In an Associated Students of Madison Legislative Affairs meeting Monday, members continued to address the idea of starting a campaign to change the way student members are appointed to the University of Wisconsin’s Board of Regents.

Legislative Affairs Chair Daniel Statter said the UW Board of Regents allows two voting student members to serve two-year terms.

Legislative Affairs Rep. Kaitlyn Novotny said currently the governor appoints student members, and ASM is working to change the system so the student body elects representatives.

Statter said the current governor-appointed system is not working and added students represented should appoint their Student Regents.

“Normally the governor appoints students to the board. This means that often, these students have views that are very similar to the governor’s views,” Novotny said. “We’re aiming for these representatives to be elected so they are reflecting student views.”

Statter said student members should be selected from recommendations made by elected representatives of student governments from institutions within the UW system.

He brought up specific examples of other universities who use student recommendations to appoint students to the Board of Regents.

Statter said as an example, Oregon’s board is similar to Wisconsin’s in that they also allow for two student regents to serve two-year terms, but allows for the student body to recommend who the governor should appoint.

Statter said he hopes to adopt a model similar to Oregon’s. He said students should have input into who is appointed, but ultimately, the governor should make the appointment.

“Our Student Regents are full voting members,” Statter said. “They are not just there as a symbol; they really do have voting rights.”

Statter said this is why it is important to make sure that Student Regents feel connected to the student body.

Statter said this is important because they want to ensure that whoever serves as Student Regents have a continual connection between the elected student leaders and by extension the student body at large whether they come from the students or not.

He said regents should feel like they represent a group of constituents and act as a delegate to those constituents. He said by appointing regents through student recommendations, they are more likely to feel as though they are representing the student body.

“It is important for students to know that they have a voice on the Board of Regents and this is how they can be heard,” said Novotny. “We are aiming to change this system so that our Student Regents are students who are elected by students and have the voice of the student body.”

Statter said students should know there is a difference between Student Regents who really feel like they represent a group of constituents and those who are simply appointed as trustees to rely on their own ideologies.

Statter said Student Regents represent student issues and the student experience and should be able to provide real testimony on issues the student body is currently facing.

“This isn’t something new, but it takes a fight and that is why we think this a good year to do it,” Statter said.