The Senate Finance Committee heard testimony Thursday on legislation that would add a tenured faculty member to the University of Alaska Board of Regents.

House Bill 10, sponsored by Representative Ashley Carrick of Fairbanks, would expand the board from 11 members to 12 by creating a two-year seat for a faculty regent. The Board of Regents currently includes a student regent who serves a two-year term with full voting powers. The faculty member would be selected through what Carrick described as a rigorous process, appointed by the governor, and confirmed by the legislature. The bill includes a six-year sunset provision.

"This legislation is being brought forward to provide better representation for this key stakeholder group," Carrick said. "Our university system currently has a voting member with all board powers and responsibilities. That's reserved for a student regent. This legislation adds a faculty member for that same purpose."

The change would require seven votes to pass a motion, up from the current six. Carrick said most regent votes are unanimous, so the committee does not anticipate challenges around voting. The bill carries a fiscal note of $4,500 for travel costs to and from board meetings.

Jacqueline Kasen, chair of the University of Alaska Faculty Alliance, said all three faculty senates passed resolutions supporting the bill. She distinguished between collective bargaining, which governs compensation and working conditions, and shared governance, which involves collaborative decision-making on educational matters.

"A faculty regent would not function as a labor leader, but would provide programmatic insight," Kasen said. "The Board of Regents would gain a more comprehensive view of the university if faculty had a seat at the table throughout the process, including executive sessions."

Kasen said faculty create and deliver curricular programs and understand the teaching and learning relationship in ways that complement the board's focus on economic incentives and constraints. She noted that a recent 30-page consultant report on the board's student-first agenda mentioned faculty only three times, each focused on a retention metric involving consultant software.

"The relative absence of faculty in the student-first agenda underscores the region's knowledge vacuum when it comes to the many ways faculty mentor students in reaching academic and career goals," Kasen said.

Dr. Mary Wagner, faculty at the University of Alaska Southeast, said strong governance requires not only financial and public oversight but also academic expertise. She said faculty bring direct knowledge of curriculum, accreditation, student learning, and academic quality.

"Adding a faculty regent strengthens alignment between board decisions and the academic mission they are meant to support," Wagner said.