TEMPE - A student regent awaiting confirmation to the Arizona Board of Regents received notice late yesterday afternoon his confirmation meeting will be held next week.
Sen. Linda Gray, D-Phoenix, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, said yesterday student regent Ben Graff's confirmation meeting will take place Wednesday morning in Phoenix.
Gray said the decision came immediately after she found out that Graff's confirmation was stalled by the Governor's Office and that student leaders were pushing for his approval.
Gray said Graff's nomination letter from the governor, dated Nov. 16, was received by the Senate Higher Education Committee Jan. 8. The situation was brought to Gray's attention by student leaders last week.
"We didn't get official confirmation from the governor until Jan. 8," Gray said. "That's where the hold up was."
Graff said he found out about his confirmation when someone passed him a note during the university redesign meeting at Arizona State University yesterday.
"I was very happy to hear about that, but my employment law professor might not be happy to hear I'm missing class," joked Graff, a second-year law student at the UA.
Graff's official confirmation comes seven months after he was appointed to the board of regents.
In order for a regent to be confirmed into the board, the Higher Education Committee must first approve him or her before the decision goes to the Arizona State Senate for a vote.
However, Gray said the Higher Education Committee did not put Graff's confirmation on the agenda until now because they only found out about the situation last week.
Alistair Chapman, student body president, said student leaders across the state have been lobbying the issue since July.
"We were under the assumption that they had that paperwork," Chapman said.
Graff's confirmation to the board is important to student leaders because it will give him the ability to participate in the Executive Session, a closed meeting in which education policy and legal matters are discussed, Chapman said.
Voting Student Regent Wes McCalley, a graduate student at Northern Arizona University, said that he also was not confirmed until the spring semester, but he is working with the Arizona Students' Association, regents' central staff and Governor's office to speed up the appointment process for future regents.
"It really does hinder our ability to become fully engaged and properly represent students during our appointments," McCalley said. "The goal of our efforts is to get a student regent appointed as early as possible so that the legislature can appoint that person before budget negotiations take place."
Still, Graff said that even though there was a breakdown of communication somewhere, getting a quick response from Gray is a positive indication of her commitment to students.
"Its obvious that Linda Gray made this an immediate priority," Graff said.
Graff will go before the Higher Education Committee on Wednesday, when members will ask him questions and also listen to other regents about Graff's abilities as a student leader. Because Graff has proven himself as a student regent and can stand by his record; Chapman said he will attend the meeting to show support for Graff.
McCalley said he looks forward to the ability to participate in Executive Session with Graff and expects that Graff will continue to participate at the superior level he has demonstrated thus far.
"Regent Graff has been an excellent selection and a great person to work with," McCalley said. "He is a motivated person and heavily involved in the issues of our Arizona university system."
Today Graff will join the rest of the regents for an ABOR meeting in Tempe.