The Wisconsin State Senate passed legislation yesterday that
will give students in the University of Wisconsin System increased
representation. The bill, S.B. 85, will create a second student
regent on the UW Board of Regents. While we applaud bipartisan
actions taken to increase student voices on the principal governing
body of the UW System, we ask the Assembly, which must now review
the bill, to take a more critical look at this legislation than
their Senate counterparts.

The bill would create a “non-traditional” student regent.
Translation: the student regent appointed by the governor must be
at least 24 years old, attend one of the UW System schools as an
undergraduate, and represent the views of non-traditional students,
such as those who are employed or who are parents.

It is certainly true that non-traditional students are integral
to Wisconsin’s economy and to the technical college system that
serves many people throughout the state. However, when considering
student representation as a whole, the number of individuals that
would truly be represented by a regent such as this one is
relatively small in comparison to the large number of “traditional”
students across the state, particularly those in Madison.

As an alternative, we encourage Assembly leaders to consider
adding a regent not based on age, but upon resources. Nearly half
of all state resources going to the UW system end up at UW-Madison.
Moreover, UW-Madison receives one of the largest allocations of
federal dollars for research and development in the country, far
more than any other campus in the state. This campus is the one
that achieves recognition every year as one of the top public
universities in the country and, in turn, attracts large numbers of
out-of-state students. And this campus alone is comprised of nearly
one-fourth of all the undergraduates studying in Wisconsin.

The Assembly should consider this question: Why not create one
regent to represent the Madison campus and one regent for all of
the others?

Considering the large amount of economic resources this
university receives from the state as well as the equally large
amount of resources we give back, this alternative is entirely
reasonable. It would more accurately represent the needs and
priorities of Wisconsin students than the bill passed by the Senate
yesterday.