BATON ROUGE — Louisiana voters could be asked to consider eliminating the Board of Regents, a constitutionally established body that oversees planning, coordination and budgeting for state-managed colleges and universities.

Rep. Dixon McMakin says the 15-member board is ineffective and funding should go directly to the four university systems instead. McMakin proposed scrapping the board entirely.

Under the current state constitution, the Louisiana Quality Trust Fund is divided between the Board of Regents and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. McMakin's plan would send that money straight to the four management boards overseeing Louisiana's universities.

"What do they actually do that affects the outcome of students that a system office can't handle right now?" McMakin said.

The Board of Regents recently provided data on hazing-related sanctions from the four university systems to study how universities are working to prevent and address campus-wide hazing incidents. That work was part of the response to the hazing death of Southern University student Caleb Wilson.

Last year, the Legislature created a hazing task force. McMakin says under the current bill, there would be a year to figure out the precise roles carried out by the Board of Regents and whether those roles are transferable to the four university systems.

If lawmakers can agree on the change, the public would vote Nov. 3 on whether to abolish the Board of Regents. Some board members were appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry in the past year.

WBRZ reached out to officials from the Board of Regents to learn the depth of a change like this. The Board of Regents released the following statement:

"The Louisiana Board of Regents leads the coordination of higher education in Louisiana, focused on increased attainment, workforce alignment, and efficiency. We believe now is the time to improve campus specialization and coordination and not to fragment the current system. As to the question of institutional finances, the current law gives the total fiscal oversight to the management boards. That is an important role that should be retained."