The Arizona Board of Regents is down a member after Chairman Greg Patterson resigned his seat Monday; his resignation is effective immediately.

In his letter to board President Eileen Klein, Patterson said he did not want to be a distraction to the ongoing work of the Regents and Universities. That letter also referenced a February meeting with State Rep. Mark Finchem. Patterson secretly recorded that meeting.

The meeting was over a bill Finchem sponsored, which would have essentially set up separate governing boards for each of the state’s public universities, taking away many of the current roles of the Board of Regents. For his part, Finchem told Capitol Media Services he still supports that concept.

With me to break down what broke down here is Howie Fischer of Capitol Media Services.