A bill passed by the Assembly Colleges and Universities Committee Wednesday could require regional representation on the UW System Board of Regents.
Previous attempts have been made to require that board members be from different areas of the state, but they used the congressional districts as a guideline rather than creating seven new regions as the new bill does. The bill passed by an 8-4 vote.
“We drew the map the way we did, rather than going with Congress districts, in order to make the districts balanced, easier to understand and a more stable system so the lines never change,” said Rep. Jeff Smith, D-Eau Claire.
He added the bill would require there to be at least one member from each of the seven districts on the board, yet this arrangement would not affect current members because it would only impose the new rule on new appointments in 2012 .
Rep. Joan Ballweg, R-Markesan, also voted to pass the bill, yet said she prefers the districts to be divided along congressional lines.
Out of the 14 citizen-appointed regents, 10 are from the Milwaukee and Madison areas, which could present a problem if the bill is enacted because that means only four represent the rest of Wisconsin. The four other regents comprising the rest of the 18-member board would not be affected by the proposal because they are not citizen-appointed.
Jeff Smith said he sees a problem with how some regions of Wisconsin have been historically underrepresented.
“I have great faith in the members of the Board of Regents; they represent the full state of Wisconsin but the important aspect here is that we ensure certain areas have someone to represent them,” said Smith.
Regent Brent Smith said if the bill was passed, it could add a bit of geographical diversity but would not change the way the regents operate or the decisions made.
He added he believes all members of the Board of Regents do a good job representing the state as a whole and the idea someone should represent their area is misleading.
“We are not elected or appointed to represent the region of the state,” Brent Smith said. “If we start to think the person represents that area as opposed to representing the entire state, well, this could be one danger if the bill passes.”
