The UC Board of Regents runs one of the largest public university systems in the nation, but most of its members are business executives with little or no professional experience in education.
A new addition to the board, Richard Sherman, who was appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown earlier this month, is similar to the majority of the regents: a corporate executive with philanthropic experience, but notably no time as an educator or education administrator. Brown also reappointed three long-standing regents, all of a similar mold to Sherman.
While business sense is necessary to run the UC’s multibillion dollar budget, individuals with such skills can be found at every administrative level of the UC’s campuses and headquarters in Oakland.
On its governing board, the UC must seek community leaders with a vision for the shifting model of brick-and-mortar education, supported by a strong background in the classroom.
The University of California Students Association expressed a similar position in a statement last week, emphasizing that “it is critical that new, relevant Regents are appointed.” The statement added that the board “is significantly absent of leaders who have experience in managing a higher education system and the necessary interests in the success of California’s students.”
By almost exclusively appointing individuals from the private sector as regents, Brown misses an opportunity to nod to the concerns of students and faculty in the future of the UC’s academic mission.
The clear disconnect between student wishes and Brown’s appointments indicates that the student voice is not given the primacy it deserves in the governance of the UC.
The UCSA is right to call for educators on the board and to question the governor’s narrow vision for UC leadership. After the controversial appointment this summer of former Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano as president of the UC system, widely criticized because of her lack of an educational background, this month’s appointments are another indication that both the UC and the state are either opposed to or uninterested in student complaints.
Assuming that all of the current appointments are approved by the state senate, three more openings remain on the 18-member board. Brown would do well to fill these positions with qualified and savvy educators.
It is fully within the governor’s power to appoint leaders with varied backgrounds and new ways of thinking about education. Unfortunately, Brown’s appointments have as of yet failed to demonstrate any interest in putting together a board representative of the varied communities and interests of the Golden State.