Student Government Association senator Jennifer Broadus, education junior, urged the SGA senators to consider applying for the IU Board of Trustees student trustee during the Oct. 21 meeting.
The student trustee — as a fully-vested member of the board — is given all rights, responsibilities and privileges that full trustees have. The student trustee will participate in a minimum of six Board of Trustee meetings a year. They will also serve on board committees and take part in various functions and ceremonies at the university.
Broadus is a part of the student trustee search and screen committee and strongly urges any student to apply for the position.
“It’s really very beneficial,” Broadus said. “The student trustee brings student life and the problems associated with it to the meetings.”
All students are eligible to apply, whether they are undergraduate or graduate students. The only requirement is the student be enrolled full-time at an IU campus for the entire two-year term.
The only difference between the student trustee and all other trustees is the length of the term. Student trustees serve two years, while all others serve three.
If a student will graduate before the two years are up, the student must be able to document intent to attend graduate school at an IU campus.
IU has had a student trustee for three decades. The first student trustee, Leslie Shively, was sworn in on Jan. 1, 1976.
The current office holder, Abbey Stemler, is a third-year law student and an MBA student at IU Bloomington. Stemler, whose term expires June 30, 2011, is a New Albany native.
“Serving on the board has been an incredible honor and responsibility,” Stemler said in a statement released to the IU News Room. “Every day, I am challenged to understand a variety of perspectives and make decisions that will affect the institutions for decades to come.”
Applications are due in January and will be reviewed by the 2011 search and screen committee. The committee is composed of eight student representatives from IU campuses and a representative from Gov. Mitch Daniels’ office. The president of the university, Michael McRobbie, chooses all representatives.
The term for the new student trustees begins July 1, 2011. After being reviewed by the search and screen committee, the selected finalists will be interviewed in Indianapolis on April 1 and 2. According to Indiana state law, the committee must send a list of 10 names to the governor. The final selection is usually made by June 30.
William Cast, chair of the board, said the student trustee position provides students with an opportunity to have a voice in IU’s future.
“The board relies on the student trustee for balanced opinion and reporting of important trends,” Cast said in a statement to IU News Room.
Broadus said SGA senator James Bonsall, business senior, has applied to be the student trustee in the past.
By AMANDA CHIAMULERA
Staff
alchiamu@umail.iu.edu