The Student Government Association is seeking students to apply for nomination to the University of Texas System board of regents and The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to have the opportunity to become the first UTRGV student representative.
The deadline to apply is Sunday and students can submit their applications to the SGA website, UTRGV.edu/sga-studentrep.
To be eligible to apply, students must be enrolled as an undergraduate or graduate student, be in good academic and disciplinary standing, have and maintain a 2.5 cumulative GPA and must remain enrolled at the institution for the duration of the term.
The SGA is looking for students that have a strong drive and self-motivation to contribute to the progress of higher education in Texas and maintain a statewide perspective on higher education (as opposed to representing any single college or university).
“The student regent would be sitting on the board of regents with those who helped to do things like approve institutional budgets, review and approve of policies like handbook of operating procedures policies,” said Rebecca Gadson, UTRGV associate vice president of Student Life and dean of students. “And these are successful corporate, business, education representatives, so it gives people an opportunity to intersect with the variety of talent in the state of Texas.”
Alberto Adame, assistant to the Athletics director, was a nominee for the board of regents in 2016.
“The biggest lesson that I learned was learning about how the schools operate financially, how higher education institutions are financed and how they operate within those resources that they have provided both with their revenue generating streams and with what they get through state appropriations,” Adame said.
He said students should apply because it is a great opportunity to be involved in how the university operates, not only locally but at a statewide level and is a huge learning opportunity for students.
“Be very involved in the decision-making in the state of Texas, to be able to represent the Rio Grande Valley as a pioneer, basically, of that representation at the state level,” Adame said.
The SGA is looking for students from various professional backgrounds, said Delma Olivarez, UTRGV associate dean of students for Student Involvement.
Applications for the board of regents and Coordinating Board student representatives consist of two forms each to fill out. They ask a variety of questions about the student’s background, their experience, community service and academics.
“Then what we do is we verify that people indeed meet the requirements,” Gadson said. “The Student Government Association will review the applications for nomination and submit those applicants who meet eligibility.”
Five UTRGV students will be selected for nomination by the President’s Office and will go through the vetting process at the institutional level, the UT System level and the governor’s level for selection and appointment for one representative to each position.
It is a one-year appointment and during that term, the student will participate in board meetings.
A UTRGV student has never been selected to serve on the board of regents or The Higher Education Coordinating Board.
This would be an opportunity for students to make history for UTRGV and represent the 14 campuses in the University of Texas System.
“It would be great to have our first student selected from our region to be able to really give voice to the experience of our students in South Texas,” Gadson said. “We have a valuable voice to lend and share at the state level and that’s why I think that any of our students can compete with any others from across the state for these kinds of positions.”
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