Gov. Martin O’Malley announced three appointments to the state’s Board of Regents last Friday.
Former public schools superintendent Paul Vance was selected, and lawyer Louise Gonzales was named to a second go-around on the board. The duo will replace outgoing regents David Nevins and Dwight Pettit. Leslie Hall, a junior at Bowie State, will replace outgoing student regent Sarah Elfreth, a Towson senior.
Neither Vance nor Gonzales could be reached for comment.
The regents set university system policy and have the final say on tuition rates at universities in the University System of Maryland. In recent years, the board has made controversial decisions to not create a policy regarding when pornographic movies can be shown at system universities and to endorse the legalization of slots in the state.
Regents need to be approved by the state Senate before they are seated. Members of the board can serve up to two consecutive five-year terms, while student regents serve for one year.
Gonzales is a university alumnus and a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law.
“[Gonzales] had a previous term on the Board of Regents, so she knows the board extremely well, and she’s very much in line with the overall direction the system wants to take,” system Chancellor Brit Kirwan said. “Building quality, expanding capacity, keeping higher education affordable — these are the issues I think will be much on her mind.”
Gonzales is replacing Nevins, a former board chairman who also helped craft a university system policy aiming to make textbooks cheaper. In 2006, Nevins was investigated for illegally lobbying while on the board, but was cleared of wrongdoing.
Vance has served as the superintendent of two of the area’s largest school districts — Montgomery County and Washington — and has otherwise been deeply involved in primary and secondary education. He replaces Pettit, who is a lawyer.
Kirwan thinks Vance’s experience in one of the top school districts in the state will help foster a better and more closely synchronized relationship between higher education and K-12 education.
“His appointment is especially timely because not only is he a life-long educator, but there is a great emphasis at the moment on the interface between K-12 education and higher education,” Kirwan said.
In the coming year, Kirwan said, the most pressing issue facing the regents will be aiding the universities in securing state funding so the system can maintain educational quality in the face of rising enrollment and a poor economic climate.
“I’m very concerned about the competitiveness of our salaries,” he said. “We’ve been several years without raises for talented faculty and staff, and I’m really worried that we’re at risk for losing some of our best.”
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