Four students will interview with Gov. John Kasich early next month — and one will be chosen to replace Amanda Roden as one of Ohio University’s student trustees.
The position serves as a liaison between the student body and the Board of Trustees, the university’s governing body.
Kasich, who will appoint the trustee, will interview the candidates in Columbus on March 11.
The winner will be announced at OU’s Leadership Gala on April 2.
The governor picks all student trustees for public universities in the state, said Kasich spokesman Rob Nichols.
The appointed student will join Keith Wilbur, current first-year student trustee, on the board for the 2014-15 academic year.
Wilbur, a junior studying political science and economics, said it’s hard to say what the committee looks for in students, but said good communication and critical analysis skills are qualities he appreciates.
“I personally look for raw skills in a candidate that can be developed further, making them a really competent student trustee,” he said.
OU board members aren’t involved in selecting student trustees, said Peter Mather, OU board secretary.
“(Board members) value students who are engaged on campus in different activities and have connections with students across the campus so that they can represent some of those perspectives to the rest of the board,” Mather said.
“We want student trustees who are in good standing academically ... because there are a lot of demands on the time for student trustees.”
Student trustees aren’t compensated monetarily, but are included in board-related activities, said Roden, a senior studying Spanish.
“It’s been a really great experience that’s absolutely shaped my time at Ohio University and just made me love OU even more,” she said.
Roden, Wilbur and other university representatives were part of the committee that narrowed down the eight candidates who applied for the position.
The Post sat down with the four finalists — Jordan Kelley, Ben Mathes, Joshelyn Smith and Sharmaine Wilcox — to learn more about them and where they stand on current OU topics.
The Post: Do you think the Board of Trustees is accessible
to students?
Kelley: I don’t think that they present themselves as the most approachable people so I think the student trustee is an important link between the student body and the community of Athens and the Board of Trustees.
Mathes: No, and that’s one reason why it’s important to have (a) student trustee member who knows the student body and is willing to put time into making the information that they work with and the decisions that they’re doing through accessible to students.
Smith: Not as much as they should be and that’s something we can help to improve.
Wilcox: Currently, I feel that the board is fairly accessible and I would say that’s through the student trustees right now, but I would like to make it more accessible.
The Post: Where do you stand on student trustee voting rights?
Kelley: I think that student trustees should definitely have the ability to vote.
Mathes: I think student trustees deserve voting rights and I think they would not let the board down or the university down by making improper decisions with those voting rights.
Smith: I would love to have a vote. I really would, but my goal is to be able to articulate my opinion so much to the trustees that even if I don’t have a vote, I’ve made my point.
Wilcox: I’m kind of in between right now. I feel that if we are given the right to vote as a student trustee it will bring the students to the forefront of the decision making by the board, which is really important because the college is basically designed around the students for the students, but I also like that making decisions like that as a student could be a conflict of interest for me.
The Post: What are your thoughts on the guaranteed tuition plan?
Kelley: I don’t feel that I know enough about it to make a statement about that right now.
Mathes: It makes a lot of sense in terms of the financial aspects of it. It increases transparency for those students who can’t afford to go here and additionally that allows the university to have a better sense of what it’s doing on a large budgetary scale, but there are some questions that need to be addressed about how this will affect minority students, how it’ll affect students who on average (are) more likely to drop out before graduating, and what this model is going to mean for them and what policies we can adopt as a university to address those concerns and still maintain our ideals of diversity and equality of access to education.
Smith: I’d like to see it reconsidered and I’d like to see how they justify it in the meetings. I’m not sure if I’m completely sold on the idea yet.
Wilcox: That I’m not quite sure about to be quite honest with you.
The Post: What are your thoughts on the Capital Improvement plan?*
Kelley: I also don’t know what that is. (The Post then explained what the Capital Improvement plan is.) I think it’s a great thing that we’re trying to bring (in) more space for students to be in and hopefully more handicap accessible building for students.
