Michigan is an outlier in electing university boards

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — As Michigan voters look at their ballot in November they will have the unique option to elect three university governance boards.

As the only state to put public university leadership roles on a statewide ballot, controversial leadership has been in the spotlight recently.

Public universities’ decisions are center stage nationally due to the number of campus coronavirus cases, but in Michigan, leadership during scandals also has caused discussion at the universities and in the Legislature about possible changes to the status quo.

The process of electing these boards is partisan — candidates for the three boards are selected through party conventions who run for eight-year terms.