A bill on Gov. Jim Doyle's desk would pull representatives for the University of Wisconsin Board of Regents from seven geographical areas.

If signed, it would take effect in 2012. However, while lawmakers think it is a necessary change, some regents don't agree.

The state Senate and Assembly on Thursday passed identical bills calling for the new boundaries.

The goal of the bills is to ensure that all campuses in the system have representation on the board, which would help balance the allotment of resources the board oversees, lawmakers say. Currently, 10 of the 14 citizen appointees live in either Dane or Milwaukee counties, homes of the UW System's two largest campuses.

"We have to make sure campuses all across the state are treated fairly," said Sen. Julie Lassa, D-Stevens Point, who introduced the Senate version of the bill. "We want to make sure the pool of individuals is much broader so they are more culturally connected to different regions of the state."

There also are UW campuses in Eau Claire, Stevens Point, Whitewater, La Crosse and Platteville.

But where a representative lives doesn't skew a decision toward campuses in Madison or Milwaukee, regents say. And there already are systems in place to ensure the voices of all UW campuses are heard.

"I don't think there is any campus in the UW System that feels they haven't been able to inform regents what is going on," said regent Mark Bradley, a former board president from Wausau. "I think it's more important to have people come from regions where they understand what the campuses are dealing with.

"I would hate for the governor to pass up someone who was very qualified because they didn't live within a mile of an artificially drawn boundary."

Currently, each four-year campus has two regents assigned to it a year, and each two-year campus has one regent. It is the responsibility of regents to pay attention to their campuses, spending time there and talking about its specific issues with administration, students and the community.

Lassa said there wasn't one specific example that caught lawmakers' attention. It was simply that lawmakers from out-state districts were troubled by the number of regents from the Milwaukee and Madison areas.

Officially, the UW System and Board of Regents are neutral on these bills.

"(The regents) didn't feel it was appropriate to take a stance on how future governors would appoint regents," said UW spokesman David Giroux.

Currently, the governor appoints regents after candidates go through a vetting process. The new bills would not change that. They would just require that one regent be from each of the seven geographical areas. Each region contains at least one four-year campus and at least one two-year campus, although most contain more.