“I think it’s really important that a student trustee stays in tune with students.”
That expectation for a student trustee, articulated by Ryan Lombardi, vice president for Student Affairs, has some students on campus questioning whether one of Ohio University student advocates is fulfilling her role.
Amanda Roden, a first-year student trustee and a junior studying Spanish, is interning at Cristo Rey Columbus High School spring semester, giving her fewer opportunities for student contact.
However, Roden says the internship hasn’t phased her involvement at OU as she returns to campus regularly to perform her duties.
“As far as being away from campus, I’ve been back multiple times now for meetings, to talk to Allison (Arnold) … I’ve talked to administrators, I read The Post, I read Compass, I’ve met the trustee applicants,” Roden said.
So far, Roden said she has come to campus every other week, adding she will be busier in March but plans to visit OU three times in April.
“I don’t think she’s fulfilling her duty properly as a student trustee,” said Amrit Saini, vice president of Student Senate and current chair of the student trustee selection committee. “It’s entirely necessary to be on campus to measure the heartbeat of campus and to measure what students are thinking.”
Saini was not Senate vice president or chair of the committee when Roden went through the selection process last spring.
Roden said she uses her cell phone, email and social media to stay in touch with students, though Saini does not believe that is an effective way to monitor campus.
Roden’s internship, combined with an online sociology course, make her a full-time student, she said, as OU’s Department of Modern Languages approved her schedule.
“The full-time status requirement is true for nominees. There is no mention of a full-time status requirement for acting student trustees,” said Peter Mather, OU Board of Trustees secretary, saying she discussed her internship plans in advance with the board and Lombardi who both approved her decision.
Roden added that she did not know of the internship opportunity when she applied to be a student trustee in February 2012, a fact her application confirms.
“Being a student trustee does require a certain amount of on-campus activity,” said Dani Parker, a former student trustee and a senior studying public relations. “Through (Roden’s) correspondence with Allison (Arnold), coming down to campus and making (Board of Trustees) meetings, she’s definitely serving in a position that makes her still able to … be functional in the role.”
Arnold, a second-year student trustee and a senior studying public relations, says her work on-campus has been busy without Roden but is no harder than she expected.
“I think some of the students might be concerned because they haven’t seen her and it’s a big goal of mine to make the position more visible,” Arnold said. “Amanda is dedicated to her position and her title and I talk to her multiple times a week and so do other administrators and trustees … I have full confidence in her.”
dd195710@ohiou.edu
