We find it interesting that the third largest school in the UW System – UW-Eau Claire – has such little representation in the UW System’s governing body. Not to mention smaller, but still relevant schools such as UW-Stout and UW-River Falls.
That’s why we support a bill making its way through the Legislature that would ensure representation for northwestern Wisconsin and UW-Eau Claire on the UW System’s Board of Regents.
Under the new legislation, Board members would include the state superintendent of public instruction, the president of the technical college system board, 14 citizens appointed to seven-year terms and two students appointed to two-year terms.
The bill also includes that the governor could not appoint a student regent from the same institution in two consecutive terms and also that students from UW-Madison and Milwaukee could not serve on the board at the same time.
That later provision is where the problem has been.
It is understandable that the largest and more nationally-known schools in the UW System have representation, but unfortunately that leaves the rest of us in the northern portion of the state without representation.
We feel that because UW-Madison has more out-of-state and international students, its views and needs may differ quite a bit from schools like UW-Eau Claire, where many students are state residents and many times from smaller, surrounding towns.
Obviously Madison tends to be more liberal than schools like UW-River Falls. Madison obviously also has more resources than a school like River Falls, so it seems hard to believe that regents from Madison or even Milwaukee be able to properly represent such schools.
The bill is not perfect. But we feel it is a step in the right direction. If UW-Madison and Milwaukee require continued presence on the Board, one recommendation would be to reserve a spot for each and create rotating spots for the rest of the UW System.
Either way, however, the students of every institution deserve to have a say on the education that they are paying for.
