March 27, 2017
Student leaders from California, Indiana, Slippery Rock universities named to Board of Governors
Contact: Kevin Hensil, khensil@passhe.edu
Harrisburg – The state Senate has unanimously confirmed student leaders from California, Indiana and Slippery Rock Universities of Pennsylvania to serve on the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.
The new student Board members are Shaina Marie Hilsey of Garnet Valley, president
of the Student Government Association at Cal U.; Brian Swatt of Jermyn, president
of the Student Government Association at IUP; and Logan L. Steigerwalt of Northampton,
president of the Student Government Association at Slippery Rock.
The Board of Governors has overall responsibility for planning and coordinating the
development and operation of the State System, 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 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.
The three student members who serve on the Board are selected from among the sitting student government presidents at the 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.
“I am excited to welcome these three student leaders to the Board of Governors and
look forward to their participation in all of our discussions,” said Board Chair Cynthia
D. Shapira. “It is important to have the students’ perspective throughout our deliberations
and decision making.”
Hilsey is a junior sport management major with a concentration in professional golf
management and a minor in business administration. In addition to serving as SGA president,
Hilsey also is a member of the Student Association Inc. (SAI) Board of Directors,
which oversees the student activity fee budget and supports student clubs and activities.
She has participated in both The Big Event and Relay for Life in each of the past
two years and has attended multiple leadership conferences, including the Pennsylvania
Conference for Women.
Hilsey is a member of the Cal U. Professional Golf Management Student Society and
a member of the university’s women’s golf team. She served internships with the Vineyard
Golf Club in Edgartown, Mass., and the Wildwood Golf and Country Club in Cape May
Court House, N.J., and also works in the Office of Exercise Science and Sport Studies
at the university.
Swatt, a sophomore majoring in both political science and economics, expects to graduate
from IUP in May 2019. In addition to serving as SGA president, he is a member of the
IUP CO-OP Board of Directors, the Kappa Sigma fraternity and the College Republicans.
He is an Eagle Scout and has served as both an instructor at the National Leadership
Seminar for Order of the Arrow and as an assistant aquatics director at the Goose
Pond Scout Reservation in Lake Ariel.
Swatt received both the Diocese of Scranton Bishop’s Award and the Sen. John Blake
Student Ambassador Legislative Competition Scholarship. He also has worked in Advancement
Services at IUP.
Steigerwalt is a senior marketing and finance dual major at Slippery Rock and expects
to graduate in May. He then will enroll in the Master of Business Administration program
at Notre Dame. He has served as SGA president for the past two years.
He is a Board of Governors Scholarship recipient and is responsible for all aspects
of planning and coordinating student volunteer activities across the United States
through the university’s CareBreak program.
Steigerwalt also is an Eagle Scout. He also has worked as a broker assistant for New
Pennsylvania Realty Inc. and is a ski instructor at Blue Mountain ski resort.
“Students are at the center of every decision we make, and it is so important to have
their voice in this process. I’m convinced these three student leaders will do a great
job,” said Chancellor Frank T. Brogan.
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education is the largest provider of higher
education in the Commonwealth, with more than 100,000 degree-seeking students and
thousands more who are enrolled in certificate and other career-development programs.
Collectively, the 14 universities that comprise the State System offer more than 2,300
degree and certificate programs in more than 530 academic areas. Nearly 520,000 State
System university alumni live in Pennsylvania.
The State System 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 universities also operate
branch campuses in Oil City (Clarion), Freeport and Punxsutawney (IUP), and Clearfield
(Lock Haven), and offer classes and programs at several regional centers, including
the Dixon University Center in Harrisburg and in Center City in Philadelphia.