There are currently five vacancies on the 26-member UC Board of Regents, after UC Regent Bonnie Reiss died Tuesday.

Last June, Gov. Jerry Brown announced the appointment of four new regents.

“The selection committee meeting happened,” said UC Board of Regents chair George Kieffer in a recent interview with The Daily Californian. “There were a lot of things mentioned, like making sure there is some geographic diversity on the board, and another point that was stated was that we need people on the board with board experience.”

Reiss, who was appointed to the board by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in March 2008, died last week from cancer at the age of 62. There are now five vacancies on the UC Board of Regents.

According to Stephanie Beechem, spokesperson for the UC Office of the President, this is not the first time there have been this many vacancies. In fact, there were five vacancies on the UC Board of Regents in 2013.

“The governor of California is responsible for selecting and appointing individuals to the UC Board of Regents,” Beechem said in an email.

According to the Office of Governor Jerry Brown, there’s no deadline for filling the vacancies. Beechem also said new regents appointed to standing committees or subcommittees will have to be approved by the full board.

“There is no set timeline for filling the vacancy and, as is the case with all appointments, the aim of our office is to appoint the best candidate from a broad and diverse pool of applicants,” said Brian Ferguson, deputy press secretary of the Office of Governor Jerry Brown, in an email.

The UC Board of Regents is the governing board of the UC system. They set policies regarding the operation of the university on issues such as academic and student affairs, financial and capital strategies, and public engagement, according to Beechem. The regents also serve as advocates for the institution.

New regents appointed by the governor will be nominated to serve on standing committees and/or subcommittees by the Governance and Compensation Committee.

“The Board and its standing committees and subcommittees are operating normally,” Beechem said in an email.