Trustee to step down

Jamie Belanger, considered to be the youngest non-student ever to serve on the IU board of trustees, has decided he will not seek a second term when his present term ends this summer. \nBelanger -- who, in 2002, was elected by alumni only two years after he graduated IU with a degree in finance -- currently holds one of the three elected positions to the board. His decision to step aside clears the way for Trustee Patrick Shoulders, who was appointed to the board in 2002, to run for the open elected position. \nManeuvering to allow for Shoulders to run for the seat was the primary rationale for his decision, Belanger said. \nUnder state law, IU has nine trustees, three of whom are elected for three-year terms by alumni. The remaining six trustees are appointed and re-appointed directly by the governor, and all current appointees were placed on the board by Democratic governors.\nBelanger said it appeared to him as if Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, might not reappoint Shoulders or Board President Fred Eichhorn.\n"After the gubernatorial election, it became pretty clear we'd be going through quite a bit of turnover," Belanger said. "When Mitch Daniels appoints new trustees, you're going to possibly have a lot of trustees with less than one year of experience on the board."\nFormer Gov. Joe Kernan appointed two trustees last year. Daniels will possibly have the chance to appoint up to three new trustees this summer -- someone to fill Shoulders' seat, the next student trustee seat and either reappointing Eichhorn or filling his seat with someone else.\nBelanger said he believed "the University would be better served" if Shoulders or Eichhorn ran in his place.\n"Having worked with both Fred and Pat, they're just amazing trustees and tremendous assets," Belanger said. "I really felt that with all the turnover, one of them should run as the incumbent, so to speak. IU would be better served with one of them continuing."\nEichhorn said he had "no idea" if Daniels would reappoint him to the board. But he did say he believed Shoulders was very popular among alumni who will be successful in the race for Belanger's seat.\nEichhorn said he believed Belanger had been an "excellent trustee," a studious and involved board member who has "studied all the issues very carefully."\nRobin Gress, secretary to the board of trustees, said a student trustee search committee reviewed all the submitted applications and will interview 18 candidates on April 8 and 9 in Indianapolis. Ten names will be submitted to the governor, and he will select one for the board.\nBelanger, now 27 and an analyst with Proctor and Gamble in Cincinnati, said he will seek to play a more active part in the IU Alumni Association following his exit from the board. He said his decision to step aside will also provide him with more time to spend with his wife, who is expecting their first child.\n"I use all of my vacation days to attend the board meetings and various functions," Belanger laughed. "So it'll be nice that regard, but that really wasn't the deciding factor. It was well-worth the time commitment to serve the University as a member of the board."\nSuch a commitment though, Belanger said, has made his experience on the board "extremely positive." When asked to identify the most important thing that occurred during his tenure, Belanger said without a doubt it was the board's selection of Adam Herbert as IU's president. \n"It's the biggest decision we make as a board of trustees, and it was extremely humbling," Belanger said.\n-- Contact Senior Writer Tony Sams at ajsams@indiana.edu.