UW System Students Rally Around Bill for More Geographically Diverse Board of Regents
MADISON, Wis. (Nov. 2, 2009) – Wisconsin’s statewide student association, United Council of UW Students, is rallying University of Wisconsin students from across the state to help pass a bill that would change the composition of a major UW System administrative body.
The Board of Regents is an 18-member body that appoints top officials, sets admission standards and approves university budgets for the UW System. Fourteen of the board’s members are appointed by the Governor to life-long positions. Currently, 10 of the 14 live in Milwaukee or Dane County. This week, the state legislature will vote on a bill that will divide the state into seven districts and require that at least one member of the Regents be from each district. United Council has supported this bill since its introduction four years ago and the organization is now working with UW students on a final push to urge legislators to pass the bill.
United Council is a non-profit organization that works for higher education equity. For nearly 50 years, UC has advocated for UW System students on issues of higher education related to value, quality and the student experience. According to UC Executive Director Nicole Juan, the organization has a history of working with the state legislature to assure student rights. United Council believes passage of this bill is especially important to creating better administrative representation of the entire UW System.
“Right now, the composition of the Board of Regents is heavily skewed to only two schools in the UW System,” Juan said. “This bill would change that and ensure that college and universities from areas that consistently have no voice on the board would be guaranteed a member to represent them.”
Two of the areas in the seven proposed districts currently have no representation on the board. One of the districts encompasses UW-Whitewater and UW-Parkside and the other includes UW-Eau Claire, UW-Stout, UW-Superior, UW-Barron and UW-River Falls.
United Council has been working with student leaders from across state to contact local representatives and to encourage them to vote in favor of the bill. For more information on United Council’s work around the bill to increase geographic diversity on the Board of Regents, email unitedcouncil@gmail.com.