Bruce Rastetter will remain in his leadership position on the state Board of Regents.

During the regents’ meeting on Thursday at the Iowa School for the Deaf, they decided to re-elect Rastetter as President and Katie Mulholland as president pro tem from May 1 to April 20, 2018.

Regent Sherry Bates nominated Rastetter as president, and Regent Larry McKibben nominated Mulholland.

No one else was nominated for the positions, and little discussion took place before the unanimous decision to re-elect Rastetter and Mulholland.

The regents are appointed by the governor and are confirmed by the Iowa Senate. Presidents and presidents pro tem are elected for two-year terms.

Rastetter and Mulholland were appointed in 2011.

The resignation of Rastetter and Mulholland has been called for by members of the University of Iowa community in the past.

The Daily Iowan previously reported the potential re-election of Rastetter and Mulholland was frequently cited as a cause for concern by attendees of an April 16 regent transparency hearing.

Attendees cited the secrecy of the presidential-search process that appointed Bruce Harreld as UI president in September 2015 as a reason not to re-elect Rastetter.

“You have a chance to make a new start by selecting someone who was not involved with all the secret meetings and behind-the-scenes manipulation that led to the hiring of Bruce Harreld as UI president,” said UI English Professor Judith Pascoe at the hearing. “I strongly recommend that you choose from the regents who were not involved in that process. Please don’t retain Mr. Rastetter as president or Ms. Mulholland as president pro tem.”

The tension is not new.

In September 2015, UI Faculty Senate unanimously approved a motion of no confidence in the regents and called for the resignation of the regents or dismissal by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad.