263.1 Objects--departments.

The university of Iowa shall never be under the control of any religious denomination. Its object shall be to provide the best and most efficient means of imparting to men and women, upon equal terms, a liberal education and thorough knowledge of the different branches of literature and the arts and sciences, with their varied applications. It shall include colleges of liberal arts, law, medicine, and such other colleges and departments, with such courses of instruction and elective studies as the state board of regents may determine from time to time. If a teachers training course is established by the board it shall include the subject of physical education. Instruction in the liberal arts college shall begin, so far as practicable, at the points where the same is completed in high schools.

263.10 Persons admitted.

Every resident of the state who is not more than twenty-one years of age, who has such severe disabilities as to be unable to acquire an education in the common schools, and every such person who is twenty-one and under thirty-five years of age who has the consent of the state board of regents, shall be entitled to receive an education, care, and training in the institution, and nonresidents similarly situated may be entitled to an education and care therein upon such terms as may be fixed by the state board of regents. The fee for nonresidents shall be not less than the average expense of resident pupils and shall be paid in advance. Residents and persons under the care and control of a director of a division of the department of human services who have severe disabilities may be transferred to the hospital-school upon such terms as may be agreed upon by the state board of regents and the director.

263.11 Definition.

The term "severe disabilities" shall be interpreted for the purpose of this division as referring to persons who meet both of the following requirements:

1. Persons who are educable but have severe physical and educational disabilities as a result of cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, spina bifida, arthritis, poliomyelitis, or other severe physically disabling conditions.

2. Persons who are not eligible for admission to the schools already established for persons with mental retardation or epilepsy or persons who are deaf or blind.

263.12 Payment by counties.

The provisions of sections 270.4 to 270.8, inclusive, are hereby made applicable to the state hospital-school.

263.13 Gifts accepted.

The board of regents is authorized to accept, for the benefit of such hospital-schools, gifts, devises, or bequests of property, real or personal including grants from the federal government. Said board may exercise such powers with reference to the management, sale, disposition, investment, or control of property so given, devised, or bequeathed, as may be deemed essential to its preservation and the purposes for which made. No contribution or grant shall be received or accepted if any condition is attached as to its use or administration other than it be used for aid to such hospital-schools as provided in this division.

263.14 through 263.16

Reserved.

263.17 Center for health effects of environmental contamination.

1. The state board of regents shall establish and maintain at Iowa City as an integral part of the state university of Iowa the center for health effects of environmental contamination, having as its object the determination of the levels of environmental contamination which can be specifically associated with human health effects.

2. a. The center shall be a cooperative effort of representatives of the following organizations:

(1) The state university of Iowa department of preventative medicine and environmental health.

(2) The state university of Iowa department of pediatrics of the college of medicine.

(3) The state hygienic laboratory.

(4) The institute of agricultural medicine.

(5) The Iowa cancer center.

(6) The department of civil and environmental engineering.

(7) Appropriate clinical and basic science departments.

(8) The college of law.

(9) The college of liberal arts and sciences.

(10) The Iowa department of public health.

(11) The department of natural resources.

(12) The department of agriculture and land stewardship.(12) The department of agriculture and land stewardship.

b. The active participation of the national cancer institute, the agency for toxic substances and disease registries, the national center for disease control, the United States environmental protection agency, and the United States geological survey, shall also be sought and encouraged.

3. The center may:

a. Assemble all pertinent laboratory data on the presence and concentration of contaminants in soil, air, water, and food, and develop a data retrieval system to allow the findings to be easily accessed by exposed populations.

b. Make use of data from the existing cancer and birth defect statewide recording systems and develop similar recording systems for specific organ diseases which are suspected to be caused by exposure to environmental toxins.

c. Develop registries of persons known to be exposed to environmental hazards so that the health status of these persons may be examined over time.

d. Develop highly sensitive biomedical assays which may be used in exposed persons to determine early evidence of adverse health effects.

e. Perform epidemiologic studies to relate occurrence of a disease to contaminant exposure and to ensure that other factors known to cause the disease in question can be ruled out.

f. Foster relationships and ensure the exchange of information with other teaching institutions or laboratories in the state which are concerned with the many forms of environmental contamination.

g. Implement programs of professional education and training of medical students, physicians, nurses, scientists, and technicians in the causes and prevention of environmentally induced disease.

h. Implement public education programs to inform persons of research results and the significance of the studies.

i. Respond as requested to any branch of government for consultation in the drafting of laws and regulations to reduce contamination of the environment.

4. An advisory committee consisting of one representative of each of the organizations enumerated in subsection 2, paragraph "a", is established. The advisory committee shall:

a. Employ, as a state employee, a full-time director to operate the center. The director shall coordinate the efforts of the heads of each of the major divisions of laboratory analysis, epidemiology and biostatistics, biomedical assays, and exposure modeling and shall also coordinate the efforts of professional and support staff in the operation of the center.

b. Submit an annual report of the activities of the center to the legislative council of the general assembly by January 15 of each year.

