Hull will soon nominate one of three ASU candidates

The ASU student senate approved the school's final three candidates for a student regent position on the Arizona Board of Regents late last night.

Gov. Jane Dee Hull will nominate one of three Arizona State University students for the board position by the middle of April.

The student regent will serve for two years on the board of regents and represent ASU, Northern Arizona University and the University of Arizona.

For ASU, the student regent will be a voting member the second year of his or her term.

One of three students who were selected from ASU and ASU West will fill the position. The new student regent will join NAU political science senior Myrina Robinson and UA law student Matthew Meaker on the board.

"The student regent's position is the biggest position any student can have," Associated Students of Arizona State University President Jeremy Helper said.

This year, the student regents dealt mainly with the budget cuts to ensure that the three universities got enough funding to operate efficiently, said Paul Li, ASASU government relations director.

The student regent is chosen through a rigorous process beginning with students applying to the ASASU Student Regent Selection Committee.

The committee then narrows the race down to three candidates, who are forwarded to the local student government where nominees are confirmed.

The candidates are then forwarded to the governor's office, where Hull nominates one student for the position. The Arizona Senate must confirm the governor's nominee.

Eight students applied for the position at ASU Main. ASU's seven-member committee, including students who represented the coalition, student government, fraternities, sororities, graduate students, academia and student athletes, narrowed the candidates down to three students and an alternate choice.

There are no requirements to run for a student regent position. The committee looks at the candidates' leadership experience, grady point average, past achievements and their current level of education. For this reason, underclassmen are rarely selected, Helper said.

A student from one of Arizona's public universities is chosen each year to represent the more than 100,000 university students in Arizona.

The student regent, who will begin working on June 15, has full voting privileges on the board of regents after one year on the board.

"The new student regent will have a lot of transition work getting their feet wet prior to this summer," Helper said.

UA student regent Matthew Meaker will become a voting member of the board this year. In two years, UA will choose a new student regent from the university.

Devin Rankin, the candidate from ASU West, is a senior secondary education major and student body president of that campus.

If elected as a student regent, Rankin said she might change her major to life sciences to give herself more time on campus for the job.

Danelle Peterson of ASU Main is a first-year law student at the College of Law.

Peterson graduated with a bachelor's degree in political science.

She has been involved in student organizations and served on university boards and committees.

Edward Ableser, the other ASU Main candidate, is working on his master's degree in counseling from the College of Education.

He received his bachelor's degree in political science and Chinese from ASU.

As an undergraduate student, Ableser worked in student government for four years.

The committee also nominated Tim Lant, a mathematics doctoral student, as an alternate.