A three-member panel of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents will meet Friday to consider whether regent Steve Sviggum has a conflict of interest with his new job as state Senate Republican Caucus communications director.
Sviggum, a former legislator who had been on the Board of Regents before getting the state Senate job in January, says there is no conflict of interest. But Regents Chair Linda Cohen isn't so sure, and sought legal opinions from the university's General Counsel Mark Rotenberg and John Stout of the Minneapolis law firm Fredrikson & Byron before scheduling the Friday hearing.
The panel will be made up of Cohen, Vice Chair David Larson and Regent David McMillan.
After the panel reaches a decision, the full Board of Regents will vote on its recommendation at a special meeting March 8.