The state Senate has confirmed three new members to the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

The new members are:

• Kenneth M. Jarin, a partner in the Philadelphia-based law firm Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll.
• Guido M. Pichini, president of Security Guards Inc. and its subsidiaries, WSK and Associates Consulting Group and Vigilant Security Services, all of Wyomissing. Mr. Pichini is a member and former chair of the Council of Trustees at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.
• Aaron A. Walton, senior vice president of corporate affairs for Highmark Inc. of Pittsburgh. Mr. Walton is vice chair of the Council of Trustees at California University of Pennsylvania.

The 20-member Board of Governors has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of PASSHE, which comprises Pennsylvania’s 14 public universities. The Board establishes broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the PASSHE universities operate.

The Board membership is made up of 11 public members and three PASSHE students who are nominated by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, four legislators, the Governor or his designee and the Secretary of Education or his designee.

Kenneth M. Jarin represents both public and private employers in the areas of labor relations, contract negotiations, interest arbitration, employment discrimination litigation, and wage and hour disputes. He also counsels clients on matters related to the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act. He has participated in administrative proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board and various state agencies. He is chief labor negotiator for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia.

Mr. Jarin is past Chairman of the Board of the Philadelphia Region of the Anti-Defamation League and a member of the ADL’s National Executive Committee. The ADL presented him with its 2003 Torch of Liberty Award. Mr. Jarin also received the City of Hope Cancer Center’s “Spirit of Life” Award in 2003.

He serves as chairman of the Board of Directors of the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia and is a member of the boards of directors for the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and the Penns Landing Corporation. He served on the National Council on the Arts, the governing board of the National Endowment for the Arts, from 1994 to 1998.

Mr. Jarin earned his undergraduate degree from Duke University and his law degree from Temple University.

He replaces David M. Sanko on the Board of Governors. Mr. Sanko was appointed to the Board in 1999.

Guido M. Pichini is a licensed private investigator in the states of Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania and is a member of the National Association of Professional Investigators and the National Association of Chiefs of Police.

He served two terms as a member of the Wyomissing Hills Borough Council and four terms as the borough’s mayor. He is a member of the Berks County and Pennsylvania Mayors’ Associations, having served as president in 1988. He is a member of the American Society for Industrial Security, the American College of Forensic Examiners International (ACFEI) and is ACFEI certified in homeland security.

Mr. Pichini is a member of the President’s Council of Alvernia College, the Executive Board of the Berks Career & Technology Center, and served on the Security and Law Enforcement Advisory Board for Reading Area Community College and the Criminal Justice Advisory Board for the Berks Technical Institute. He was vice president and a member of the Board of Directors of the Reading Symphony Orchestra and recently was elected to the Board of Directors of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

He has served on Kutztown University’s Council of Trustees since 1997, including as chair from 2002 to 2004. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Kutztown University Foundation and is second vice president of the Pennsylvania Association of Councils of Trustees (PACT).

Mr. Pichini graduated from Kutztown University with a degree in education/political science, and completed graduate studies in public administration at Kutztown. He also graduated from Wilson College with certification in the minor judiciary, attaining the highest grade in the history of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Pichini replaces Charles A. Gomulka on the Board of Governors. Mr. Gomulka has served on the Board since 1997, including as chair since July 2000.

Aaron A. Walton is responsible for administering Highmark’s public relations and social mission strategy. He oversees programs that provide access to quality health care and improve the health of the underinsured. His responsibilities also include the creation of health initiative program models that can be utilized by the government and the community in general. In addition, he is responsible for formulating the corporate response to public policy and regional economic development issues.

Mr. Walton oversees the departments of Community Affairs, Community Health and Strategic Health Initiatives. He also is responsible for the Highmark Caring Foundation, a nonprofit organization that administers the state’s Blue CHIP and Adult Basic Insurance programs for low- to moderate-income families, and the Highmark Foundation. Additionally, he serves as chairman of the executive committee for Gateway Health Plan, Highmark’s joint venture Medicaid HMO.

He is active in the community, serving as chairman of Health and Wellness of the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Board of Directors; vice chair of the Pittsburgh Foundation’s Board of Directors; secretary of the Highmark Health PAC Executive Committee; a member of the Board of Governors of the Rivers Club; and a trustee at Carlow University. He also is a director of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce Board.

Mr. Walton has been a member of California University’s Council of Trustees since 1997. He served as chair from 1999 to 2003 and has been vice chair since 2003.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and audiology from California University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in public policy and management from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr. Walton replaces John K. Thornburgh on the Board of Governors. Mr. Thornburgh was named to the Board in 1997.

Other members of the Board of Governors are Vice Chairs Kim E. Lyttle of Pittsburgh and C.R. “Chuck” Pennoni of Bryn Mawr; Marie Conley Lammando, Steelton; Paul S. Dlugolecki, Mechanicsburg; Daniel P. Elby, York; David P. Holveck, Malvern; Christine Toretti Olson, Indiana; Sen. James J. Rhoades, R-Schuylkill; Sen. Vincent J. Hughes, D-Philadelphia; Rep. Matthew E. Baker, R-Tioga; Rep. Michael K. Hanna, D-Clinton; student members Jude C. Butch (Slippery Rock), and Mark Collins Jr. (Indiana); Governor Edward G. Rendell; and Secretary of Education Francis V. Barnes. There are two vacancies.

With nearly 106,000 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. More than 400,000 PASSHE alumni live and work in Pennsylvania.

The PASSHE 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.