Wednesday, april 26, 1978
daily nebraskan
page 7
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Regents don't reflect student views campus leaders
By Brenda Moscovits
Leaders of student groups may not
agree on some things, but they tend to
agree that the NU Board of Regents does
not adequately reflect student opinion in
descision making.
'They are very responsive to their con
stituency or what they perceive to be their
constituency, the people of their home
districts," says ASUN President Ken
Marienau.
"They are very open to the needs of the
university, especially if it's presented by
the central administration and by the pro
fessional planners," Marienau said, adding
that "there should be very direct input
from the students and the faculty in
addition to the administration."
Don Macke, director of the Nebraska
University Public Interest Research Group
was more critical of the regents.
"Frankly, I don't think the regents are
responsive at all to the state or the stu
dents," Macke said, calling the board
'completely insensitive" when it comes to
student sentiment.
"They (the regents) have not accepted
the fact that 19-year-olds have the same
rights as 30-year-olds ... the regents feel
obligated to represent the constituency and
not the university, ' Macke said.
Jeff Chizek, president of the UNL
chapter of Young Americans for Freedom,
said the regents are correctly fulfilling their
duties in not representing student views.
The regents, as elected representatives
of the people of Nebraska, should "choose
die taxpayer over students" when making
decisions for the university, Chizek said.
Bob Gleason, co-chairman of AS UN's
Government- Liaison Committee, said "I
personally don't think the regents consider
themselves as representative of any con
stituency." "They seem to have strong personal
convictions," Gleason said. Serving as
regent "is a good way to vent their con
victions," he added.
"Their overriding concern is something
that goes beyond their constituency, a
philosophy to uphold," he said, terming
the regent positions as "self-gratifying" for
the officeholders.
"I think they should be responsible to
the needs of the students of the state," said
Nate Eckloff, chairman of the UNL Fees
Allocation Board.
"Some of them are very responsive and
some of them aren't. I'm not going to
name names," Eckloff said.
"It's just my feeling that the regents are
not responsible to the students," said Ron
Dahlke, president of Union Program
Council.
'They're trying to be responsive to their
constituency." Dahlke said, when they
should be responsive to both their districts
and the students.
Responsibility to both would "provide
the best system of higher education that
they possibly can," Dahlke said.
Marienau said he is in favor of getting a
voting student regent on the board.
"I've been shot down from all quarters
for that but I still strongly believe that," he
said.
Marienau said right now "power is in
lobbying people. If you can convince the
administration, you're halfway there. If you
can convince the people in the district
you're three-quarters there."
Marienau said although a system in
which the governor would appoint regents
might assure quality representatives, he was
still "a little skeptical" about such a system
which could possibly turn the regents into
"political favors" office.
Macke said presently regents are elected
based on name recognition alone. Regents
appointed by the Legislature or the gover
nor would be "an alternative that we really
should look at," Macke said.
An appoint regent would "moderate the
distance" between the regents and the
people, Macke said, making the regent
directly responsible to the governor who is
in turn responsible to the people of the
state.
Chizek said he was satisfied with the
present practices in electing the board.
Gleason said he would "prefer a system
where they (the regents) are elected and
paid. It would give you a political regent
as opposed to a personal conviction
regent," Gleason said.
A paid regent would be "much more
accessible and responsive," he said.
Gleason said he also supports a shorter
term for regents (they presently serve six
years), and adding a provision for recall.
Regents now can only be removed from
office through an impeachment proceeding
by the board itself.
Eckloff said he liked the idea of voting
student regents, adding "I don't know if it's
viable or not. I don't think so."
He also said "I wish some of them
(regents) would get on campus more and
talk to student groups. It would at least
give them a better understanding of our
thoughts."
Dahlke said making the regents "hired
officials to make the university work,"
should be considered.
0
Daily Nebraskan Photo
Board of Regents works closely with administration
By Kathy McAuliffe
The group that probably works closest
with the NU Board of Regents is the UNL
administration.
UNL Chancellor Roy Young said he
deals with the regents primarily through
NU President Ronald Roskens. Although
this is the standard administrative channel,
he said, he does communicate directly with
the regents on particular issues.
Richard Armstrong, vice chancellor for
student affairs, described his working
relationship with the regents as an "in-
formal" one.
Working with the board is a "chal
lenge," Armstrong said because each regent
views problems differently. However,
differing opinions among the regents are
important so all of Nebraska is represented,
he said.
"The larger group we're trying to relate
to is the people of the state, and certainly
they're not all of one mind." Armstrong
said. "Even among our students there are
different points of view all across the
scale."
Differences of opinion among the
regents occur partly because the regents
live is different districts throughout the
the state, he said.
