The passing of Board of Governors member Chuck Surface last semester left a vacancy on the board and a question of not only who but when the vacancy will be filled.

However, according to Board of Governors Chairman Dr. Sherry Buchanan; there are in fact three vacancies on the eight member board.

Although Surface’s seat is the most recent to be vacated, a second seat became vacant as of August of last year after Nancy Perry fulfilled her term.  The longest standing vacancy has been since 2011, after David Jones also completed his term.

“The work load for the five of us filling the seats is a little increased and that is nothing we can’t handle,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan added that not only does the current board have to put more work in terms of research and communication to legislators and the community, but that the board loses some geographical diversity by not having all eight seats filled.

The seat is a six-year term. However, members can retain their seat afterwards, if the governor allows them to stay and the member wishes to remain on the board.

“For instance, Mr. Anderson filled his term at the end of 2009,” Buchanan said, “but continues to serve because the governor chooses to leave him in that seat.”

Buchanan said that the Board of Governors has no way of predicting when the governor will appoint new members to fill the vacant seats.  

She said that the board’s role in filling the vacancies is to ensure that the governor is aware of the vacancies and that qualified applicants have applied for the seats.

Members of the board are all volunteers and must submit their applications to the Office of Boards and Commissions in Jefferson City.

Buchanan says she is not sure how many applications have been received but said she is aware that the office has more than enough to fill the current vacancies.

“We were heartened recently to see that the governor made appointments to other university boards,” Buchanan said.

“Of course last year was an election year and things got slowed down considerably.”

The seats are political and therefore no more than half of the members may be from one party  when all seats are filled.