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Committee hears bill to add a faculty regent to University of Alaska Board of Regents
Summary
Lawmakers heard sponsor testimony on House Bill 10, which would add one tenured faculty member — serving a two-year term — to the University of Alaska Board of Regents. The committee received sponsor background, a short fiscal note from the university and questions about quorum, term length and conflict-of-interest protections.
House Bill 10, which would add a tenured faculty regent to the University of Alaska Board of Regents for a two-year term, received its introductory hearing in the House Finance Committee on March 12.
Sponsor Representative Ashley Kerrick introduced the measure via staff after she was called to another meeting. Staff explained the bill would expand the 11-member board by one seat — creating a 12-member regents board while creating a two‑year faculty regent seat selected after a nomination process by faculty senates. "Adding 1 faculty member would provide better representation to this important constituency," staff said in the sponsor statement.
Chad Hutchinson, state director for government relations at the University of Alaska system, presented the fiscal note. He said the university estimated travel costs for the additional regent at about $4,000 in FY26 (roughly $1,000 per meeting, assuming four in-person board meetings), and that the system’s historic average number of traveling regents is nine. Hutchinson said the board currently averages travel-related costs of approximately $36,000 per year for members who travel.
Committee members questioned term length (the bill sets the faculty regent’s term at two years while most non-student regents serve longer terms under the current structure), the effect of adding an even number of voting members on quorum and voting outcomes, and whether the faculty regent would face conflicts of interest when the board considers faculty contracts or personnel matters. Sponsor staff said the faculty-regent nominee list would come from campus faculty senates and that longstanding expectations and recusal practice apply to stakeholder regents.
Committee staff and members also noted existing faculty governance structures, including campus faculty senates and a statewide Faculty Alliance, and that student regent seats are already voting positions. Representative Ashley Kerrick and her staff said they would provide additional materials and letters of support the committee requested.
Next steps: The committee set the bill aside for later consideration and scheduled follow-up materials and testimony. No committee vote was taken at the March 12 introductory hearing.
