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The Regent Candidate Advisory Council has narrowed their search for people to fill four seats on the University of Minnesota Board of Regents.
The council is made up of 24 legislators and members of the public. The Minnesota House and Senate appoint 12 members each.
“The candidates we selected not only have strong resumes, but showed ingenuity in their proposed solutions to issues facing the University and students today,” Theo Menon, a member of the Regent Candidate Advisory Council said, “I had requested in our initial meeting in September that the applicants respond to a question about student debt and tuition rates. This is the most important issue facing UMN students today, and applicants were asked in the application how they’d address the issue.”
One Regent is elected from each congressional district in Minnesota. The remaining four are elected at-large. Regents serve staggered six year terms, and may only serve two terms. This year the committee will be filling seats for the second, third, and eighth congressional district, as well as one at-large seat.
Three current Regents are running for re-election to a second and final term. Regent Thomas Devine currently represents the second congressional district, but due to redistricting he is running for re-election in the third congressional district. This pits him against Darrin Rosha, another current regent.
Regent Laura Brod is not running for reelection to her at-large seat.
Regent David McMillan is running for reelection from the eighth congressional district. As of right now, he is the only person to have applied for the job.
State law directs the Council to nominate between two and four people for each open seat on the Board of Regents, with the now Republican controlled legislature making the final decision.
“Perhaps something may change in the future, but for now, Mr. McMillan is the only candidate we reviewed and the only candidate who applied,” Menon said, “The deadline was extended, but still, no one else applied.”
The 17 remaining candidates will be interviewed January 4-6. The narrowed down list of applicants is as follows:
District 2:
- Ian Benson
- Jim Carter
- Sandra Krebsbach
District 3 candidates:
- Thomas Devine (current regent)
- Pam Langseth
- Kent Molde
- Darrin Rosha (current regent)
- Ronald Schutz
- Tammy Lee Stanoch
District 8 candidate:
- David McMillan (current regent)
At-Large candidates:
- Allison Barmann
- Taqee Khaled
- Stacia Nelson
- Ken Powell
- John Regal
- Norrie Thomas
