A bill to add a faculty member to the Board of Regents will have to wait to see time on the Iowa Senate floor.

The bill would give faculty and staff members a louder voice in board decisions.

Rep. Barbara Finch, R-Ames, said the education subcommittee deferred the bill to allow more investigation and the formation of a plan that will help increase communication between the board and faculty.

Finch introduced the bill, House File 2061.

Rep. Jane Greimann, D-Ames, who serves on the examining subcommittee, said House File 2061 calls for the replacement of one citizen on the board with a faculty member.

The Board of Regents is currently composed of eight citizens and one student representative. The Regents are appointed by the governor.

Finch said the addition of a faculty member to the board would be very beneficial, “especially since the Regents have been enlightened after putting a student on the board.”

“A faculty member would bring the perspective of academia to the board, and that is very important,” Finch said. “There is a feeling that the faculty voice is not always listened to.”

Max Wortman, president-elect of the Faculty Senate, said the group is very enthusiastic about the bill.

“The Faculty Senate voted all but two votes in favor of that bill,” said Wortman, distinguished professor of management. “We don’t care if [that representative] doesn’t have a vote.”

Greg Nichols, executive director of the board, said it is happy with the current arrangement.

“The board is not supportive of any legislation to change the composition of the board,” he said. “The Regents are satisfied with the composition of the board.”

Greimann said she is concerned that a faculty representative may not be objective.

“I worry about the conflict of interest,” she said. “I am not sure a faculty member could represent the public interest, as required by the board’s mission.”

Wortman doesn’t see a potential conflict of interest because the bill sets the term for the faculty Regent at two years, rotating to each institution.

“We’ve talked to the other Faculty Senate presidents,” he said. “With the two-year rotating terms we don’t think that will be a problem. They are going to be thinking about the other universities as well.”

Nichols said the board recognizes the need for faculty input and said things can be done to improve that, whether HF 2061 is approved.

“There are avenues for faculty input that maybe haven’t been used to the extent they could be,” he said.

Nichols suggested the possibility of a gathering of faculty leaders and the Regents in a setting less formal than a monthly meeting to allow faculty to share concerns.

“It is great that the board recognizes that need,” Finch said.

Finch said interaction between the Board of Regents and faculty representatives at the board’s March meeting will be very important.

“This is not a dead issue,” she said. “The bill has been deferred because it is so important that communication between faculty and the board is implemented and grows.”