The Student Trustee Selection Committee is accepting applications for the graduate and professional student position on the Ohio State Board of Trustees.
"The student trustees at Ohio State, while they are the only nonvoting member of the board, are fully involved in all board meetings including executive session," said David Frantz, secretary of the board.
There are two student trustees at OSU, one undergraduate student and one graduate or professional student. They are responsible for representing the citizens of Ohio and providing a student perspective to the discussions and decisions at the board level, said Christopher Alvarez-Breckenridge, the current graduate student trustee. His term ends in May.
Alvarez-Breckenridge, a medical and doctoral student, said the student trustees serve two-year terms and are chosen through a process that begins with a written application and ends with an appointment by the governor.
The 2008 applications are being accepted from graduate or professional students who have at least two years left at OSU.
The student trustee positions require a huge time commitment and applicants must have a strong work ethic, good articulation and the ability to absorb information quickly, Frantz said. They also must be willing and able to work on behalf of the institution to make OSU the best university it can be.
The written application is about five pages long and is reviewed by the Student Trustee Selection Committee, which is made up of student government presidents and other appointed students, said Debra Van Camp, a junior in food science and nutrition and agribusiness and applied economics and is the current undergraduate student trustee.
The selection committee interviews 10 to 12 students and then chooses five applications to be forwarded to the governor's office, she said. Then, there are more interviews and the governor's office eventually makes the appointment.
Alvarez-Breckenridge said that although the application process is long it should not discourage students from applying because it is a great learning experience in how OSU operates and fits into the context of the state of Ohio.
Alvarez-Breckenridge said serving as a student trustee has taught him many valuable lessons he will take with him long after his term ends.
"It was a tremendously worthwhile experience," he said. "I found that being on the Board of Trustees (and) the things that you learn in that setting percolate through not just your position as a student trustee, but essentially all aspects of your life."
Anyone interested in applying for the student trustee position should download the application at www.trustees.osu.edu. Applications are due Jan. 25.
Lindsay Betz can be reached at betz.49@osu.edu.
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