Anyone who thought Wisconsin’s boiling political controversies would simmer and cool following the November elections was sorely mistaken.

In one of his first moves as the state’s chief executive, Gov. Jim Doyle relieved five members of the UW Board of Regents Monday. While it may have been little more than wishful thinking, last semester we called for then-Governor-elect Doyle to allow the Thompson and McCallum appointments held up by Chuck Chvala over the past five years the Senate confirmation hearings they deserve. They will get no such chance.

Five currently serving members of the board — Lolita Schneiders, Alfred De Simone, Gerard Randall, James Klauser, and Phyllis Krutsch — have been removed in favor of five substitute candidates: Wausau attorney Mark J. Bradley; Danae Davis, a director of staffing for Miller Brewing Co.; Peggy Rosenzweig, a former Republican state senator from Wauwatosa; Jesus Salas, a professor of bilingual education and Latino Studies at Milwaukee Area Technical College; and David Walsh, a Madison attorney and consultant for the UW Athletic Department. They appear to be a group of qualified individuals — all products of UW, three have law degrees, one has five children who are also UW alums — and we cannot take issue with any of them directly. However, the appropriate determinants for their viability as board members must be evaluated in full by members of the state Senate. They deserve a fair confirmation process, if not a quick one.

In the midst of the turnover, two of the current board members — Randall and De Simone — were previously confirmed by the state Senate at their initial appointments. Their terms have since expired, however, and they would need to be re-confirmed to continue serving additional terms. Since they have been confirmed once, they have the option of remaining on the board until the Senate confirms their replacements. While such a move certainly smacks of protest against the Chvala legacy, the consequences of Randall and De Simone’s decision greatly ratchets up the stakes of an already over-politicized process that is becoming less and less about the interest of students.

However, we are particularly pleased to see Randall, a noted champion of fair and grounded diversity efforts, refusing to succumb to political strong-arming. He is widely respected as an active supporter of student causes, and we find Doyle’s eagerness to wipe him aside troubling.

The appointment of Rosenzweig is a blemish on Doyle’s slate and clearly an olive branch to the GOP. Two of the appointees — Bradley and Walsh — have donated more than $1,000 to Doyle campaigns. This information on its face is not troubling; persons of influence and confidence to an incoming governor are likely to have been supporters in the past.

The fact that the entire slate was not used as a vehicle for political patronage is a refreshing change from Tommy Thompson’s system of good-ole-boy appointments. Yet make no mistake; with the exception of Rosenzweig, these appointees are political allies of Doyle and will likely coalesce with his vision of UW’s place in the scheme of state government — one that now may place the funding of public schools and teachers’ unions (which have been taken off of the chopping block by Doyle) ahead of funding for the university (which almost certainly will fall victim to cuts).

We implore the state Senate to give the new appointees a fair hearing — on the floor of the chamber by the full membership. That the regents removed by Doyle were not afforded even this privilege under a Chuck Chvala-led Senate was the first step towards the trying situation higher education in Wisconsin now faces.