June 20, 2002

Millersville Student Senate president named to Board of Governors

Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu

Thestate Senate has confirmed Millersville University of Pennsylvania Student Senate President Brandon W. Danz of Strasburg to serve on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors.
Danz, a senior majoring in secondary education/social studies, with a minor in athletic coaching, joins student representatives from Edinboro and Shippensburg Universities of Pennsylvania on the 20-member board. He is the son of Roseanne Daecher and Bill Danz.
Danz is in his second term as Student Senate president at Millersville. He also was elected in the fall to a one-year term as vice chairperson of the State System’s Board of Student Government Presidents, which comprises the student leaders from each of the 14 state-owned universities. He is a two-time recipient of the National Collegiate Student Government Award and has served as a student adviser to the Millersville University Council of Trustees and Faculty Senate.
The Board of Governors has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of the State System. It establishes broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the System universities operate. The three student members on the Board have full voting rights.

“Our student members provide invaluable insight into all of our discussions and policy-making decisions,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “The perspective they bring to the Board on behalf of our more than 98,000 students is essential to our ability to meet fully all of our students’ needs.”

Student members of the Board of Governors are selected from among the university student government presidents serving at the time a vacancy occurs. Once nominated and confirmed, they may serve on the Board until their graduation.

The governor appoints the majority of the other Board members, who also must be confirmed by the Senate and serve for four years or until a new member is named. The Board also includes the governor or his designee, the secretary of education or his designee and four legislators.

Other members of the Board of Governors are Gomulka of Pittsburgh; Kim E. Lyttle of Pittsburgh and R. Benjamin Wiley of Erie, vice chairs; Syed R. Ali-Zaidi, Shippenville; Angela M. Ambrose, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania; Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, Shippensburg; Daniel P. Elby, York; David P. Holveck, Malvern; Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, Philadelphia; Patricia K. Poprik, Langhorne; Sen. James J. Rhoades, Mahanoy City; Gov. Mark S. Schweiker, Harrisburg; David M. Sanko, Harrisburg; B. Michael Schaul, Mechanicsburg; Rep. Jere W. Schuler, Lampeter; John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh; Christine J. Toretti, Indiana; Kara L. Wealand, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania; and Secretary of Education Charles B. Zogby, Harrisburg

With more than 98,600 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. Its 14 universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. The state-owned universities are Bloomsburg, California, Cheyney, Clarion, East Stroudsburg, Edinboro, Indiana, Kutztown, Lock Haven, Mansfield, Millersville, Shippensburg, Slippery Rock and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and the University Center for Southwest Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh. The regional centers are part of the Educational Resources Group, which is responsible for coordinating statewide programming.