Instead of debating bills to strip tenure from public universities or make campus employees report their political affiliation, Iowa lawmakers could be forging partnerships and laying infrastructure to make their state the “envy of the Midwest,” according to former University of Iowa President and Association of American Universities President Mary Sue Coleman.In advance of her keynote address kick-starting The Gazette’s first “Iowa Ideas In-Depth Week” starting Monday, Coleman expressed concern about a spate of bills “attacking higher education” in Iowa.