March 26, 2014
Student leaders from California, Clarion universities named to PASSHE’s Board of Governors
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The state Senate has confirmed Chelsea E. Getsy, president of the Student Government Association at California University of Pennsylvania, and Todd Garrett, president of the Clarion University of Pennsylvania Student Senate, to serve on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors.
Getsy of Plum Borough and Garrett of Mercer will join Sara J. Dickson, the former
president of the Clarion University Student Senate, on the 20-member Board, which
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 universities operate.
The three student members who serve on the Board are selected from among the sitting
student government presidents at the PASSHE universities at the time a vacancy occurs.
Once appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Senate, a student member may serve
until he or she is graduated. The three student members participate in all discussions
of the Board and have the same voting rights as all other members.
Getsy, a junior business administration and management/marketing major with a minor
in leadership, has a 3.9 grade point average and expects to graduate from Cal U. in
May 2015. She was elected SGA president last May and also is a member of the Student
Association Inc. (SAI) Board of Directors. She served as Big Event Day of Service,
AmeriCorps chair, last spring and has been a peer mentor since September 2012. She
has attended numerous student leadership conferences, including the National Center
for Student Leadership.
While in high school, Getsy achieved the rank of Colonel and served as a commander
overseeing 200 cadets in Air Force Junior ROTC. She also earned 32 college credits
in a variety of subject areas in advance of her college admission.
Garrett, a junior political science major with a 3.6 GPA, also expects to graduate
in May 2015. He was elected University Senate president last May and is a member of
the Clarion Students’ Association Board of Directors. He also is a Board member of
the Newman Club and previously was secretary of the Campus Ministry Board.
He is the recipient of numerous scholarships and has attended various student leadership
conferences, including the Students for Life National Conference and the National
Youth Leadership State Conference.
PASSHE is the largest provider of higher education in the Commonwealth, enrolling
about 112,000 students. The 14 PASSHE universities offer degree and certificate programs
in more than 120 areas of study. About 500,000 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 and PASSHE Center City in Philadelphia.