The problems facing the UW System Board of Regents are merely \the start-up pains of a new board,"" System President Katharine Lyall said Wednesday. She said this in response to allegations since September that board members acted improperly by conducting business over a teleconference call that was improperly publicized.
Lyall cited large turnover in the board, which has nine new members this year out of 17 total, when asked about various allegations stemming from the incident. Traditionally, the board has two new members each year, but the election of a new governor last year coupled with many appointments that had been held up in the Legislature resulted in unusual turnover this year.
""I don't think, and I hope, that those won't be permanent impediments,"" Lyall said. ""I think that what we're going to see is the Regents giving increasing attention to the substantive issues that are in the working groups.""
Legislators are skeptical.
After facing a $250 million cut to the UW System's budget this year, the board stressed the importance of higher education to state legislators. But the allegations in September led legislators to question the significance of the Regents' claims.
State Sen. Tom Reynolds, R-West Allis, called for an investigation into the questionable meeting in September, which found the meetings to be under-publicized. Wednesday, Reynolds' Chief of Staff Steve Krieser said Lyall's reasoning does not hold up.
""Evidence that I read in the news ... indicated that this is a practice that has been in place for quite some time now,"" he said. ""Whether it's innocent or not, the fact is, when local officials are found in violation, ignorance has never been a valid excuse.""
With the most recent filing for an investigation Nov. 13, former Regent Ody Fish said he thinks this practice of pre-arranging decisions via teleconference meetings is new to the board.
In either case, Krieser pointed out that the board has many more resources than many of the state's local officials, including legal council.
""There really is no reason that [the board] should find themselves afoul of the law,"" he said.