Mathes: I haven’t gotten a chance to look at the full extent of the Capital Improvement plan, how long that goes out — I think it’s 10 years though and a substantial commitment in terms of funds. That will be one of my first jobs as a student trustee is digging into that plan and breaking down what it means financially and why the university had to do the things it did in that plan.
Smith: (Smith did not know what the Capital Improvement plan was and The Post explained.) I would like to see them take into account some environmental issues. We could really be more environmentally conscious.
Wilcox: I genuinely feel that Ohio University is kind of branded on our buildings and our community and so I think that we need to restore our buildings.
The Capital Improvement Plan includes the projected construction projects for the next six years, including the “Master Housing Plan.”
The Post: If you were named the student trustee, what would you hope to accomplish?
Kelley: I would hope to bring a stronger student voice to the Board of Trustees because I know in the past it hasn’t been a very well-known position, so I would want to make sure that everyone knew about the position and knew that I was a resource for them to use to get their voice heard.
Mathes: I hope to have the ability and the skills to analyze and understand the complex information that the board deals with and the best … balance between what the student body currently needs and what the university demands as an institution.
Smith: I’ve already started to brainstorm my plan of action, what I’m going to do. I want people on campus to be more happy; I want students to be happier. … I want to be able to talk to everyone and hear what they want to improve within their school and I want to make it happen.
Wilcox: I hope to accomplish a stronger bond between the students and the board. I know that’s probably said quite often by student trustee applicants but I really feel like during my term if I were to get the position that I would be capable of doing that.
The Post: Do you think the position of a student trustee is effective?
Kelley: I think it could be effective, but it is not being utilized to the best of its abilities. It was the same thing back when I was on the board of education. Because a lot of people don’t know about the position and don’t know that they can use it as a resource, it’s not being used effectively, but if students knew about, I definitely think it could be effective.
Mathes: If it hasn’t been effective before, it has the potential to be incredibly effective. Being able to sit in on board meetings and be able to have access to information that maybe not everyone has, a student has the ability to dig into that a get a lot out of that and then therefore have a strong understanding of the information and therefore be a valuable asset to other board members and if they had their own voting rights they would increasingly be a huge asset.
Smith: It will be when I am, I’ll make sure.
Wilcox: I do feel like it is a very effective position and that’s because the board is making decisions based on the students’ well-being and I think it’s very difficult for them because they’re not on campus every day, they’re not communicating with the students every day and the student trustee has the opportunity to give them that well of knowledge to help guide their decisions.
The Post: If you were to get the position how would you balance being a student and a trustee?
Kelley: My main priority would be to put my school work first but then also right after that would be to get into the Athens community and the student body and make myself known and make myself available to students to use as a resource.
Mathes: It’s all about time management. You’ve got your requirements that you need to get done for school and as a student trustee you’re taking on a responsibility of making sure that you meet your own requirements in a timely manner so you can address the requirements that the position requires. It’s simply having the ability to deal with a lot of different things going on.
Smith: I feel like the job goes hand-in-hand so while I’m also a student, I’m also a trustee.
Wilcox: I feel like time management is crucial to that and right now I’m doing very well with being the president of AIESEC while being a student.
The Post: Why did you apply for the position?
Kelley: I was actually in a similar position my senior year of high school. I was student liaison to the board of education, so I was sitting member of the board of education in (my) hometown and I thought it would be kind of a natural progression.
Mathes: There’s no better position in the university to represent students on such a significant organization. The board has a lot of influence over the financial decisions that are made, policy decisions that are made, and the future and direction of this university and I thought I’d be a good candidate to speak for the students on something that is so important to the student body and so important to this university in general.
Smith: I applied because I love my community; I love this place. I know so much about this place. I know Athens from a community member standpoint and from a student standpoint.
Wilcox: I feel that I have a great amount of change that I’m capable of doing on campus. I wake up every day thinking that there is something new I can do to better myself or better the school just all around … and I feel like the student trustee position is a great opportunity for me to work on that.
@MariaDeVito13
md781510@ohiou.edu
