HELENA -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Wednesday reappointed Lynn Hamilton of Havre to another seven-year term on the state Board of Regents.

Hamilton, whose term was due to end on Feb. 1, took a job earlier this month as executive director of the Montana State University-Northern Foundation, the fundraising arm of the college.

Schweitzer praised her devotion to higher education and her support for two-year colleges and workforce training.

"Lynn is a valuable member of the board," Schweitzer said. "Her knowledge of higher education and her shared passion for affordability of higher education and transferability of credits makes her a standout choice for this position."

Regents Chairman John Mercer of Polson praised Schweitzer's decision to retain Hamilton as "a great appointment, a home run."

"She has all kinds of areas of expertise, but primarily her knowledge and expertise of the core part of the university system, which is the academic side, is of such value to the state and to the system," Mercer said. "It would have been very difficult to get us back to the level we were with her."

Earlier this month, regents and university presidents honored Hamilton for what appeared to be her final board meeting amid rumors she might be reappointed.

Hamilton said the regents face some important issues such as the ability of students to afford to attend the state's colleges and universities, the ability of students to transfer credits and access to higher education in eastern Montana, where she's from, for students who are "place-bound or place-committed."

"How can we leverage resources and maximize access for post-secondary education in Montana?" she asked in a phone interview.

The Board of Regents has the constitutional authority over the Montana university system, making it one of the state's most powerful citizen boards.

"With authority comes a lot of responsibility," Hamilton said. "I think it's great to have the citizen perspective in higher education and that's what the Board of Regents brings."

She is a Democrat. State law requires that the seven-person board can have no more than four members of the same political party.

Hamilton, a Havre native, is a 1974 University of Montana graduate with a degree in journalism and a double major in speech communications. She has worked for a Los Angeles advertising agency and television stations in Great Falls and Missoula before serving as public relations director at MSU-Northern. She and her husband, Miles, have two children, both attending UM.