The University appointed four representatives last week to the Commission on the University of Minnesota Excellence – a state-mandated committee designed to evaluate the University and ensure accountability.

The commission – the result of a bill passed earlier this year in the Legislature – will examine areas where the University excels and make suggestions about future programs.

Board of Regents Chairwoman Maureen Reed selected Regent Robert Berglund, vice chairman of the regents, Regent H. Bryan Neel and professor W. Andrew Collins from the Institute of Child Development and the psychology department to sit on the committee.

“We chose these individuals because they have a longstanding reputation with the University,” Reed said.

Berglund was a former secretary of agriculture for President Jimmy Carter’s administration.

Neel is the senior member on the Board of Regents and is a medical researcher at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

Collins has a long tenure at the University and a background in faculty governance as a former member of the Faculty Senate.

President Mark Yudof selected Christine Maziar to be his nonvoting representative on the commission. She is vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School.

The commission will identify five additional centers of excellence at the University that could become nationally ranked in the next 10 years and will release a report by July 1 discussing areas of excellence, mission, focus and finance for the University.

“The regents will review (the report) and determine how to respond,” Collins said.

The commission will have 16 members. The governor will appoint the committee chair as well as three additional members. House Speaker Steve Sviggum, R-Kenyon, and a subcommittee from the Senate Rules Committee will appoint four members each.

The commission has no meeting dates set and will dissolve Dec. 31, 2002.

Joanna Dornfeld welcomes comments at [email protected]