to do that. It will certainly help with enrollment trends. But it will more importantly help the people in Iowa have choices.”

In addition to that general education increase, all three campuses have made significant “special purpose requests” — including $10 million for a UI initiative to address rural health care needs; $10 million for an Iowa State STEM workforce program; and $2.5 million for a UNI initiative to increase educators across the state.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

Source link

The post Regents up state request by $1M for campus mental health resources appeared first on Minds Valley.

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Sunday he hoped the Centre will provide financial aid for the ambitious water grid project in Marathwada, and announced that the state will implement an array of welfare measures to commemorate Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 73rd birthday. Shinde, who was speaking at an event in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to commemorate the Marathwada Liberation Day, said they have also made a request for Central assistance for the water grid project to PM Modi, who turned 73 on Sunday.

The region, comprising eight districts, was under the oppressive rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad. An uprising of peasants and common citizens ensured the defeat of the Nizam and his Razakar militia and the region merged with India on September 17, 1948.

“We are trying to divert the run-off water during the monsoon towards the Godavari river basin. The state government has allocated Rs 15,000 crore for the ambitious Marathwada grid project. We have also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi for (Central) assistance. I am sure we will get support from the Union government,” he said.

The chief minister said the state government had allotted several hundred crore rupees for the betterment of roads and other infrastructure in Marathwada and assured people that a change for the better will be seen in the coming days.

The region is generally considered less prosperous, mainly due to insufficient rainfall.

“Rains have taken a break which is affecting farmers in the region. Last year, when farmers were affected due to the same problem, we had gone beyond the rules and distributed more funds to minimize their misery,” the CM said.

The Maharashtra government held a special cabinet meeting in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (formerly Aurangabad) on Saturday to mark the 75th year of the Marathwada Liberation Day.

CM Shinde also announced a package of Rs 45,000 crore for the development of Marathwada as well as revised administrative sanctions for irrigation projects worth Rs 14,000 crore.

The Marathwada region comprises eight districts – Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (previously known as Aurangabad), Dharashiv (previously known as Osmanabad), Jalna, Beed, Latur, Nanded, Hingoli and Parbhani.

Later, speaking to reporters in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shinde said Maharashtra will implement the NaMo 11-point programmes, an array of welfare measures, to commemorate the 73rd birthday of PM Modi.

The first programme will be called the ‘NaMo Women Empowerment Campaign’ under which various government schemes will cover 73 lakh women, he said. As many as 40 lakh women will be connected with self-help groups, while 20 lakh more will be connected with “Shakti groups”, Shinde said.

Mission Shakti, a flagship programme of the Union government, aims at empowering women through self-help groups and gainful activities by providing credit and market linkage.

“The campaign has also set a target of giving employment and technical training to 5 lakh women, capital for 5 lakh women to start their own business and helping 3 lakh women entrepreneurs to access market and customers,” the CM said.

The ‘NaMo Labour Welfare Campaign’ will provide safety kits to 73,000 construction workers in the state. The ‘NaMo Farm Pond Campaign’ has set a target of construction of 73,000 farm ponds in the state to increase the capacity to store water received through rainfall, Shinde said.

The ‘NaMo Self-reliant and Solar Power Campaign’ is aimed at making 73,000 villages in the state self-reliant on aspects like water, processing of agricultural produce and its marketing. The campaign also includes the construction of pucca houses, toilets and roads, and focuses on creating jobs at the village level, he said.

‘NaMo Poor and Backward Class Honour Campaign’ will focus on building pucca houses for the poor and the backward classes and construction of pucca roads, community halls and improvement in electricity supply, he said.

Under the ‘NaMo Gram Sachiwalay Campaign’, at least 73 new gram panchayat offices will be built in every district. These offices will have good internet connectivity and operate on solar energy, Shinde said.

The other initiatives are ‘NaMo Tribal Smart School Campaign’, ‘NaMo Divyang Shakti Campaign’, ‘NaMo Sports Grounds and Gardens Campaign’, ‘NaMo City Beautification Campaign’ and ‘NaMo Holy Places and Fort Restoration and Protection Campaign’, Shinde added.

• Published On Sep 18, 2023 at 08:10 AM IST

Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals

Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis.

Download ETEnergyworld App

• Get Realtime updates
• Save your favourite articles

Scan to download App

Source link

The post Hope Centre will give aid for Marathwada water grid project, we’ve made a request to PM: Shinde, ET EnergyWorld appeared first on Minds Valley.

Summary

• Southwest Airlines Pilots Association’s request to be released from contract negotiations has been denied, leaving them with no choice but to proceed with negotiations.
• The National Mediation Board decided that negotiations must continue.
• SWAPA had expressed dissatisfaction with several of management’s actions, such as threatening to furlough pilots while accepting significant stock compensation, among others.

Southwest Airlines Pilots Associations’ request to leave negotiations proceedings has been denied. The carrier’s pilots have several grievances with the management, and no amicable agreement has been reached through previous talks. With a denial of the request, the carrier’s pilots association will now have to proceed with negotiations regarding their contract.

Request denied

Southwest Airlines Pilots Associations’ (SWAPA) attempt to free itself from contract negotiations with the management has been denied by the National Mediation Board (NMB). This comes more than a month after the association wrote to NMB for a release from discussion.

Had the request been granted, the release from mediation would have triggered a 30-day cooling-off period before a Presidential Emergency Board or release to self-help, such as a strike under US labor law.

Photo: Angel DiBilio/Shutterstock

This leaves Southwest’s pilots with no choice but to enter negotiations in the coming days regarding their contract. Captain Casey Murray, president of SWAPA, told Bloomberg News that he is disappointed but not surprised, adding, “We are further away today than the day we filed for release, which is truly the definition of an impasse.”

SWAPA had applied for a release from discussions stating that it believed further mediation would likely not result in any additional agreements between the parties. NMB, however, differed in its assessment of the situation and decided that negotiations needed to continue. Southwest had also objected to the request in June, with its management releasing a statement:

“We strongly disagree that we’re at a point which justifies either party asking to be released from mediation. We’ve continued meeting regularly with SWAPA and, in fact, made an industry-leading compensation proposal and scheduling adjustments to address workplace quality-of-life issues for our pilots. We feel confident that mediation will continue driving us even closer to a final agreement that will benefit both our Pilots and Southwest Airlines.”

Photo: Jeramey Lende/Shutterstock

Dissatisfied

SWAPA’s previous negotiations with Southwest’s management have not yielded any positive results. There have, in fact, been several areas of discontentment among its pilots. In its letter to NMB, SWAPA highlighted the carrier’s disregard of NMB’s instructions with no penalty.

It also expressed its dissatisfaction over some of management’s actions, such as a threat to furlough 1,221 pilots when, just two months later, executive leaders accepted at least $4 million in stock compensation. The association highlighted that “revenue that allowed for those bonuses and dividends to be paid could not have been earned but for the hard-work and dedication of our Pilots and front-line employees.”

Photo: Don Mammoser | Shutterstock

In 2022, SWAPA had also written an open letter to Southwest detailing how fatigue numbers among the pilots had been on the rise with no meaningful attempt by the management to mitigate them. SWAPA said that since 2017, it has identified and also offered solutions to address numerous systemic failures in the airline’s network and scheduling processes that had gone out of control.

What are your views on this? Please leave a comment below.

Source: Bloomberg

Source link

The post Mediation Board Denies Southwest Airlines’ Pilots Request To Pause Negotiations appeared first on Minds Valley.