The state Senate voted in favor of adding a second student regent to the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents Tuesday by approving Senate Bill 121 in a voice vote.
If passed into law, the legislation would double the student representation on the 16-member board. The addition of a non-traditional student appointed by the governor would represent the views of individuals who may be older, employed or already parents.
“This [legislation] will allow for two student representatives … and will enable the representation of the views of the more traditional student as well as the non-traditional student,” State Sen. Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, a co-author of the bill, said.
It is very important to have the appropriate number of students on the board making decisions that directly affect students, Harsdorf added.
The Senate bill was passed by a voice vote with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans.
Several amendments were tacked on since the bill’s first introduction into the Legislature last year, including staggered terms for the regents and a rule that the two student regents may not come from the same school.
Its companion bill, AB 158, was unanimously approved by the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee March 28 of this year and has not been voted on yet.
“The fact [the Senate bill] passed on a voice vote shows that there’s strong support for it,” Harsdorf said.
The United Council of UW Students Shared Governance and Policy Director Daniel Bush praised the Senate for passing the bill. Bush said it is important to increase student representation at the same pace as tuition rises.
“Obviously students are paying a much bigger share of their education than they were five or 10 years ago,” Bush said. “As students are asked to pay more and more of the cost of a UW education … they should be given a greater role in the making decisions that affect them.”
The United Council and student groups pushed the idea to add a second student regent for more than five years. While support for the bill is not a concern, scheduling the bill for a vote on the Assembly floor may be an issue, according to Bush.
Bush said the bill needs to get passed soon because the only student regent’s term ended May 1 and the governor has not yet appointed someone else for the position.
Former student regent Beth Richlen said though her term officially ended May 1, she will attend the May meetings to represent the student body since no one has taken her place. She added the May through August meetings are considered the most important.
“That’s when the most important decisions are made — that’s when tuition is set,” Richlen said about the summer Board of Regent meetings.
Richlen agreed the staggered terms amended into the bill are very important so this problem will not occur again.
Student regents currently serve two-year terms in comparison to the seven-year terms of their non-student counterparts. Richlen said she believes this short amount of time does not provide much opportunity for student regents to understand procedures and added the staggered terms would be beneficial to the incoming student for training purposes.
The Assembly should be scheduling a time to vote on the Senate version of the bill sometime soon, Bush added.