5. The center shall maintain the confidentiality of any information obtained from existing registries and from participants in research programs. Specific research projects involving human subjects shall be approved by the state university of Iowa institutional review board.

6. The center may solicit, accept, and administer moneys appropriated to the center by a public or private agency.

7. The center shall cooperate with the center for rural health and primary care, established under section 135.107, the center for agricultural health and safety established under section 262.78, and the department of agriculture and land stewardship. The agencies shall coordinate programs to the extent practicable.

263.2 Degrees.

No one shall be admitted to courses of instruction in the university who has not completed the elementary instruction in such branches as are taught in the common schools throughout the state. Graduates shall receive degrees or diplomas, or other evidences of distinction such as are usually conferred and granted by universities and are authorized by the state board of regents.

263.3 Cabinet of natural history.

For the purpose of supplying a cabinet of natural history, all geological and mineralogical specimens which are collected by the state geologists, or by others appointed by the state to investigate its natural history and physical resources, shall belong to and be the property of the university, under the charge of the professors of those departments.

263.4 Homeopathic materia medica and therapeutics.

The state board of regents is hereby authorized and directed to establish and maintain a department of homeopathic materia medica and therapeutics in the college of medicine of the state university of Iowa, with suitable and sufficient hours and rooms for said department. The use of the university homeopathic hospital shall be left to the discretion of the board.

263.5 Institute of child behavior and development.

The state board of regents is hereby authorized to establish and maintain at Iowa City as an integral part of the state University of Iowa the institute of child behavior and development, having as its objects the investigation of the best scientific methods of conserving and developing the normal child, the dissemination of the information acquired by such investigation, and the training of students for work in such fields.

263.6 Management.

The management and control of such institute shall be vested in a director appointed by the said board of regents and an advisory board of seven members to be appointed by the president of the university from the faculty of the graduate college of said university.

263.7 State hygienic laboratory--investigations.

The state hygienic laboratory shall be a permanent part of the state university of Iowa. It shall make or cause to be made microbiological and chemical examinations and other necessary investigations by both laboratory and field work in the determination of the causes of disease, shall suggest methods of overcoming and preventing the recurrence of the disease, and shall evaluate environmental effects and scientific needs, whenever requested to do so by any state agency, state institution, or local board of health when the investigation or evaluation is necessary in the interest of environmental quality and public health and for the purpose of preventing epidemics of disease.

263.8 Reports--tests.

Charges may be assessed for transportation of specimens and cost of examination. Reports of epidemiological examinations and investigations shall be sent to the responsible agency.

In addition to its regular work, the laboratory shall perform without charge all bacteriological, serological, and epidemiological examinations and investigations which may be required by the Iowa department of public health and said department shall establish rules therefor. The laboratory shall also provide, those laboratory, scientific field measurement, and environmental quality services which, by contract, are requested by the other agencies of government.

The laboratory is authorized to perform such other laboratory determinations as may be requested by any state institution, citizen, school, municipality or local board of health, and the laboratory is authorized to charge fees covering transportation of samples and the costs of examinations performed upon their request.

263.8A International center for talented and gifted education.

The state board of regents shall establish and maintain at Iowa City as an integral part of the state university of Iowa the international center for talented and gifted education. The international center shall provide programs to assist classroom teachers to teach gifted and talented students in regular classrooms, provide programs to enhance the learning experiences of gifted and talented students, serve as a center for national and international symposiums and policy forums for enhancing the teaching of gifted and talented students, and undertake other appropriate activities to enhance the programs of the center, including, but not limited to, coordinating and working with the world council for gifted and talented children, incorporated.

An international center endowment fund is established at the state university of Iowa and gifts and grants to the international center and investment earnings and returns on the endowment fund shall be deposited in the fund and may be expended by the state university of Iowa for the purposes for which the international center was established.

263.8B Interest earnings.

If the interest earned on moneys accumulated by campus organizations at the university of Iowa is not available for expenditure by those respective campus organizations, the university of Iowa shall allocate that interest to campus improvements that are of benefit to students and have been accepted by the student government or to the student financial aid office to be used for the work-study program.

263.8C Advanced placement summer program.

An advanced placement summer program is established at the state university of Iowa for purposes of training advanced placement instructors at the secondary level and of providing intensive course work for secondary students. The state university of Iowa shall be responsible for the development of appropriate curricula, course offerings, provision of qualified instructors, and the selection of participants for the program. If funds are appropriated for the program, those funds shall be used to pay for the cost of providing instructors, counselors, room and board for students and teachers attending the program, materials, and for the cost of the development of a summer advanced placement exam. If funds are appropriated and those funds are not sufficient to meet program participation demands, the university shall give priority to the needs of students or teachers from schools which do not have advanced placement programs.

263.9 Establishment and objectives.

The state board of regents is hereby authorized to establish and maintain in reasonable proximity to Iowa City and in conjunction with the state university of Iowa and the university hospital, a hospital-school having as its objects the education and treatment of children with severe disabilities. Such hospital-schools shall be conducted in conjunction with the activities of the university of Iowa children's hospital. Insofar as is practicable, the facilities of the university children's hospital shall be utilized.