The full board will consider the committee's recommendation at its July 14-16 meeting. If approved, Cheng would become the 36th student regent since the position was established in 1975.
He would then serve as the student regent-designate for the coming year and be able to participate in all deliberations, but not vote until July 2010, when his one-year term would begin.
"It's a great honor to be chosen as student regent. I look forward to bringing a student perspective to the Regents and working with the UC community to determine the model the university will have for decades to come," said Cheng. "I believe in accessibility and affordability. We need to be able to explain to the state that this is still a public institution for everyone, and a vehicle for social mobility."
Cheng is a third-year Asian American studies major at UC Irvine, where he has served as external chair for the Asian Pacific Student Association and executive vice president-elect for the Associated Students of UC Irvine. He also has served as Academic Senate representative for the Council on Educational Policy and as the chair of the Student Fee Advisory Committee.
The student regent for 2009-10 is Jesse M. Bernal, a UC Santa Barbara graduate student pursuing a doctorate in education.
The nominating committee included Regents Hadi Makarechian, Bonnie Reiss, David Shewmake, Paul Wachter (chair) and D'Artagnan Scorza, the current student regent.
The Regents' policy on the appointment of the student regent is available at www.universityofcalifornia.edu/regents/policies/6010.html.
This year, 64 students from all 10 UC campuses applied for the position. In accordance with their policy, the Regents' committee interviewed three finalists, whose names were submitted by the UC Students Association after its review of the top candidates from the UC campuses.
Cheng may be contacted at (408) 691-0423 or jessec@uci.edu.
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