Governor Tom Vilsack says a third member of the board that governs Iowa, Iowa State and U-N-I will resign soon. Regent Sue Erickson Nieland of Sioux City is not at today’s (Wednesday’s) Board of Regents meeting in Iowa City, and she’s told Vilsack she will resign. Vilsack says he’ll have someone to replace Nieland “very quickly.” Two other Regents resigned last month — the former president of the board, John Forsyth, and Dave Niel. With the terms of two other Regents soon to expire, there’s a possibility for huge turn-over on the board. But today Vilsack told statehouse reporters he plans to reappoint Rose Vasquez of Des Moines, and will find someone to take Regent Owen Newlin’s place, too. Newlin, an ex-president of the Board, is from Des Moines. Vilsack took a key senate leader aside this morning (Wednesday) and pleaded for quick confirmation of the two people he’s already appointed to replace the Regents who resigned. Vilsack wants quick senate confirmation of Teresa Wahlert and Michael Gartner to remove any questions about whether the two may vote on matters that come before the Board of Regents. Vilsack rejects the notion that the huge turn-over on the nine-member board will create chaos. “I’m not concerned about that,” Vilsack says. “I have no doubt that they’re already well-versed in the issues that they need to be well-versed in to make a meaningful contribution from day one.” Vilsack believes both Wahlert and Gartner should be able to vote on matters that come before the board, but quick Senate confirmation of the two would remove any doubt. House Speaker Christopher Rants, a republican from Sioux City, is expressing his doubts about what’s been going on with the Board of Regents. Rants suggests University of Iowa leaders set things in motion behind the scenes to prompt the Regents’ resignations. “Look, we have to have a situation where the monkeys aren’t running the zoo,” Rants says. “That’s why we want to have a strong Board of Regents for good oversight and good governance.” “Three regents have been forced off the board and it begs the question: Who’s calling the shots?” Rants says. “We’re not going to have a situation where the monkeys are running the zoo. We’re going to have a strong Board of Regents and I’m very pleased that the governor seems intent on continuing that.”