Five new members will join the Kansas Board of Regents at its annual retreat, which runs today and Thursday in Hesston.

The new regents, appointed by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius in June, bring a diverse background to the board. One is a former U.S. Senate candidate and a major donor to Kansas University. Another is a former community college president, while a third sits on the board of various groups that exist to help students find college scholarships.

In announcing their selection, Sebelius said the decisions the new regents make “will help to determine whether Kansas continues to grow and prosper.”

Three of the five new regents – two could not be reached for an interview – agreed that deferred maintenance would continue to be a major issue for the schools and the regents, but each has an eye on other sorts of priorities as well.

Jill Docking, a vice president at A.G. Edwards in Wichita and the former Senate candidate, brings a focus on students’ financial health. Docking established a program in Wichita to teach students to use credit cards wisely and has helped get similar programs included in school curricula across the state.

“I have a particular interest in how this next generation is going to fund all this debt they’re accumulating coming out of college,” Docking said. “It’s not just about Kansas, though; it’s about the whole nation. How are all these students going to afford the debt they’re accumulating?”

While she is trained in finance and interested in how to keep education affordable for Kansans, Docking said she’s ready to learn at the retreat and through the rest of her term.

“At this point, I’m all ears,” she explained. “I have to listen carefully.”

Richard Hedges, a retired educator from Fort Scott, brings experience in community colleges to the board. The regents have been trying to better integrate the community colleges and universities so students can more easily transition from one to the other.

Hedges said that process, as well as enhancing the offerings of technical schools, would be a top priority for him.

“Let’s face it. Not everyone is cut out to be a brain surgeon,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of people who are dropping through the cracks. One of the things we’ll have to do is get more people in higher education, particularly in community colleges or technical schools.”

Hedges said enhancing those offerings is a benefit to employers, and it also keeps students out of schools where they’re not likely to be able to succeed. Hedges said it makes no sense to put people in places where they’re only going to fail.

Bill Thornton, corporate counsel for MGP Ingredients in Atchison, said the best way he can think to serve the regents is to have his ears open more than his mouth. He said he is looking forward to developing ideas to help the regents schools.

“Higher education is something that’s been of interest to me,” he said. “I sit on three boards where we try to provide scholarships to young people who want to go to college.”

One program he helps with provides full-ride scholarships to students that have “the desire and aptitude” for college but not the financial resources.

Thornton also serves on the board of the Multicultural Scholars program at KU, which seeks to encourage diversity on campus. He is a graduate of Washburn University.

Regents Gary Sherrer and Jerry Boettcher could not be reached for this article.

All of the new regents except Docking have already been approved by the Kansas Senate. Docking was unable to attend the confirmation hearing.