The Regent Candidate Advisory Council (RCAC) has recommended eight candidates to a Joint Legislative Committee for final consideration of election to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota, including Crookston attorney Anne Rasmusson in the Seventh Congressional District. The current regent from the Seventh District, Clyde Allen Jr. of Moorhead, is the other finalist in the district.
   
The Joint Committee selects one candidate for each of the four open positions, and submits this slate of candidates for consideration by the full Legislature sitting in Joint Convention. 
   
All appointments will be for full six-year terms.
   
The RCAC received a total of 31 applications for the four positions. It interviewed 14 applicants.  Finalists in the other districts are:
   
• First Congressional District:  Patricia Simmons, Rochester, and Randy Simonson, Worthington
   
• Fourth Congressional District:  Richard Beeson, St. Paul, and Anita Pampusch, Lilydale
   
• Sixth Congressional District:  Kjell Bergh, Stillwater, and Kathryn Roberts, Stillwater
   
The council was created by the Legislature in 1988 and is responsible to recruit, screen, and recommend regent candidates to the State Legislature.  State law requires that a minimum of two and a maximum of four names be forwarded for each open position. The council’s 24 members are appointed by the Legislature. 
   
The University of Minnesota Board of Regents is the governing body of the University of Minnesota. Its 12 members are elected and serve without pay.  Eight members represent the state’s congressional districts, and four members are elected at large, as is a student representative.  The student member must be enrolled in a degree program at the University of Minnesota at the time of election.  The six-year terms are staggered so that four regent positions come up for appointment every two years.