[media-credit name=’Derek Montgomery’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]This is the second part of a series profiling the leaders of the UW-Madison campus community.

After 14 months on the University of Wisconsin System Board of Regents, Nino Amato’s denied request for a second term marked the first one for a Wisconsin Technical College System board president since 1911.

His belief that the UW System needs to cut costs and freeze tuition did not sit well with some regents — many of whose presence on the board he criticized during his farewell address.

Cost cutters, tuition freezers and those who ask hard questions are “treated a lot differently” on the board, Amato said in an exclusive interview.

“There is a core of four or five regents who have been incredibly responsible and good advocates for students,” Amato said. “The leadership is frankly out of touch with students and families in the state.”

In August, the Board of Regents approved a budget request to increase tuition by 4.3 percent for the 2005-2007 biennium. In the previous biennium, UW faced the largest-ever budget cut of $250 million and tuition went up 37.5 percent.

Amato — a vocal advocate for student concerns — said he believes the board should have discussed the budgetary plan in April or May to get student input.

“Students have much to provide and they are the customers,” Amato said. “Any variation of managing costs for students is something the board should move toward.”

He noted Regent President Toby Marcovich was among those who voted against putting a second student on the board.

Amato said he was disappointed Chancellor Donald Mash of UW-Eau Claire called the idea of a tuition freeze “ludicrous.” Amato said if tuition continues to increase at public universities, “it will be the demise of our higher-education system.”

He also is concerned about the privatization of UW becoming a reality.

When asked if UW officials would consider lowering tuition to remain competitive with other universities and to attract more students, Amato said “they don’t look at it in those terms, which is unfortunate.”

Amato, who questioned executive pay-range raises last year, said his dissatisfaction with UW’s condition continues.

He accused the system of raising tuition and cutting faculty while raising executive salaries and proposing a multi-million-dollar investment to renovate the campus. He called this a “violation of public trust” and “academic arrogance.”

Marcovich has said executive-salary increases would be up for discussion again later this year, according to the Capital Times.

Amato remains skeptical of how the board runs at the top level.

“There is manipulation going on,” he said. “[The board] is not as transparent as it has been in the past. I’ve been involved in the technical-college system for more than 20 years. I know the games that are played, I know what goes on.”

Amato believes there should be a formal audit committee of the board separate from management, which would essentially keep the board in check.

He offered suggestions for “reform,” many of which he pushed during his tenure on the board.

“They need an independent staff so that the regents are policy makers, not system staff,” he said. “The board needs legislative representation from both parties for a greater partnership with students and faculty. I called for reform with the regents: increased representation, importing members from the congressional district for better geographical representation and independent staff.”