While a proposal to remove the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus from the System circulates through the state Legislature, officials supported a plan ensuring equal representation for the Board of Regents that currently governs all UW campuses.
The Assembly Committee on Colleges and Universities convened to weigh changes to legislation that would require at least one member of the Board of Regents come from each of the state’s congressional districts.
Rep. Erik Severson, R-Star Prairie, said two districts of the state are currently unrepresented on the board, which is responsible for decision making for all UW campuses.
He said Assembly Bill 39 would allow the Board of Regents to have more diverse representation throughout the state, a feature lacking under the current legislation.
Jessica Torme, a representative speaking on behalf of the Regents, said because the board represents the entire state, members decided it was imperative to support a proposal on which they had previously remained neutral.
“A member of the Board of Regents brings unique knowledge of the issues,” she said. “UW regional institutions have been vocal in asking for representation from closer to home.”
She added the resolution in support of the legislation, adopted by a majority vote in the April 8 board meeting, also indicated the belief among members that the change is a matter for the Legislature instead of campus administrative officials.
When committee members questioned why similar legislation was not previously signed into state law, Rep. Barbara Toles, D-Milwaukee, said although the initiative garnered bipartisan support during the session, former Gov. Jim Doyle vetoed the measure.
Toles said Doyle cited a need to select the most qualified individuals to serve as Regents, regardless of district, as the reason to block the legislation.
She said the reasoning was insulting to officials from outlying parts of the state because there are individuals who are qualified to serve across the state instead of just near more heavily populated areas.
UW System spokesperson Dave Giroux said while the standing Board of Regents achieves nearly ideal geographic representation, it has been a long standing concern among officials.
“The regents I’ve worked with, regardless of where they are from, take a broad view of issues and tend to be even-handed,” he said. “We just want to make sure to let the local folks know they’re represented.”
While Giroux said the introduction of the legislation was not likely prompted by any particular action or concern raised by students, the initiative is one of many issues regarding the governance of the state’s public universities currently engaging public debate.
The proposed changes to the Board of Regents come as legislative and campus-wide debate continues to escalate on the public authority model for the UW-Madison campus.
As articulated in Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011-2013 biennial budget, the campus would be effectively split from the rest of the UW System in order to grant new tools and flexibilities to provide the autonomy to combat reductions in state funding, a proposal the regents have publicly opposed.
The plan, which contains many of the original tenets of Chancellor Biddy Martin’s New Badger Partnership, would remove the Madison campus from the regents’ jurisdiction and establish a Board of Trustees as an alternate governing body.
