Minnesota Agencies

The University Charter provides that "the government of this University shall be vested in a Board of twelve Regents..." and that the Board has certain powers including the "power, and...duty to enact laws for the government of the University."

The University of Minnesota was established by Charter adopted by the territorial legislature in 1851 (Minnesota Territorial Laws 1851, Chapter 3). This authority was later perpetuated by the Constitution of the State of Minnesota, Article 13, Section 3. The University Charter provides that "the government of this University shall be vested in a Board of twelve Regents" and that the Board has certain powers including the "power, and...duty to enact laws for the government of the University."

University of Minnesota Charter Board of Regents bylaws address the operation of the Board of Regents, including duties, responsibilities, and election of the officers, committee meetings, rules of procedure, and delegation of authority. The bylaws were first adopted by the Board on December 10, 1899 and were last amended on July 12, 2001.

Twelve member board. The legislature elects one Regent from each of Minnesota's eight congressional districts and four from the state at large. One of the four at-large Regents must be a University student at the time of election. Regents serve without pay for six-year terms. The president of the University is ex officio president of the Board. The Board meets monthly (except for January and August) on the second Friday and the preceding Thursday.

The Legislative Library has two notebooks with information related to the Board of Regents. One notebook contains articles on the selection of members. The other notebook contains background on the Board, membership lists and biographical information on some members, as well as Minnesota House Research publications relating to the Board of Regents.