The current situation has proven, once again, to be a disaster. We are fortunate to have some of the good Regents that we do, given the opportunity to mess things up that the present system presents.

The latest fiasco with Sviggum is a perfect example, as is the fact that there are no explicit rules about whether a member of the Board of Regents can be a current University of Minnesota faculty member or employee. The current residence requirements have been violated in the recent past by a Board member and they make it more difficult to obtain the best candidates.

Suggested changes:

1. There shall be no restrictions on where a Regent may live except that, at the time of selection, the candidate must be a Minnesota citizen.

2. There shall be one student Regent. That person must be a currently enrolled, full-time, University of Minnesota student.

3. There shall be one faculty member Regent. That person must be tenured.

4. There shall be a ten member panel selected by the legislature and the governor. Five members to be selected by each. Two of these members should be a student and a faculty member at the University of Minnesota.

5. The governor and the legislature must both ratify suggested Board of Regents members. In the event that they do not, the selection committee will forward another candidate.

These are suggestions offered in hope of beginning a conversation about an important situation that needs to be addressed. Recent events in the Regent selection process make this clear.