A new face will be making major decisions along with Ohio University President Roderick McDavis and the rest of the board of trustees next school year.
The board of trustees is made up of 14 individuals who make decisions regarding fi nances, faculty, staff and facili ties throughout the year at its three board meetings. Voting members and student trustees are appointed by the governor.
Peggy Viehweger was ap pointed as one of OU’s non-voting national trustees by the board. Viehweger is a 1971 OU graduate who is the former president and CEO of Supresta in New York. Viehweger replac es Henry Heilbrunn, whose term expired in June.
In previous board meetings, Heilbrunn was an advocate against relying on tuition to fund university expenses and voiced against the guaran teed tuition model, which the board voted in favor for at its June meeting.
Viehweger is the grand daughter of Don C. Peden, the namesake of OU’s football stadium. Her term expires in 2016.
The board has previously been criticized by some stu dents for its inaccessibil ity. During the 2012-13 school year, four students were ar rested for unlawfully protest ing an April trustees meeting in which the board increased tuition rates for the second consecutive year.
The board encourages stu dents to contact the two non-voting OU student trustees who hold regular office hours to voice their opinions to the board. Leg islation is currently in the Ohio Senate to give student trustees voting rights, but many state universities have expressed dis interest in passing the bill. OU has not yet expressed an opin ion on the matter.
The full board includes: Chair Sandra Anderson, Vice Chair David Brightbill, Cary Cooper, N. Victor Goodman, Janetta King, Kevin Lake, Dave Scholl, Janelle Simmons, Da vid Wolfort, National Trustee J. Patrick Campbell, Alumni Rep resentative William Hilyard, and student trustees Amanda Roden and Keith Wilbur.
