Meet Amit: Student Regent

UW Student Regent Amit Ranade is usually in a suit and tie when photographed by The Daily at regent meetings. Amit is a second-year law student at the UW law school and we caught him on his casual day.

 In a peculiar twist of fate, second-year law student Amit Ranade occupies the position at the UW that he helped establish -- the student regent. Created in 1998 by Substitute Senate Bill 5517, which Ranade co-wrote, the UW student regent serves on the University's Board of Regents, an administrative committee of 11 members that Ranade says functions "like a board of directors for a corporation."

The Board of Regents, Ranade said, is responsible for "everything that happens at the University," including its financial well-being. "It's our job to make sure [the UW] does its job" -- which is no minor task.

"There's a lot of homework," Ranade said of being a regent. In a typical week, Ranade spends an average of two to three hours every day reading, in meetings or responding to e-mail. Before a board meeting, especially one as significant as Tuesday's budget meeting, there are days' worth of briefings and informational meetings at an hour or two each. Ranade also has spent much of his recent time speaking with budget officers about aspects of the school's budget in preparation for the meeting.

In addition to his duties with the Board of Regents, for which he serves on two committees, Ranade volunteers for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of King County, mentoring for about three hours on weekends, and is a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity Alumni Board. Ranade is also a member of the UW Moot Court team, for which he is currently preparing for a mock trial competition, and will be among the UW's representatives in an international law competition in Minneapolis, to take place later in January.

"I've got a pretty full plate," said Ranade, who tries to give the Board of Regents as much time as possible without letting his grades slip.

"I'm in law school and I'd say I still read more for being a regent than I do for my classes," Ranade said, laughing. "I hope my professors will forgive me."

Among the issues Ranade tackles as student regent are some of his own suggestions to improve the campus, such as enhancing the relationship between students and the administration, as well as diversifying the "campus climate" by including three or four more statues or monuments around the University celebrating people of color, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or Frederick Douglas. He has even suggested a statue of chemist Marie Curie outside Bagley Hall.

Yet Ranade expects that most of his ideas will not materialize until after he is gone -- his term as student regent will end May 31 and he is near halfway through the UW's three-year law program. For now, Ranade is content -- and busy -- pitching ideas to his fellow regents and UW administrators, as well as "getting a grasp" of all that occurs within the UW.

"It's hard to appreciate how big this place is and how many things it does, and how complicated it is," Ranade said. "[The UW] is like a city in and of itself."

Ranade asserts that, because of its size, the UW can afford students many opportunities but can be quite intimidating at the same time, which is why he believes there should be more outreach from regents and administrators to students. He suggests that representatives from all three groups meet occasionally, possibly on a dorm floor -- "in the students' setting" -- to make the campus "seem smaller."

According to Ranade, however, the responsibility for improving the UW in all areas falls not only on the regents and the administration but also on students, who he says must ask themselves, "Do you want a piece of paper that says you went to college, or do you want a quality college education?"

Ranade believes that in order to promise the latter, some forfeiture must be made, stressing that the small sacrifices of many add up over time.

"We can make this place so that it has enough revenue to keep it where it is and [improve upon it] and still make sure the price tag is not a deterrent for anyone," Ranade said. "And we have that power; we just have to come together and have the courage to do it."

Ranade sometimes tells students to fight tax-cutting initiatives that seem attractive at the time but result in depleted state funds allotted to the UW.

"You get what you pay for," he said, emphasizing that although there have been concerns within the UW community about new state legislation that would give local authorities -- specifically, the Board of Regents -- the power to raise tuition, local rather than state control over tuition gives more power to students.

"This is an opportunity for students to show some leadership and accept the horrible reality that the state doesn't have the resources to support this institution," Ranade said. He affirmed that such legislation would allow students to "have a voice" in the process of setting tuition. He cited the Student Activity Fee and the Tech Fee Committees as examples of how student input affects the policymaking authority of the Board of Regents. (The state sets the UW's policy that affects all students, while the board sets policy affecting select students, such as those who use University labs or park on campus.)

"There's no reason why there couldn't be a committee that includes student input in the tuition-setting process," Ranade said. "In fact, giving us local control is an opportunity for students to have more control over tuition, because right now all students do is plead to legislators. And legislators know they want low tuition. [Students] don't have a lot of input in the process."

Ranade stressed that "the state is in a pinch," which is why he believes students must help themselves, suggesting that if each student gave about $25 a year to a scholarship fund over four years, UW students could raise more money than Princeton University, whose classes each raise about $50,000 over four years. The money is then given to incoming students, who often become more inclined to donate to their class's scholarship fund, and who feel more connected with their University's alumni.

Ranade would like to see the emergence of a similar fund at the UW, as he hopes the University will improve "as a whole, not just for students, not just faculty -- the whole place.

"If all of us leave this place with a piece of paper that says we went to the UW and the entire country regards the UW as a one of the best colleges or universities in the country, then your piece of paper is worth something."

To contact Amit Ranade, e-mail him at stureg@u.washington.edu.