Lansing — Gov. Gretchen Whitmer endorsed a plan on Wednesday to begin changing how members of Michigan’s major public university boards are selected.
As lawmakers consider whether to put a constitutional amendment on the Aug. 4 primary ballot to make university board members appointees of the governor, instead of being picked by voters, Whitmer, a Democrat who’s in her eighth and final year in office, said it would “be smart” for lawmakers to take action this week.
“Our process for selecting regents, trustees and governors does not work,” Whitmer said in an interview Wednesday morning as she walked through the state Capitol.
Former Govs. John Engler, a Republican, and Jim Blanchard, a Democrat, have been lobbying lawmakers to alter the way the boards are selected at the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University through the upcoming primary.
In order for the potential proposal to make the August ballot, the measure would need two-thirds majority support in both the House and Senate by the end of the week.
The House and Senate have session days scheduled through Thursday.
If they don’t act this week, they could return later to put an amendment on the November general election ballot.
The proposed changes come as the three universities during the past several years have been beset by board-level controversies and scandals, including the handling of allegations regarding serial pedophile Larry Nassar at MSU, similar issues related to Dr. Robert Anderson at UM and perennial presidential departures at the universities.
MSU’s president, Kevin Guskiewicz, announced last week he was leaving the university for the same position at Clemson. Guskiewicz said the behavior of several of the university’s trustees was the reason he decided to leave MSU.
Currently, party members at political conventions nominate candidates for the three university boards. Then, voters pick the winners in races that garner little attention and appear near the bottom of the ballot in the November election.
The potential amendment proposal taking shape in the state Capitol might also include changes to how attorney general and secretary of state candidates are selected. Currently, they are nominated at political conventions and then appear on the November ballot.
Some prominent political figures, including Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, have supported moving the nominations to the August primary ballot, like the process for governor, to allow more people to vote on the selections.
While about 7,200 people participated in the Michigan Democratic Party convention in Detroit on April 19, about 1.1 million voted in the last competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary in Michigan.
The Democratic Party’s April 19 convention, where participants endorsed Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit for attorney general and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II for secretary of state, faced a series of delays and vote-counting problems.
A progressive Democratic group, the People’s Coalition, which endorsed Savit and Gilchrist, blasted the idea of changing how university board members are picked in a statement Wednesday.
“For generations, Michigan voters have directly elected members of the governing boards of the state’spublic universities,” the coalition’s statement said. “This system promotes transparency, public accountability and institutional independence.
“Replacing elected boards with appointed boards would fundamentally reduce the public’s role in university governance and concentrate greater authority in the hands of political officeholders.”
Any proposal to change the process would have to gain support in both the Republican-led House and the Democrat-led Senate.
Michigan Republican Party Chairman Jim Runestad, who’s also a state senator, told reporters Wednesday it was possible a proposal could come up this week.
But Runestad said any amendment would be complex and other things could be thrown into it.
“I would be surprised if it was to get support right now,” Runestad said.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Staff Writers Beth LeBlanc and Sarah Atwood contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Gov. Whitmer backs push for university board overhaul this week
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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