The board of trustees' Trusteeship Committee members selected Marc Tomik as their nominee for student trustee, according to Tomik and Student Government President Joe Vidulich.
Tomik, a senior in the School of Public Affairs, is a former program associate in AU's University College program and served as treasurer of the AU Screamin' Eagles Pep Band during the last school year. He is also a member of AU Ambassadors and Friends of AU Library, according to information from Tomik and the university's Web site.
The student trustee brings a student's perspective to board discussions and is able to participate as a member on board committees. Other student representatives - the leaders of the SG, Graduate Leadership Council and Student Bar Association - represent the interests of their respective student constituencies and serve as resource members on board committees, according to Mark Huey, secretary to the board of trustees.
Former SG President Ashley Mushnick, former GLC Executive Chair Wade Murphy and former SBA President Jon Feere selected Tomik and two other students as finalists for the Trusteeship Committee to consider. The other students were Matt Simpson, a graduate student in the School of International Service and Washington College of Law, and Rachel Weiner, a third-year student in the Washington College of Law and a 2005 graduate from SPA, The Eagle previously reported.
Tomik was the best person to talk about AU from a student's perspective, Vidulich said.
"He knows this school like the back of his hand," he said.
Tomik originally applied for the position because people told him his past involvement in university programs made him a good candidate, Tomik said.
"I decided I had a good grasp of many parts of AU and thought it would be a good way to serve out my senior year," he said.
Tomik will now need to be confirmed by the United Methodist Church's General Board of Higher Education and Ministry. The church's board was expected to decide whether to confirm Tomik at the end of last week, but had not let the board of trustees know about their decision as of Tuesday afternoon, Huey said.
Members of the board of trustees will vote on Tomik's nomination at their next regular meeting from Sept. 27 to 28, according to Vidulich.
If confirmed, Tomik would serve as student trustee until May 18, the day the board's spring meeting concludes.
Interested students will be able to apply to be the student trustee for the 2008-2009 school year during the spring semester. Once the application deadline passes, the leaders of the SG, GLC and SBA will narrow down the list of candidates and will nominate finalists for the Trusteeship Committee to choose from, The Eagle previously reported.
Tomik said he wants to make sure there is a student perspective included in the board's discussions.
"I won't necessarily be a student representative, because there already is a student representative on the board," he said. "But if issues do come up, I'll pass those along and be a student voice. The board issues aren't going to be as relevant to current students, but they will definitely affect students who are here in the future, so I'll mainly be adding a student perspective to those discussions."
The leaders of the SG, GLC and SBA always serve as campus representatives at board meetings, according to information on the university's Web site. The student trustee has no voting power on the board.
Tomik said he was excited to be picked as the committee's nominee but also said he felt it would be a challenge for any one person to represent the interests of all of AU's student populations.
"It's exciting, but also really daunting because it's a position where one person has to represent the interests of students in AU's undergraduate, graduate and law programs," he said. "It's definitely going to be a challenge, but it's a position where someone can continue to help AU be a better place"
