Meet your student trustee: graduate student Janice Farlow

An M.D. Ph.D. candidate at the IU School of Medicine, Janice Farlow is the 2013 through 2015 student trustee.

The student trustee has the same role and powers as the other trustees, Farlow said, but gives the student perspective at trustee meetings.

However, she will serve a two-year term and not a three-year term like other recent Trustee appointees Randall Tobias, James Morris and Derica Rice.

She applied for the position and was appointed by Gov. Mike Pence.

She succeeds former student trustee Cora Griffin.

According to a press release, Farlow was a Wells Scholar at IU and received an honors bachelor’s degree in biology and romance languages.

She went on to study molecular genetics at the graduate level and was a member of the Medical Student Council at the IU School of Medicine.

Farlow served as a member of the Board of Aeons, IU’s 12-member student board that conducts research projects for the president’s office.

She is expected to graduate from IU’s School of Medicine with an M.D. Ph.D. in molecular genetics in 2017.

“I am delighted that Janice is the new student trustee,” said IU Provost and Vice President Lauren Robel in an email.

“As a Wells Scholar and graduate of this campus, she brings great knowledge of student life and academic programs to the table. She has been generous with her time already, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to work closely with her.”

Farlow applied for the position last year and attended her first board meeting in August.

She said she plans to take a “critical look at student wellness” this year.

“I’m honored and humbled to be entrusted with this responsibility,” Farlow said. “The Student Trustee is really well poised to work with and understands the student experience ... I want to learn as much as I can.”

Farlow said her learned time management skills will help her in fulfilling the student trustee position.

“I’m not nervous in preparing for this position,” Farlow said. “There will definitely be a learning period. I’m really excited to give back to IU.”

The student trustee position is voluntary with minimal compensation.

Farlow will continue to study in the School of Medicine during her two-year term. 

“There are already incredible things being done at IU,” Farlow said. “My primary goal is to preserve the opportunities at IU for students and generations to come.”

­— Hannah Alani

Follow administration reporter Hannah Alani
on Twitter @alohalanii.