Student Trustees discuss upcoming meeting with Student Senate

The two student trustees spoke before Student Senate. But what do the student trustees do?

[dropcap txtcolor="#234a83"]S[/dropcap]tudent trustees, whose job is to attend board of trustees meetings and speak on behalf of students, spoke before Student Senate on Wednesday to ask for suggestions for their upcoming meeting with the Ohio University Board of Trustees.Student Trustees Faith Voinovich and Austin McClain asked Student Senate for suggestions on what to bring up at the next meeting.“One of the struggles is that, because the trustees aren’t in Athens all the time, they don’t sometimes know what’s going on or sort of the heartbeat of what’s going on with Ohio University students,” Voinovich said. “So being able to provide a bit more of that, troops on the ground, ears that are here … and just providing them that perspective that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to have.”[AdSense-A]In order to become a student trustee, you have to complete a general application. The university then conducts internal interviews with the applicants it selects. A select number of the interviewed students then attend a town hall, which is open to faculty, staff, students, and the Athens community. The governor’s staff then interviews the top five applicants, and the governor gets the final say on who takes the position.“It’s really just an honor to be a part of this university position, and to serve as a way as a voice or a liaison of the student body to the board of trustees, to be able to make sure that student concerns are heard at the highest level of the university,” McClain said. “That’s a really fulfilling thing to be able to serve in that capacity.”The students don’t vote on the board of trustees but serve as observers at each meeting.“We’re lucky to have a fabulous board who, everyone on the board of trustees is willing to listen,” Voinovich said.At the Student Senate meeting, senators also brought up concerns about a possible 3.5 percent raise on student fees. The Senate also appointed two senators to the University Life Commission and the Committee of the Budget.