Several state legislative leaders and the Associated Students of Madison have united in a conference over a dispute involving additional student representation on the Board of Regents.
The Board of Regents is responsible for the decisions affecting the 26 University of Wisconsin campuses, such as admission standards and the affirmative-action policy, university budgets, tuition increases and the basic set of rules all UW campuses must obey.
Of the 17 members on the Board of Regents, only one is a student representative, and ASM, along with several state legislative leaders, feels one student cannot fully represent more than 160,000 students on all 26 campuses.
“Students need more of a voice of the decisions being made on the Board of Regents,” said state Rep. Julie Lassa, D-Plover. “The state is uncertain in financial terms, and we need that student’s input as to where the UW System is heading.”
Those at the conference maintained that the Board of Regents’ current structure, with one student representative, appears to be in a predicament with the Wisconsin State Statute 36.09(5), which gives students “the primary role and responsibility for the review of policies concerning students’ life, services and interests.”
In the past, there have been controversies over the student representation appointment by the governor. During the budget process on the Board of Regents, the student-representation seat was vacant due to an expired term and Gov. Thompson did not replace the position throughout the debate over the budget issue.
Lassa supports the Student Regent Bill, which was given to the state Senate and the state Assembly earlier this year. The Student Regent Bill included the addition of a second student to the Board of Regents.
“Students all over the University of Wisconsin System are pushing for legislators to sign onto a bill that would grant more student representation on the Board of Regents,” said Erin Johnson, an intern for the ASM Legislative Affairs Committee. “Locally, students at the Associated Students of Madison have already contacted and informed legislators on this issue.”
ASM is handing out petitions that read, “Give A Say To The Students Who Pay,” to the student body to gain support for the Student Regent Bill in the fight for more representation on the Board of Regents.
“What we students are striving for is our rightful place on the board that makes all major decisions for the UW System,” Johnson said. “This is the lawful representation that students were given the right to have.”
