Lisa Ahrens, the student representative to the Board of Regents for the last five years, will move on after graduation this semester.

She is officially resigning from the board July 1.

Ahrens, who will graduate from Iowa State in May with a double major in agronomy and agricultural business, was appointed when she was a freshman in 1997 by Gov. Terry Branstad and approved by the Legislature to serve as the ninth member of the board.

Ahrens recalled that the first few meetings were “daunting.”

“I had my high school diploma and I was in a room surrounded by Ph.D.s,” she said. “But then I realized that they are just people too.”

She said she felt immediately accepted by the board.

“The other Regents are very adamant that I am not the `student Regent,'” she said. “I’m a Regent like everyone else. They very much listen to and value my opinions.”

The respect given her by the board and university administrators has been earned, said Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance at Iowa State.

“Lisa has demonstrated a level of knowledge and maturity that you don’t always find in someone in their early 20s,” said Madden, who has worked with Ahrens through her tenure.

Ahrens said her goal as a Regent was to achieve balance in representing students and all Iowans.

“I tried to weigh both. It’s a hard fence to be on,” she said.

Madden said she reached that goal. “She is very responsible in her position. She represents the people of Iowa,” he said.

Ahrens took her job very seriously. When she lived in Friley Hall she was given two mailboxes because of all of the daily mail and faxes sent to the Regents.

Greg Nichols, executive director of the board, said Ahrens fulfilled the obligations of the student representative and brought needed perspective to the board.

“Regent Ahrens brings a perspective of the viewpoints on campus, and a bit of a generational perspective,” he said. “The other board members really listen to her campus perspective, and even more so to the perspective of young folks getting ready to enter the work force.”

Nichols said since he joined the board in February, it has been clear that the other Regents respect and listen to Ahrens.

Each member of the board is appointed to a six-year term. Because Ahrens is resigning, Gov. Tom Vilsack will need to appoint a student to serve the rest of Ahrens’ term.

Another appointment will be necessary at the term’s expiration in April 2003.

Nichols said state law has only mandated the student member of the board since the 1980s, and most students have been unable to serve the full six years. The next appointee is still unknown.

The student representative is required to be an undergraduate or graduate “full-time student in good standing” at one of the three universities. Ahrens’ predecessor was a student at the University of Northern Iowa, so tradition would say the next representative would be a University of Iowa student.

Nichols said the hope is to have the next student representative in place in July.

“Whoever the governor appoints will be bright, articulate and knowledgeable,” Nichols said. “They will have an impact from the start.”

Regent David Fisher of West Des Moines said the new appointee will have big shoes to fill.

“Regent Ahrens has been a very stable voice,” Fisher said. “She has certainly represented the students on all three campuses well. She brings a lot of talent and good thinking to our board. She has contributed beyond her role as a student representative.”

But, Fisher said, the board will welcome the new voice.

“The governor will appoint a very fine representative who will fit in very well,” Fisher said. “It will take a certain amount of time to get up to speed – any new member needs time to understand responsibilities and understand the institutions.”

Budget challenges and tuition increases are a part of the job that isn’t easy for any regent, Ahrens said.

“The regents really do care about students. The decisions we make are in the best interest of the students and the universities,” she said.

“Nobody likes raising tuition. We wouldn’t be spending this much time out of our lives if we didn’t care.”

Ahrens’ work over the last five years has benefited students and the state of Iowa, Nichols said.

“I wish she wasn’t leaving, but she has other personal goals she’s seeking and we understand that,” he said.

“She will be missed.”