Friday marks application deadline for student trustee job

The deadline for applications to serve as the next student trustee is coming -- and so far only one person has applied. \nSo far, the board of trustees' office has only received one application. However, Robin Gress, secretary of the board of trustees, said she expects the majority of the applications to be turned in on the day of the deadline.\n"In the last several searches we've had between 20 and 35 applications per search," she said, "and most of them have come in on the Friday due date."\nFriday marks the last day students can turn in their application to replace outgoing Casey Cox on the IU board of trustees. \nCox, a third-year law student, will end his term this spring, and the next student trustee will begin his or her term July 1.\nThe student trustee holds the same rights, privileges and responsibilities as any other trustee. The trustees are IU's governing board, legal owner and final authority, according to the trustees' Web site. The selected student trustee must participate in nine board meetings a year, serve on board committees, act in various University engagements and ceremonies, and work on any assigned tasks for a two-year term, according to a IU news release.\nThe application process is governed by state law, which mandates that a committee made up of student representatives from each of IU's eight campuses and a representative from the governor's office review the applications and select 10 individuals. They pass those 10 people on to the governor, who makes the final decision, according to the Web site. \nTerra Haute attorney James Bopp Jr., who worked on the 2005 IU Student Trustee Search and Screen Committee, will serve as the governor's representative in the 2007 search.\nAny student, undergraduate or graduate, enrolled at an IU campus may apply for the student position on the nine-person board. The individual must be a full-time student for the duration of his or her term.\nGress said the committee will look for leadership experience, campus experience, community involvement and a candidate's ability to work with teams and colleagues in collaborative efforts. Past student trustees have exemplified many of these qualities, she said.\n"The students, who apply for the position and go through the whole process, really are outstanding students," Gress said. "They're oftentimes leaders on their campuses and in their communities, and they all bring really superb qualifications, and they all have done a terrific job and are really outstanding student leaders."\nAlthough there is only one student on the board of nine trustees, Gress said the student trustee serves an equal role in the group. In the past, other trustees have held the student representatives in high regard.\nGress said the student-trustee position is a great chance for individuals to become acquainted with legislation, budget setting and university-wide policy. She said the position is fitting for those students interested in getting involved with university decisions. \n"I think it's a fabulous opportunity (for students) to work with the entire university, not just their campus, but the entire university, to begin to get a sense of what it takes to run an institution with a $2 billion dollar budget and roughly 100,000 students over eight campuses in the state," she said. "It's a great opportunity."\nCox told the Indiana Daily Student in October 2006 that he holds his time as a student trustee in high regard and said it has been the greatest leadership experience of his life.\n"To be in such a position as a student, to participate in such a high level of governance and to help drive the agenda at this institution, is very special," he said\nApplications are still available online at www.indiana.edu/~trustees and in several locations on each IU campuses, including the IUSA and board of trustees offices in the Indiana Memorial Union.