The Montana Board of Regents met in Helena on Thursday, but due to inclement weather and bad roads throughout the state, some regents were not able to attend.

Spokesperson Blair Fjeseth said the meeting started at 8:00 a.m. and wrapped up just after 1:00 p.m.

“Some of the highlights include the commissioner and the Board of Regents took the time to thank Sheila Stearns for her tremendous leadership over the past year at the University of Montana,” Fjeseth said. “They also thanked Jane Baker who has been the interim dead at the Helena College. She really stepped up for us there. It was also great to welcome the new UM President Seth Bodnar to his first Board of Regents meeting since he was selected as the new president.”

Fjeseth said the regents also dealt with business stemming from the special session of the legislature.

“The budget amendment was approved,” she said. “As you remember at the special session there was a one percent cut to the general funding for all of our campuses, so the reduction is roughly $2.2 million each year to our campuses, so for Missoula that means that there’s about $600,000 that will be cut from the UM budget. There have been budget cuts across all services throughout the state, so this was just a one percent cut to the university system.”

Fjeseth said the campuses knew of the cuts and have planned accordingly.

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