There are some who live in an area that
is remote from campus, so their exposure
to the campus is not quite as much," he
explained. "Because they perceive their
responsibilities somewhat differently and
because there is a wide range of experience
and philosophy among them, they there
fore have varying degrees of contact with
students."
There may not be an understanding
among all of us about what is the proper
role of the board of regents," he said.
Some believe the board should be
totally responsible to its constituents,
while others think the board should
respond primarily to the university popula
tion, Armstrong said. In between these two
extremes is a wide range of opinion.
Young said, "I think they give attention
to both the people who elect them and the
administration, faculty and students. I
think they have to listen to both to serve
effectively. It might just depend on the
issue as to whom they would be most re
sponsive. "Since they are the governing body of
the university, it is essential that they
understand the ideas of university repre
sentatives," he said. "As a group, they
make an effort to conscientiously repre
sent the university."
The roles and responsibilities of the
regents "are pretty well laid out in the
statutes and bylaws governing the institu
tion," Young said. "But I doubt many
people have read them."
Armstrong said there is no easy solution
to the problem of defining regents' roles
and responsibilities. However, more com
munication in the form of informal meet
ings between the board of regents and uni
versity employees would benefit both the
regents and the university, he said.
In the past, rap sessions between stu
dents and regents were held periodically, as
well as informal discussions on nights be
fore meetings, he said.
"I enjoyed that," Armstrong said, "and
I regret through time constraints it has not
been possible to have that."
He said these informal, open meetings
were replaced by subcommittee meetings
when the agenda became gradually longer
and more time-consuming.
Young also supported having informal
meetings between regents and students.
"It would probably aid communication
and understanding if such meetings could
be held periodically, Young said. "There is
a limit to the amount of time the regents
can devote to such meetings because they
have their own professions which are quite
demanding."
Armstrong had oth for
improving the relationship between the
regents and the university.
"If the regents were available to exper
ience a cross section of the activities (on
campus), that might help them," he said.
For example, attending a lecture funded by
the speakers' program might have given the
regents "a feel" for the activity, he said.
'That would provide an additional in
gredient to the regents' decision-making
process. It would affect their decisions."
Persons at the university also would
benefit from direct interaction with the
regents, Armstrong explained. "These very
competent people" could provide feedback
from their participation.
However, all these suggestions are "un
realistic to a certain extent," Armstrong
said because the time regents have available
for University -related activities is limited.
"The board of regents is made up of
gentlemen with responsible positions and a
minimum amount of time to devote to
being regents," he said. It would be "un
reasonable" to ask them to give more time,
he said.
"I have a good deal of admiration for
the members who give of their time.
TheyVe taken on responsibilities because
of loyalty and a desire to be of support,"
he said.
"If I were one of them and pursuing my
profession full-time, too. It would be diff
cult to take away time on (my) profession
ind spend it on the University. I commend
tbem for the time they spend," Armstrong
said.
The regents frequently are involved in
university -related activities outside their
immediate board work, such as VZane.
with constituents and educ ough
out the state. Tim "V- work also is
trnons-nr,g, Armstrong said.
ocCiuse of the regents' time limits,
"we're kind of at a stalemate," Armstrong
said. He added that this was not all bad and
that the board has accomplished much.
'The limitation of time is the opponent
of increased efficiency and effectiveness,"
he said. "Not to say what we have is in
effective. I'm sure they (board members)
wish to be the very best regents possible."
Armstrong acknowledged that current
student opinion seems to indicate a desire
for some improvements in the board of
regents.
The board's decision to eliminate
mandatory support of the speakers'
program seems to be a cause of student dis
satisfaction, he said.
"I would say the decision about student
fees appears to be the most difficult one
for students to accept in the five years
since IVe been here," he said.
'1 think students feel they did their
level best to make the regents aware of
their views and somehow were unable to
persuade them. The regents are really be
tween a rock and a hard place on that issue
(student fees)."
On the other hand, the decision was a
difficult one for the regents, he said. Arm
strong reported that one regent said he re
ceived more correspondence on the student
fees issue than on any previous issue. Most
of it was against mandatory support of the
speakers' program, he said.
Despite fees problems, Armstrong said
there is "no real conflict of interests" be
tween the board and the university.
'I think the board is tufAth, fa
A. 1-
touch wim ine campuse ;D generally know
the needs and to Zappotl those needs," he
rpoentt mav tint iWivi K in
tour "specifics" on each campus,
he added.
Armstrong said the board "tried to
judge objectively.
H don't fed the board occupies an
adversarial relationship to the campuses,
and neither do I feel the board perceives it
is encumbered to always support every re
commendation made by the campuses," he
said.
