Proposed panel aids
UH regent selection

A legislative conference committee has worked out the details of a candidate advisory council that would screen and propose candidates for appointment to the University of Hawaii Board of Regents.

The bill approved yesterday is the companion, or "enabling," measure for a proposed state constitutional amendment changing the regent selection process which was approved Monday by both houses.

It also expands the nine-member board to 15 members and provides for staggered terms.

Republicans in the Legislature say the proposed constitutional amendment is another effort by majority Democrats to strip Republican Gov. Linda Lingle of her power.

Voters will be asked on the November 2006 ballot whether the current process should be changed to have the regents selected by the governor from a list proposed by the advisory council. The regents are now appointed directly by the governor, subject to confirmation by the Senate.

In proposing an expansion of the board, Sen. Clayton Hee, chairman of the Senate Higher Education Committee, said he was following the recommendation of the current board.

The current members had urged that the nine-member board be expanded to 13.

The terms of the regents would be changed from the present four years, with the possibility of reappointment to a second term, to a five-year term subject to reconfirmation by the Senate near the end of the first term if reappointed to a second.

At least five of the board members would be from Oahu, two each would be from the Big Island and Maui, and one from Kauai.

In an April 25 letter to Senate President Robert Bunda and House Speaker Calvin Say, regents Chairwoman Patricia Lee said the Association of Governing Boards "cautions against screening bodies that are composed of special-interest representatives."

The Senate had proposed a 12-member council, while the House decided on 11 members, with most of the members selected by various groups within the UH system.

However, the compromise calls for a seven-member advisory council. One member each would be appointed by the governor, Senate president, House speaker, UH system Council of Faculty Senate Chairpersons, UH Student Caucus, UH Alumni Association and the Association of Emeritus Regents, a group of more than 60 former UH regents.