Decisions made by the Arizona Board of Regents affecting students at our public universities take into account your essential voices—the individuals earning degrees at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona.
As student regents for the universities’ governing board, our primary role is to represent you during ABOR meetings where decisions directly affecting the institutions are discussed and enacted. Each university’s plans are different, but consistent concerns are affordability, access, debt, financial aid and campus safety.
We participate in decisions such as hiring university presidents, setting tuition and approving major capital projects for the universities, one example being the new Sun Devil Stadium.
Our job is to hear your perspective on these issues, and any others that may come up, and bring that perspective into the discussion so that we can ensure the student voice is represented and decisions are made with students’ best interests in mind.
Time is dedicated at each board meeting for us to report student concerns to fellow regents and our university presidents, often eliciting further discussion by the board and actions taken to address the concerns.
Additionally, with the approach of the next legislative session, our roles as regents will continue as advocates for our universities and students with Arizona policymakers dealing with issues affecting higher education. We also meet with student government leaders as part of each ABOR meeting to stay apprised of issues.
Like all regents, the student regent is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Arizona Senate. Student regents serve two-year terms with the first as a non-voting member. Exactly what drives a busy college student to serve as a regent?
For Regent Naufel: It was the realization that any student can make a difference at the university by getting involved as well as the recognition of the important role that universities play in society that spurred an interest in governance while pursuing a bachelor’s degree in finance from ASU.
After completing my master’s degree in business analytics, I’m currently pursuing a second masters in systems engineering from the university.
Regent Gorshe: Dedicating time to giving back to the community has always been important and began at NAU during sophomore year when I became involved in student government. After receiving two undergraduate degrees from NAU in political science and criminal justice, I’m currently enrolled in the public administration master’s program at ASU.
As students at our excelling institutions, we can personally attest to our universities quality while remaining dedicated to leadership in assuring students are represented. We hold all of our state universities to the highest standards of accountability for the continued success of the three institutions through ABOR’s innovative enterprise model to ensure students succeed and our degrees hold their value in the long run.
As you progress through your educational journey, let us hear about concerns at Mark.Naufel@azregents.edu and Jared.Gorshe@azregents.edu so we can serve you as effectively as possible. We all have a stake in making sure our student voices are heard.
By Regent Mark Naufel and Regent Jared Gorshe
