19 apply for student trustee position

Not every student can say he or she is on the same level as a member of the board of trustees, but 19 students are one step closer.

As of Tuesday morning, the board of trustees office received 19 applications for a student trustee position, which entails providing the perspectives of students on all IU campuses. Applications had to be postmarked by Jan. 23.

Board of trustees secretary Robin Roy Gress said the number of applicants, despite the enrollment increase, is usually between 20 and 25.

“We’ve got one of the highest enrollments ever at IU on all of the campuses, and it seems like this would have been a year that we were over that 20,” Gress said. “On the other hand, student trusteeship is very demanding. It takes time, commitment, and it’s a fabulous opportunity for the student who is interested in the governance of the University.”

Gress said she did many things to advertise the applications, including buying ads in student newspapers and having Dean of Students Dick McKaig send out a mass e-mail.

“That has always been very successful in the past, but I’m thinking we need to look at new ways to get the word out,” Gress said. “It seems hard to believe, but maybe we need a YouTube page or a MySpace page or use Twitter.”

Students from every IU campus were eligible to apply. Most of the applicants are from IU-Bloomington, but four came from IU-Purdue Univeristy Indianapolis, one from IU-South Bend and one from IU-Southeast. There are 15 men and four women in the running. The group can also be broken down into 13 undergrads and six graduate students.

The next step in the search for the new student trustee is a meeting of the selection
committee, made up of a diverse group of students from all the campuses, Friday, Gress said.

“When a student trustee candidate meets with that committee, they are, in essence, meeting with a microcosm of the University student body,” Gress said.

The committee will interview applicants and, at the end of March, submit 10 names to the governor, who appoints the student trustee. The term for new student trustees starts on July 1.

For current student trustee senior A.D. King, a fourth-generation Hoosier, applying for the position was all about representing his school and his state.

“When I was appointed, the one thing I wanted to do was serve the citizens of Indiana, current students and faculty and the alumni to the best of my ability,” King said. “So I wanted to take that kind of perspective into the trusteeship.”

Even though the student trustee is still in school, he or she will have the same authority as the other eight trustees.

One of the trustees on the board, Thomas Reilly Jr., said the student trustee is treated as a peer. With only nine board members, each person is just as important as the others.

“The student is selected because he or she is a student, but once they’re on the board, they’re a trustee,” Reilly said. “It’s not like people sit around and deliberate and the student sticks up his hand and says, ‘This is what the student needs.’”

Reilly said the purpose of the student trustee is to provide the student voice for the board. Because the position of student trustee has a lot of responsibility, he or she must learn a lot of material in a short amount of time.

Another trustee, William Cast, said the learning curve is steep and each trustee must prove him- or herself.

“For any trustee that comes on board, you’re always an unknown quantity,” Cast said. “People wait with their expectations.”

Though King faced challenges at the beginning of his term, he said the position taught him a lot about the University, and he said he is glad he had the opportunity to work with leaders from across the state and nation.

“After this experience, I hope to contribute to the University, whether it’s later on in life as a trustee or philanthropically,” King said. “I’ve always had this love for IU and passion for IU, but on the board of trustees, I was able to make a difference in the direction the University is taking.”