The future of Brooklyn dairy farmer Craig Lang’s tenure on the state Board of Regents was uncertain Monday after an hour-long meeting that some Senate Democrats called crucial to his reconfirmation said raised more questions than were answered.

“I think it was a mixed bag,” said Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, following a confirmation hearing in which Lang was peppered by majority Democrats about the handling of the ill-fated Harkin Institute at Iowa State University, a contract extension for University of Iowa President Sally Mason, and the influence of politics on the board that oversees Iowa’s three public universities and two special schools.

During his presentation to committee members, Lang said he was pleased the regents were able to freeze tuition for in-state students and succeeded in convincing lawmakers to increase state funding at universities. He said the state share of university funding has slipped to 39 percent and he would like to see that return to 51 percent but conceded it may take a number of years to get there.

Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht said the governor reappointed Lang, a former Iowa Farm Bureau Federation president, because he has been “a strong and remarkable leader” of the Iowa regents. He cited the proposed student tuition freeze for the first time in decades and searches for new presidents at Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa as evidence of that leadership.

Read the article linked above for more details. Do you think Lang should be reconfirmed to the Board of Regents?