Thestate Senate has confirmed the president of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Student Congress to serve on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Mark Collins Jr. of Easton, a political science, criminology and economics major at IUP, joins Reginia M. Donato of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania as student representatives on the 20-member board. A vacant third student seat is in the process of being filled.

The Board of Governors has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of PASSHE. It establishes broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the PASSHE universities operate. The three student members on the Board have full voting rights.

“Our student members provide valuable input and 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 104,000 students is essential to our ability to meet fully all of our students’ needs.”

Collins has been a member of the IUP Student Congress and University Senate since 2001. He was elected president of the Student Congress last year and serves on the library and education services and liberal studies committees of the University Senate.

Last fall, Collins was elected parliamentarian/historian of the Board of Student Government Presidents (BSGP), which comprises the student government presidents from the 14 PASSHE universities.

Collins also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Student Cooperative Association at IUP, which administers a $5 million annual budget and has responsibility for managing the student union building and for helping to fund the university’s athletic programs, club sports and numerous student organizations. He has served on a variety of university committees, including the University Planning Council, Indiana Borough Council-University Relations Committee and Student Judicial Board.

Student members of the Board of Governors are selected from among students serving as university student government presidents 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. 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; C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni, Bryn Mawr, vice chair; Rep. Matthew E. Baker, Wellsboro; Marie Conley Lammando, Steelton; Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, Shippensburg; Paul S. Dlugolecki, Mechanicsburg; Daniel P. Elby, York; David P. Holveck, Malvern; Sen. Vincent Hughes, Philadelphia; Kim E. Lyttle, Pittsburgh; Christine Toretti Olson, Indiana; Secretary of Education Vicki L. Phillips; Gov. Edward G. Rendell; Sen. James J. Rhoades, Mahanoy City; David M. Sanko, Harrisburg; and John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh. There are two two vacancies.

With more than 104,000 students, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth. The 14 PASSHE universities offer more than 250 degree and certificate programs in more than 120 areas of study. Nearly 400,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

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. PASSHE also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.