An Iowa House bill to add a faculty member to the Iowa Board of Regents will not see debate on the Senate floor any time soon, after the education subcommittee deferred the bill to allow more time for a formalized plan to be created. The goal is to increase communication between the board and faculty.

The original bill, introduced by Rep. Barbara Finch, R-Ames, called for the replacement of one of the board’s citizen members with a faculty member from Iowa’s regent universities. The bill would have set the term of the faculty member at two years, whereupon the position would be rotated to another regent institution.

Concerns were raised by legislators and the Board of Regents about the bill, leading to its deferment. The Iowa Board of Regents said it is satisfied with the current makeup of the board and doesn’t see the need to change its composition. Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames, had concerns of her own, saying she sees a potential conflict of interest a faculty member may have when they are expected to be representing the public interest.

Sure, there are concerns. And yes, these concerns are valid. But in this case, the positives outweigh the negatives.

Another perspective on the board would benefit them greatly. Adding a student representative brought a new voice; a faculty member would do the same. Right now as it is, there is no faculty input on the board. That perspective should be essential.

Decisions made by the board greatly affect all faculty. There should not be a communication gap between the two entities; there should be intense dialogue and discussion. And one good way of achieving this is to put a faculty member on the board. That is a major part of the university that is not being directly represented.

Currently, the board is made up of eight citizen members and one college student representative. If one of those citizens is replaced with a faculty member, the majority (seven out of nine members) will still be citizen members. The board should not be concerned with keeping the current makeup of the board stable, especially if a new policy would greatly benefit the public – which is their responsibility.The concerns with conflicts of interest could also be resolved. If something comes up where a conflict would occur, such as professors’ salaries, the faculty member could remove himself from the proceedings. And the ISU Faculty Senate has said they would even support having the faculty member be a non-voting member.

And who’s to say a faculty member on the board would be less professional than any current member? Why would you be concerned about having someone looking out for the interests of his or her profession in regards to decisions that will ultimately affect that profession? That genuine bias is a good thing, and one that will enhance the abilities of the board to do its job better.

Faculty need to be on the Iowa Board of Regents. It’s long overdue.

editorialboard: Andrea Hauser, Tim Paluch, Michelle Kann, Charlie Weaver, Omar Tesdell