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Lawmakers also could debate bills aimed at reducing the secrecy surrounding the process for hiring presidents of the state universities.

It appears unlikely, however, that the Legislature will attempt to make wholesale changes in the nine-member board, which is appointed by the governor. Board leaders Michael Gartner and Teresa Wahlert in particular have come under fire for their handling of an unsuccessful effort to hire a new president of the University of Iowa.

Gartner, the outspoken president of the Board of Regents, has spurned calls for his resignation from students and members of the U of I faculty, as well as legislators from the Iowa City area.

Leaders of the new Democratic majorities in the House and Senate do not appear eager to plunge into the controversy. Not with the regents preparing to launch a second presidential search. Not with incoming Democratic Gov. Chet Culver hoping for a smooth start. Not with outgoing Gov. Tom Vilsack seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. Not with Democratic lawmakers trying to stay focused on their priorities for the 2007 session, which starts Jan. 8. And not with new developments coming almost daily - including the resignation Thursday of Regent Tom Bedell of Spirit Lake.

"I don't think we have any answers but very real concerns," about the extended search for a replacement for David Skorton at the U of I, said Sen. Mike Gronstal of Council Bluffs, leader of the Senate Democratic majority.

"I'm sure the various legislative committees will want to have some discussion about this and get some testimony on how it's gone and where it's going," Gronstal said.

No easy way to force midterm replacement

U of I faculty, staff and student leaders have been at odds with the regents since the board voted 6-2 on Nov. 17 to reject four finalists for the U of I presidency.

Senate Republican leader Mary Lundby of Marion said the Legislature should be investigating the matter, but she doubts Democrats want to make waves in order to spare outgoing Gov. Vilsack from embarrassment and make things easier on incoming Gov. Culver.

With the Democratic Party winning control of both the Legislature and the governorship for the first time in 42 years, "you're not going to start meddling in each other's business right away," she said.

Gronstal acknowledged that some legislators would like to see changes in the membership of the Board of Regents. However, there isn't an "easy mechanism" for state officials to force the replacement of members of state boards during their terms, he said.

State law says the governor, with approval of a majority of the Iowa Senate, can remove any board member for "malfeasance in office, or for any cause which would render the member ineligible for appointment or incapable or unfit to discharge the duties of the office."

On the other hand, the Senate can block the governor's selection of people to serve on state boards and commissions, including those he wants to reappoint.

A person nominated by the governor needs the approval of two-thirds of the Senate, or 34 members.

There are three regents whose terms expire next spring. Wahlert, a Republican from Waukee who led the committee that chose the four finalists for the U of I president's search, is likely to receive the most scrutiny from senators. It's unclear, however, whether she will reapply - with Culver's blessing - for another term.

The other regents whose terms expire next year are Mary Ellen Becker of Oskaloosa, a Democrat, and Amir Arbisser of Davenport, a Republican. Both Becker and Arbisser said they would like to be reappointed.

"It takes some time to get up to speed and understand the intricacies of it," Arbisser said. "I'm pretty well-seasoned."

The governor will also have to choose a replacement for Bedell, a Democrat. He said in resigning that the Board of Regents had "failed to lead with vision and inspiration and "engaged in power struggles that are unnecessary and divisive."

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Dvorsky, a Coralville Democrat who has called for new board leadership, said the best course of action now "is to allow Governor-elect Culver to have as many options as possible to appoint his own people."

Some reluctant to get involved

The Legislature's Government Oversight Committee, which held hearings last summer on the scandal involving excessive payments made to executives of a central Iowa jobs agency, could be called upon to quiz regents about problems brought to light by the U of I presidential search.

"It's obvious the process didn't work and when you have meetings that aren't out in the open, then it hasn't been clear" what happened, said Rep. Vicki Lensing, an Iowa City Democrat named to lead the House oversight panel.

"It's unfortunate Governor-elect Culver might have to step into this. He may have to do some damage control to guide us to resolution," Lensing said.

Sen. Mike Connolly, a Dubuque Democrat who will head the Senate State Government Committee next year, favors legislation requiring more openness.

"That should be considered," Connolly said. "If people want to be president of the University of Iowa, at a certain point that ought to be in the public domain."

Other key lawmakers are hesitant to get involved in that aspect of the regents' hiring process. "The bottom line is you have to trust their ability to do some things in private," said Rep. Pat Murphy of Dubuque, the incoming House speaker.

Iowa lawmakers also could consider changes in the structure of the Board of Regents and the way the three state universities are governed. However, the prevailing opinion seems to be that "personalities" and not structural problems are at the root of the conflicts embroiling the board and the U of I campus, where faculty and staff groups have taken votes to register a lack of confidence in the board's leadership.

Gartner, a Democrat, said last week that the root cause of the presidential selection controversy is a struggle over who's in charge of the university.

"The issue is, who governs the University of Iowa? The Board of Regents or ... the faculty over there?" he said.

The public universities of other states have also been going through some turbulent times. In Florida, there's been a tug-of-war for power over that state's 11 public universities.

The Florida Legislature and Gov. Jeb Bush abolished the Florida Board of Regents in 2001 because the board was seen as an obstruction to plans to improve the lawmakers' alma maters or universities in their legislative districts, the Chronicle of Higher Education has reported.

The regents' powers were to be divided between a statewide Board of Education and boards of trustees for each university.

Florida voters in 2002 approved a constitutional amendment creating a Board of Governors to oversee the 11 universities. A state judge in March affirmed the board's "full control and authority" over the state schools after a group, Floridians for Constitutional Change, filed a lawsuit alleging Bush, a Republican, and legislators were not allowing the board to exercise its full powers, the Chronicle reported.