Regent Mark Bernstein will serve as the next chair of the Board of Regents for a one-year term beginning July 1. Regent Michael Behm was named vice chair when the appointments were announced Thursday by Regent Shauna Ryder Diggs at the board’s monthly meeting.
Michael Behm
According to the regents’ bylaws, the chair and vice chair are appointed based on seniority, and the vice chair automatically succeeds to the position of chair.
Primary duties of the chair include: setting the annual schedule of meetings, agenda and major topics for presentation or study by the board; monitoring committee agenda planning for coordination and comprehensiveness; acting as spokesperson and convener of the board, when appropriate; presiding over executive sessions when conducted without the president; and appointing the chair and members of the ad hoc and standing committees.
If the president is unable to attend a public meeting or must be out of the room during any part of the meeting, the chair will preside. If the chair is unable to perform the duties, the vice chair will assume them.
President Mark Schlissel thanked Ryder Diggs for her work.
“We have accomplished a great deal this past year and I appreciate her leadership,” Schlissel said.
Bernstein also commended Ryder Diggs, saying she led the board “with incredible integrity and thought.”
Ryder Diggs noted the great deal of travel undertaken by the regents by hosting several of their monthly meetings outside of the Ann Arbor campus. “It was a year of change for us (that allowed us) to connect with different constituents.”
“President Schlissel, it was a wonderful year working with you,” she said. “I appreciate the collaboration and the honesty between us. Looking back, you’ve done a lot this year.
“None of it would be possible without the (executive officers), and your willingness to work together to get the job done.”
