Gov. Jim Doyle signed into law late last month a bill that adds a second student to the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents.

The person must be a nontraditional student at least 24 years old, says the bill, signed by Doyle on Dec. 21.

The Board of Regents is the policy-making body governing the UW System. The board consists of 17 members and sets admission standards, reviews and approves university allocations and establishes the regulatory framework within which individual campuses operate.

Students who are employed or are parents are considered nontraditional students.

Student Association (SA) members were happy with the new law.

“We’re very excited,” said Russ Rueden, Student Association president. “We actually spent a lot of time lobbying.”

Other students stressed the significance of the change.

“I think that it’s important,” said Chris Burckardt, president of the University Student Lobbyists, a group that focuses on lobbying student, local and national governments. “This is a good first start.”

Burckardt said it is good to have more than one student voice on the Board of Regents.

“The primary stakeholders of the university are getting a stronger voice on the Board of Regents,” Rueden said.

The SA is happy to see the needs of nontraditional students being met.

“Their needs are quite different than those of traditional students,” Rueden said.

Applications are due in early March. The governor will appoint someone to the position and send the nomination to the legislature.

The position is likely to be filled sometime in the summer, Rueden said.

Students interested in applying for the position should submit a cover letter outlining a vision for the Board of Regents and fill out the online application at www.wisgov.state.wi.us. The deadline is March 1.

Candidates will then be chosen for interviews and the finalists’ names will be forwarded to Doyle.

The current student member of the board, Christopher Semenas, is a senior at UW-Parkside. The next student regent cannot come from that campus. The bill also says that a student from the University of Wisconsin and a student from UWM may not serve on the board at the same time.

A student member from the same institution cannot be eligible for the board in any two consecutive terms, the bill says.

“If a student member loses the status upon which the appointment was based, he or she shall cease to be a member of the board of regents,” the bill says.

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