The Board of Regents said it would reconsider how it schedules its meetings because of conflicts with student schedules.

Two of the Board’s last three meetings were held during Finals Week and Spring Break, with the next scheduled during Finals Week.

The regents meet eight times annually. This year, one meeting was held during Iowa State’s Spring Break. On May 4 and 5, Iowa State’s Finals Week, they will meet again.

“Honestly, we will never satisfy everyone,” said Greg Nichols, Board of Regents executive director. “But what we will do is keep working on it to make it the best it can be.”

Nichols, who is in charge of scheduling the meetings, said he has not received any complaints regarding meeting dates. He said Spring Break for campuses and public schools ,as well as regent university presidents’ meetings, occur sporadically throughout March, which complicates the process. “March is a difficult month to schedule, but an important one because it is during the middle of the legislative session,” Nichols said. “That will always be a struggle.”

Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames, said he was unaware of the scheduling issues because his job as a legislator restricts his time to attend the regents’ meetings.

“I would hope they would find a way to make it feasible for the public to be in attendance,” Quirmbach said. “This is a body that spends a whole heck of a lot of money, and I think it is essential that the public has access to those meetings.”

This year’s schedule is different from previous ones. It was changed to reduce the number of meetings and to make them more regular.

“There are so many people who come to the meetings and are engaged in them that we thought having fewer meetings, but having them consistently, was the most efficient process we could follow,” said Bob Downer, acting board president.

Downer said he has asked the board staff to review future schedules to avoid conflicts.

Regents now meet with the public approximately every six weeks for two days. They used to meet every month, but the length and mode of communication was not consistent. Downer said one of the meetings used to be conducted via telephone.

“We’re nearing the end of the first 12 months of a new board schedule,” Nichols said. “It is not a system that is quite perfected yet.”

The meeting scheduled for March 2006 will not take place during any of the public universities’ Spring Breaks.

Government of the Study Body president-elect Angela Groh, who attended the meeting during this year’s Spring Break, said she was not too concerned about the scheduling of regent meetings during breaks and busy weeks.

“Since only five students at the most attend, I do not know if it is necessarily fair to schedule around students,” Groh said.

“This is more of an administrative meeting — it is not designed for students.”

Downer said he thinks it is important for students to attend.

“During the school year, we want to have as many of these meetings as possible during times when school is in session so students are able to come in and present their points of view,” he said.