Topeka ? Thursday marked the last meeting for three members of the Kansas Board of Regents, and it appears a former state senator will replace one of them.

Regents Bill Docking of Arkansas City, Deryl Wynn of Kansas City, Kan., and Lew Ferguson of Topeka said their goodbyes Thursday.

Several sources said Gov. Kathleen Sebelius planned to nominate Christine Downey, a Democrat from Inman who served in the Senate from 1992 until she opted not to seek re-election last year.

Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said she couldn’t confirm whether Downey would be appointed, and Downey didn’t return a phone message left Thursday. Corcoran said staff members were working on finding new regents, but no time frame for an announcement has been set.

Governors typically have appointed new regents, who are subject to Senate confirmation, before the board’s annual retreat in August.

Docking, Wynn and Ferguson each were eligible to serve another term. But each asked not to be re-appointed – Docking and Wynn because they wanted to pursue other activities, and Ferguson because he plans to move to Ponca City, Okla., in a few months.

“I’ve just had a great ride, and it’s been a great time,” said Wynn, an attorney who was appointed by Gov. Bill Graves in 2001.

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Ferguson, a retired Statehouse bureau chief for The Associated Press, agreed.

“It was a great, great experience,” said Ferguson, who also was appointed by Graves in 2001. “It was really interesting to learn what life is like on the other side after being a reporter.”

Docking, a banker, served on the board 10 years – likely longer than any member will serve in the future. Legislation enacted in 1999 limited new members to two four-year terms.

“I feel like I’ve been there long enough,” he said. “I think it’s time for somebody with fresh ideas.”

Docking said he worried that increasing time commitments on the board would lead more members like Ferguson and Wynn to quit after one term. In 1999, the regents began to coordinate activities of 19 community colleges and 11 technical school and colleges in addition to governing the six state universities.

“I’m worried with the time commitment of the regents now, we’ll see more and more people who are retired or who are so wealthy they don’t have regular employment serving on the board,” Docking said. “It concerns me we won’t have the diversity of people.”