The Wayne State College Student Senate is expecting applications for the new trustee for Wayne State College to come into the Resident Life office up to Nov. 7.

“The process of the application is to have some information about yourself, list major/minor, grade, etc.,” WSC Student Senate Trustee Ria Pedersen said. “We also need 3 letters of recommendation, it can be from a faculty member, student, or an administrator and a one-page statement of what contributions that applicant trustee believes they should make to their college, and the state college system as a whole and why they would want to be the trustee.”

Student Senate President Kody Wageman has had his hands full with overseeing the application process and helping determine the new student trustee.

“When we receive all of [the applications] on the 8th, we get together as a committee and review them and on that committee, we have 8 members, 4 student senators, me, Ria and two advisors,” Wageman said. “We go through them and narrow it down to 3 candidates, to then forward it to the Nebraska State College system office in Lincoln and then the governor will choose one of the three candidates for WSC Student Trustee.”

As the current student trustee, Pedersen knows the new trustee will have much ground to cover, when it comes to “understanding the system as a whole.”

“The state colleges are Chadron, Purdue and Wayne and then the governing body for each of those colleges are the Board of Trustees,” Pedersen said. “So they are the ones who set the policies, which are the governing laws for each of the colleges.”

According to Pedersen, the student trustees will sit on the Marketing Enrollment and Attention Committee. The committee consists of seven voting members and three nonvoting trustees. Both Pederson and Wageman know the trustee position comes with challenges.

“I attend all of the board of trustee meetings, from each of the state colleges at least one time, to see what is going on at their colleges,” Pedersen said. “So, you really get a whole picture of the whole system. We bring that information from the meetings back to the senates and we all sit on the senates of our respective colleges and keep everyone updated on what is going on.”

With the whole picture of the position, the president oversees the whole process.

“I am part of the selection committee, so my role is to facilitate the application process along with Ria and we are starting a semester early [this year],” Wageman said. “[We’re doing this] so the new trustee can have a semester of practice under their belt before they go off on their own.”
Working alongside the president of Student Senate, the trustee collects the information needed for the future of the College. Wageman believed he and Pedersen accomplished their goals together.

“I think the trustees bring a lot of good information back from the board meetings,” Wageman said. “They do provide a better outlook of what Wayne State is looking at from the board meetings. You can kind of predict the future with the board meetings and what they bring back, it’s just a good update. It’s always good to have a student representative on anything related to the college because that is what the college is for, the students.”

Pedersen felt acting as a student trustee was “a huge honor.”

“I really thought I would not have gotten to this level, but I am so grateful for it,” Pedersen said. “It has given me so much more experience. I feel like I am giving back to my constituents at Wayne State and also helping those at the other colleges too. It has been very enjoyable.”
Wageman also has some advice for students who still wish to apply.

“The applications are due on Nov. 7, in the student activities res life office,” Wageman said. “[Students] can get applications up there too,” Wageman said.