The Portland State Board of Trustees and Associated Students of PSU are seeking student trustee applicants eligible to serve a two-year term on the PSU’s governing entity, beginning in June 2016.
The BOT, made of up 14 trustees and President Wim Wiewel as a non-voting member, includes one student trustee position.
A Nov. 2 press release from ASPSU described the role of the PSU BOT.
“The [BOT] has the ability to set tuition, institutional policies and other major decisions that greatly affect PSU students,” said the press release.
“ASPSU is taking the student recommendation process very seriously and will ensure a process that is both ethical and allows for the best student nominee to be chosen,” the press release continued.
Current student trustee Maria Carolina Gonzalez-Prats, a Ph.D. student at the PSU School of Social Work, is the second student trustee to serve on the BOT. Gonzalez-Prats replaced the BOT’s first student trustee, Pamela Campos-Palma, in December 2014.
ASPSU President Dana Ghazi described the qualities she’ll seek in student trustee applicants.
“What I’m interested in is someone that’s really aware of the issues that are happening,” Ghazi said. [Someone who is] aware of…where students’ concerns lie with some issues—not necessarily having a certain opinion on it—but really very aware of the complexity of the issues.”
“And [someone who] really has at heart the interest of the students they’re representing,” she continued.
ASPSU opened the application for the student trustee on Nov. 2. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. on Nov. 25. ASPSU representatives will interview eligible applicants on Dec. 4.
After the Dec. 4 interviews, ASPSU representatives will forward three student trustee recommendations to the office of Governor Kate Brown, who ultimately makes the final selection.
The student trustee interview committee with include ASPSU representatives and outgoing student trustee Gonzalez-Prats. Ghazi said ASPSU is looking for two students outside of ASPSU to sit on the student trustee interview committee. She added that she’d like to see representatives from other student organizations get involved in the interview process.
Student trustee applications can be found at pdx.edu/board or in hardcopy form at the ASPSU office in Smith Memorial Student Union 117. Students interested in serving on the student trustee interview committee should email Ghazi or Vice President David Martinez. Contact info can be found at aspsu.pdx.edu
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