Last week, a small group of students delivered a letter to UW President Mark Emmert’s office demanding an open forum to address recent budget cuts. They also requested a space on the agenda for today’s UW Board of Regents meeting. While student groups won’t be voicing their concerns at the regents meeting today, they will soon get their chance.

In light of the state Legislature’s 25 percent cut to the UW’s state funding, the UW Board of Regents announced last week that it will hold a special meeting for the sole purpose of listening to community concerns and suggestions. Board members say they hope to announce the official time and place of the meeting tomorrow, but they estimated that it will most likely take place the last week of May, before the budget is finalized June 11.

Normally, only ex-officio members such as the ASUW and Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) presidents are put on the agenda to address the board. However, at this meeting, all concerned UW community members will have a chance to speak.

“It’s going to be a real opportunity for those organizations who don’t have an ex-officio member on the board to share their views, opinions and guidance with the board regarding the budget,” said Jean-Paul Willynck, the UW’s student regent.

Given the severity of the Legislature’s cut to the university, the board thought it was necessary to approach the situation differently than they normally would.

“To my knowledge, we’ve never done anything like this before,” Willynck said. “I am very pleased that this was the approach they took.”

The special meeting will most likely be structured differently from typical Board of Regents meetings.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a normal Board of Regents meeting with a bunch of people sitting around a table,” Willynck said. “I’ve heard it described as a forum. It’s expected to last two to three hours.”

While the meeting invites public opinion, it is not a place for individual employees to air grievances about their jobs being cut.

“Individual personnel matters will not be considered, nor will testimony on them be received,” said Joan Goldblatt, secretary of the board.

Jessie Kindig, a graduate student and member of the Anti-Budget Cut (ABC) Coalition, thinks this is a step in the right direction. The ABC Coalition is group of students, staff and faculty members who are seeking alternatives to employee layoffs and proposed 14 percent tuition hikes.

“I think it’s great that they’re having a special meeting,” Kindig said. “The ex-officios are great people and great leadership, but this is a necessary attempt to get a more broad opinion.”

The ABC Coalition attempted to reserve space on the agenda for today’s board meeting without success. Group members plan to present their alternatives at the special board meeting.

However, because the UW’s budget will be finalized June 11, and the meeting will most likely occur only a few weeks beforehand, Kindig feels the meeting might be too late.

“To have a special meeting [now], it doesn’t seem to me that any of it is going to be taken seriously,” Kindig said. “It doesn’t seem like there’s going to be a willingness to entertain any serious alternatives.”

Kindig described the meeting as a “token step” by the board, noting that, because the timing of the meeting and budget finalization are so close together, it is unlikely that any action will be possible by the board to respond to student concerns.

Willynck, however, said the regents are used to turning things around under pressure.

“[The regents] are workaholics,” Willynck said. “They can move pretty quickly when something changes or when something comes up.”

Willynck said the board is ready and willing to hear out reasonable suggestions and alternatives during the special meeting.

“We’re going to be listening to all the ideas,” Willynck said. “If something comes up, we might say, ‘Oh that’s something we haven’t quite looked into,’ and we’ll look into it.”

Reach reporter Eric Staples at news@dailyuw.com.