Opinion
Add another student regent
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
- The Invisible Man Award: Wyndham Manning (May 7, 2009)
- The People's Choice Award: Jacqueline Hitchon et. al (May 7, 2009)
- The Lifetime Achievement Award: ASM (May 7, 2009)
- Honest representation (May 5, 2009)
- Junger for ASM Chair (May 5, 2009)
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This editorial is the first in a two part series outlining the need for an additional Student Regent.
The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents is one of the single most influential body affecting the quality of education UW students receive during their time in college. However, there exists only a single student voice on the 17-member board, which is responsible by state law for governing the UW System by appointing all leadership (president, chancellors and deans) and making decisions concerning the university budget and admission standards. It is both illogical and unrepresentative that the composition of a group of decision-makers who remain so closely linked with the fate of UW students is so void of student representation.
To make the Board of Regents a more fair and representative body, the addition of a second student regent is needed. Since the board makes decisions that can intimately affect all students within the UW System, it seems only intuitive that another voice comes from within the student body. Although there are certain advantages to regents who are older and more experienced, a representative undergoing the struggles and experiences of a student would logically be best to advocate for student needs.
Additionally, the two student regents should be paid for their two-year tenure. Even though serving as a regent should derive more from a desire to contribute to the UW System than from the chance to earn a lucrative paycheck, student regents must be given some compensation for the sacrifices they make in service to the board. Acting as a student regent requires a substantial personal commitment; certainly if the president of the Associated Students of Madison gets paid, students serving on the Board of Regents should be compensated.
It also seems most practical that the two student regents serve two-year terms each, alternating every year with staggered terms so a senior student regent would always be available to guide the new representative. This arrangement would allow an experienced student regent to serve at the same time the new regent is adjusting to their term in office, meaning there is always a student representative serving on the board with the experience to effectively advocate for students.
The majority of the Board of Regents is all too often out of touch with the students its represents. We see the most ready way to fix this seeming disconnect as the addition of a second, paid student to the board.
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How is the current student regent selected, and how would an additional regent be selected? I would hope that this would follow the shared governance paradigm and allow for substantial student input.
Proportionally to the state's population how many representatives should students have? The University is there to serve the State's interests, not the students'.
Shared governance? That's funny. How easily you forget that ASM is incompetent, disrespected and undeserving of any input...
As for selection, regents are appointed by the governor. No input from ASM or students, period.
What a bold position for the Herald to stake out! Who could have predicted it?!
How arrogant of you to assume that by mentioning shared governance that I was singularly focused on ASM. Shared gov isn't an ASM creation, nor is it limited to the Madison campus. It's not a revolutionary idea for students across the state to have some say in who represents them. For someone whom I'm sure subscribes to the little whiners club about Madison being an island divorced from reality, you sure have trouble thinking outside of its borders.