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Regents praise University of Minnesota's "active learning" campus visits, ask for more unstructured engagement
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Summary
Regents told the Governance and Policy Committee that the board's active learning days—on-campus, themed visits to academic and research sites—help them better understand university needs and advocate externally; several members asked for more unstructured time and advance notice of regional events.
The Governance and Policy Committee of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents spent its April 2026 meeting reviewing the board office's "active learning" days, a series of on-campus visits and themed engagement sessions intended to move background education out of regular board meetings and into hands-on experiences.
Committee staff presented the program and recent examples, including a September 2025 Saint Paul campus day that paired a narrated driving tour and walking tours with small-group lunches with faculty, visits to research and teaching facilities (Food Science and Nutrition, Animal Sciences, a veterinary clinic) and a closing session at the Bell Museum to discuss community engagement. Assistant Executive Director Marlo Welchans said the office seeks regent feedback on content, logistics and whether the program meets members' needs going forward.
Regents who spoke said the visits are more effective than passive slide presentations in the boardroom. "You really understand things in a way you might not get in a boardroom presentation," one regent said, adding that meeting people on campus made later advocacy with legislators easier. Regent Johnson recounted visits to northern Minnesota research sites and praised staff for accommodating requests: "They really accommodated my request very kindly," he said. New Regent Loughborough called the program "strategic" and said a recent UMR visit deepened her ability to advocate for campus priorities.
Several regents asked for more unstructured time during visits so they can have informal conversations with students and faculty; others asked for earlier notice of regional events so they can plan attendance. One regent described the dental school facilities seen on a visit as "awful," urging regents to use visits to inform advocacy and capital requests.
Staff said the active learning days are designed to align with the board's priorities and the university's strategic plan and that a May day is planned to showcase "a day in the life of a student," including recreation, wellness, student services and residential life.
The committee closed the discussion by thanking staff for organizing the events and asked the board office to consider more unstructured time and continued attention to cross-campus, regional and tribal-relations elements when planning future active learning days.
