The top three finalists for the position of student regent, a member of the UW’s influential Board of Regents, were chosen by the student regent selection committee.

The applications were passed on to Gov. Chris Gregoire’s office to await her decision.

The student regent must attend monthly board meetings, which are usually held the University.

“You’re a representative of the student body as a whole,” said senior Jean Paul Willynck, a finalist at UW Tacoma. “More importantly, you offer a student perspective to the board.”

Willynck admitted he’s a little nervous about the selection process, particularly about being interviewed by senior staff at the governor’s office.

“But I’m really excited about the opportunity to bring a unique student perspective to the board,” he said.

Fellow finalist Chris Paredes, a senior, said that the student regent position comes down to looking after the well-being of the University. He feels that his experience with the ASUW and The Daily makes him a good candidate for the position.

“I want to contribute my knowledge and my experience as a student here to serve students and the state,” he said.

The third finalist, Alicia Kinne, a master’s student in the Evans School of Public Affairs, expressed some apprehension about the coming weeks.

“From the beginning, I thought I was kind of a long-shot candidate,” she said. “I’m humbled that I got so far in the process and really excited. I care about a lot of the things that are important to students here.”

Kinne added that she is mostly just eager for the decision to be made. The finalists could find out any time between now and the end of June.

The final decision-making process can take as long as a month, said Kim Tanaka, executive analyst for boards and commissions in the governor’s office.

“We look at their qualifications [and] check their references. We’ll probably end up calling the chair of the Board of Regents,” Tanaka said. “We’ll conduct interviews, and then we’ll make the recommendation to Gov. Gregoire.”

As of now, Tanaka said, the governor’s office has not received the applications, but they should arrive in the next few days.

The Board of Regents consists of nine governor-appointed professional members and one student member, who is nominated by the school and ultimately selected by the governor. The student regent serves a one-year term.

The student regent selection committee accepted applications from students at all three UW campuses, and then narrowed the candidates to 10 applicants to be interviewed. From there, they chose three applicants to move on to the final selection process.

Dave Brown, the chair of the student regent selection committee, explained that the Washington Legislature created the role of student regent for every four-year university in the state.

By law, Brown said, applicants must be full-time students. Both Willynck and Paredes will be fifth-year seniors next year. The ASUW Student Senate also requires that applicants have a minimum 2.5 GPA.

Finalists are selected based on their degree of understanding of how the University is run and how the role of student regent fits into the context of the University as a whole.

“This year we saw a lot of really strong applicants,” Brown said. “It’s a tough decision to make. The committee is very excited about the three that we forwarded to the governor.”