The Montana Board of Regents wrapped up their meeting in Bozeman on Friday after dealing with several issues, once of which was the budget reduction plan proposed by University of Montana President Royce Engstrom.

Deputy Commissioner of Higher Education Kevin McRae said that one of the guests at the meeting, Montana's senior Senator Jon Tester, approved of the university's plan.

"When President Engstrom presented the plan on the first day of the meeting, he received strong support from the Regents," McRae said. "On Friday, Senator Jon Tester spoke to the Regents and he indicated that he had studied the plan that the president had released, and had words of support for that plan, in terms of recognizing the difficulty of some tough decision making that needs to be done. The overall aim is for the good of the institution and for the students."

McRae said other issues discussed by the Regents included ways to increase participation and graduation rates for Montana's Native American students, and addressing the overall health and especially the mental health of students across all the campuses.

In Missoula, a group called 'Advocates For The University of Montana' announced a plan for the possibility of calling for the UM Faculty Senate for a vote of no confidence in the present leadership, although that has not yet occurred.

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