A student is needed to fill a position on the Cal State University Board of Trustees.
The California State Student Association conducts a search every two years for a new student to take the non-voting seat on the BOT. The governor ultimately appoints the student trustee.
Of the 25 trustees, two are student trustees.
Chico State University senior Jillian Ruddell is the current student trustee in the non-voting seat.
She will take the voting position, currently held by Sacramento State University student Steven Dixon.
During the first year, the student trustee has all the rights and privileges of a trustee aside from voting, then gains the right to vote the second year, CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said.
To ensure a student position on the board, the non-voting trustee would automatically take the voting seat in case the voting trustee cannot complete the two-year term.
Apart from reimbursements related to the cost of attending the meetings, the trustees do not receive salaries for being on the Board.
“[The student trustee] position is extremely important,” assistant executive director for CSSA Sarah Vagts said. “It’s probably the most important student leadership position in the system because this person does have a role in shaping the policy for the entire CSU system.”
The student trustees make decisions on tuition, capital projects, education policies and have established the “Early Start Program” and “The Graduation Initiative” in past years.
Student trustees meet with the board six times a year at the CSU Office of the Chancellor in Long Beach.
“Our goal is to get this out to as many students as possible,” Associated Students Inc. President Lucy Nguyen said via email. “We also highly encouraged students who are already active such as those in student government or have gone up to Sacramento to lobby to apply, since they already have an interest.”
Applications are open to all students, undergraduates and graduates, with a minimum 2.0 GPA and of junior-standing by July 1.
Students must also be continuously enrolled through June 30, 2014 because the position requires a two-year commitment.
CSSA is currently accepting online applications from prospective students until 5 p.m. on April 6.