The state Senate has confirmed the student government presidents from Bloomsburg and West Chester Universities of Pennsylvania to serve on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE).

Joshua A. O’Brien, a political science and public administration and communications studies major at Bloomsburg University, and Kyle J. Mullins, a political science major at West Chester University, were confirmed by the Senate after being nominated by Governor Edward G. Rendell. They join Allison Peitz of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania as the 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 an important perspective to the Board of Governors,” said Board Chairman Kenneth M. Jarin. “They represent the views of our more than 109,000 students across the entire State System, providing valuable input into all of our discussions and playing an integral role in the decision-making process.”

O’Brien is president of Community Government Association, Inc., the student government organization at Bloomsburg. He also is president of Honeysuckle Student Holdings, Inc., which supervised the construction of a $17 million student apartment complex adjacent to the campus, and he co-founded the Political Organizations for Student Involvement, a coalition of student organizations at Bloomsburg that organized a political action committee to support student participation in local politics.

He served as a field representative for the Campus Leadership Program, for which he organized a Youth Leadership School, and assisted with two others held in Richmond, Va., and Syracuse, N.Y.

O’Brien, the son of Tammy Love of Harrisburg and Roy O’Brien of Middletown, is a graduate of Dauphin County Technical School. He is an Eagle Scout and a Microsoft certified systems administrator and Cisco certified networking associate.

Mullins is president of West Chester University’s Student Government Association. He has worked in the University’s Office of Service Learning and Volunteer Service and has served as an intern for Senator Vincent J. Hughes in Philadelphia.

Mullins is the son of Michael and Christina Mullins of Peckville. He is a graduate of Valley View High School, where he also served as student body president. While in high school, he was the recipient of the Lackawanna County District Attorney’s Ambassador Against Drugs Award and the Peckville Lions Club Award for Academic Excellence, Humanitarianism, Character and Leadership.

With more than 109,000 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 405,000 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, Freeport, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional centers, including the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg.