One University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student applied to the governor’s office for the position of the second, non-traditional student regent seat, officials said.

Erin Celello, a Doyle press assistant, said that the UWM applicant was Pamela Spingola.

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.

Gov. Jim Doyle’s office received more than 20 applicants for the position, Celello said.

“Although the position doesn't begin until May, we are trying to complete the process as quickly as possible,” Celello said in an e-mail.

Celello said the Governor’s Appointment Office will seek to schedule interviews within the next couple of weeks, and hopes to have a decision made within the next month.

“It’s always a step in the right direction to have another student on the board,” said Robert Stueber, deputy communications director for the Student Association.

The position, which adds the non-traditional spot to the board, is the second seat for students and was added by a law signed by Doyle in December.

The person must be a nontraditional student at least 24 years old.

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 law says that a student from the University of Wisconsin-Madison 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 law says.

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