The state Senate has confirmed the president of Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania’s Student Government Association to serve on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Jude C. Butch of Lilly, a secondary education/history major at Slippery Rock, joins Regina M. Donato of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and Mark Collins Jr. of Indiana University of Pennsylvania as student representatives on the 20-member Board.

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 bring a unique perspective to the Board of Governors on behalf of all of our students,” said Board Chairman Charles A. Gomulka. “They provide valuable input into all of our discussions and play an integral role in the decision-making process.”

Butch, who has been a member of the Slippery Rock SGA since 2002, was elected president in Spring 2004. He also serves on the University Hearing & Appeals Board, the Slippery Rock University Academic Forum, the Recreation Center Advisory Board and the Board of Directors of Co-operative Activities. He is involved in numerous other campus organizations, including the Student Ambassador Program and Academic Calendar Committee.

Butch has participated for three years in the Leadership Incentive International Tours program, which most recently visited London and Paris and was nominated earlier this year as a Slippery Rock University Rising Star.

He has worked in the University’s admissions office for the past two years and also has worked as a student supervisor for the Cambria County Anti Drug and Alcohol Youth Fair during each of the last two summers. He has volunteered with the American Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and at the Autumn Grove Senior Citizens Home in Grove City.

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; Kim E. Lyttle of Pittsburgh and C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni of Bryn Mawr, vice chairs; Rep. Matthew E. Baker, Wellsboro; Secretary of Education Francis V. Barnes; Marie Conley Lammando, Steelton; Paul S. Dlugolecki, Mechanicsburg; Daniel P. Elby, York; David P. Holveck, Malvern; Sen. Vincent Hughes, Philadelphia; Christine Toretti Olson, Indiana; Gov. Edward G. Rendell; Sen. James J. Rhoades, Mahanoy City; David M. Sanko, Harrisburg; and John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh. There are 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.