Students, faculty and university representatives told the House Higher Education Committee on Feb. 18 they support a proposed substitute to House Bill 13 37 that would clarify and extend participation rights for student and faculty regents in presidential selection processes.

Nut graf: Proponents said involving faculty and student regents — including voting rights in the initial selection and hiring — increases transparency and trust in public university leadership choices; several university officials said they had worked with the sponsor to craft clarifying language.

Representative Monica Paulette, sponsor of the revised bill, said the substitute corrects perceived confusion about whether student and faculty regents could vote in presidential hires; she said the intent of prior legislation was for full participation, and the substitute restores that participation across public institutions, including regional universities and community and technical colleges.

Students from UW Bothell and Washington State University described recent searches where student participation varied; Sienna Gerard and Colin Banister urged consistent inclusion of student regents in searches. University officials from Washington State University and the University of Washington testified pro on the substitute and said they supported legal clarity to enable regents’ participation. Joe Dack of the University of Washington noted UW’s public-facing website documenting its most recent search and said the substitute provides “legal clarity on the formal participation of our student and faculty regents in the final presidential selection process.”

Faculty governance representatives — including Gautam Reddy and Jacob Vigdor — argued faculty expertise is essential for assessing scholarly credentials and increases the legitimacy and trust in selected presidents.

Ending: The committee concluded the public hearing on the proposed substitute to HB 13 37. No committee vote on the substitute is recorded in the Feb. 18 transcript.