The Pennsylvania Association of the Councils of Trustees (PACT) has elected its 2005-06 officers. PACT comprises the members of the Board of Trustees of the 14 Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Universities.
Harry K. Thomas of Erie, a trustee at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, was elected PACT president. Others elected were Dongkyu “Don” Bak of Media, a trustee at Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, first vice president; Guido Pichini of Wyomissing, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, second vice president; Orvan “Van” B. Peterson of Butler, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, secretary; and William B. McIlwaine of Millersville, Millersville University of Pennsylvania, treasurer.
PACT provides professional development opportunities for its members by holding workshops and conferences throughout the year. Each of the 14 PASSHE Universities is governed by an 11-member Council of Trustees. All trustees are automatically members of PACT.
Trustees have a wide range of duties and responsibilities at their universities, all of which are set forth in the state law that created the State System. Those duties include making recommendations to PASSHE for hiring and evaluating the university president, setting the university’s annual budget, approving academic programs and setting room and board and other fees.
An alumnus of Edinboro University, Mr. Thomas has served on the University’s Council of Trustees since 1983 and has been its chairman.
Mr. Bak is a native of Korea and has been a trustee of Cheyney University since 1998. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and a master’s in architecture from the University of Pennsylvania. He is corporate secretary of Baggot & Bak Ltd. Architects.
An alumnus of Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Pichini recently was appointed to PASSHE’s Board of Governors. He has served on Kutztown University’s Council of Trustees since 1997, including as chairman from 2002 to 2004. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Kutztown University Foundation.
Mr. Peterson has been a member of the Slippery Rock University Council of Trustees since 1995, including terms as vice chairman and chairman. He has been a member of PACT’s executive board for five years and previously served one year as the association’s vice president and two years as president.
Retired as a professor of science at Millersville University of Pennsylvania, Mr. McIlwaine has served on the University’s Council of Trustees since 1996. He also is a part-time consultant in science education.
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.