The state Senate has confirmed Jason B. Bozzone, a senior at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, to serve as one of three student members on the Board of Governors of the State System of Higher Education.

Bozzone is president of the Student Government Association at Kutztown and is chair of the State System’s Board of Student Government Presidents, which is comprised of the student leaders from each of the 14 state-owned universities.

A secondary education major with a concentration in social studies and political science, Bozzone expects to graduate in December. He is a resident of Tobyhanna and is the son of Bernard and Claire Bozzone.

The 20-member Board of Governors has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the development and operation of the State System. The governors establish broad fiscal, personnel and educational policies under which the System universities operate. The three student members on the Board have full voting rights.

“Our student board members are equal participants in all of our discussions and policy-making decisions,” said Board Chairman F. Eugene Dixon Jr. “The perspective they bring to the Board on behalf of our more than 94,000 students is critical, and, indeed, essential, if we are to meet fully all of our students’ needs.

“Serving students is why we exist,” Dixon added. “We need to listen to their opinions and to their ideas.”

“Through his leadership of the Board of Student Government Presidents, Jason Bozzone already has provided invaluable service to the System,” said System Chancellor James H. McCormick. “As a new member of our governing Board, his contributions as a spokesman for our diverse student body will become even more significant.”

Student members are selected from among the university student government presidents serving at the time a vacancy occurs. Once confirmed, they may serve on the Board until their graduation. The other student governor currently on the board is Christopher J. Cerski from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. There is one vacancy.

Other members of the Board of Governors are Dixon of Lafayette Hill; Vice Chairs Kim E. Lyttle of Pittsburgh and R. Benjamin Wiley of Erie; and Syed R. Ali-Zaidi, Shippenville; Muriel Berman, Allentown; Rep. Jeffrey W. Coy, Shippensburg; Daniel P. Elby, York; Glenn Y. Forney, Brandenton, Fla.; Charles A. Gomulka, Pittsburgh; Secretary of Education Eugene W. Hickok Jr., Harrisburg; Sen. F. Joseph Loeper, Drexel Hill; Rocco A. Ortenzio, Lemoyne; Gov. Thomas J. Ridge, Harrisburg; Rep. Jere W. Schuler, Lampeter; Sen. Patrick J. Stapleton, Indiana; John K. Thornburgh, Pittsburgh; and Christine J. Toretti, Indiana.

Bozzone has served as SGA president at Kutztown since 1996, and also is secretary of the Board of Directors of Kutztown University Student Services Inc. He is responsible for developing and administering the student body’s $3.5 million budget, which provides funding for athletic programs and other student activities, and overseeing the operation of the campus bookstore.

He has served as a national officer with the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and was a student ambassador to such visiting dignitaries as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and retired Gens. Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf.

Bozzone has served on various university committees, including those involved in policy enforcement, budgeting and finance, public relations and state advocacy. He has appeared as a motivational speaker for Governor Mifflin School District’s Student Government Association and is a counselor for the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils.

The State System of Higher Education comprises 14 universities throughout the Commonwealth, and is the largest provider of higher education in the state. One of every 29 Pennsylvanians is attending or is a graduate of a System university. The State System is the 17^th largest employer in the state, with more than 11,700 employees.

The 14 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. The System also operates branch campuses in Clearfield, Kittanning, Oil City and Punxsutawney and several regional education centers.