The Student Member will serve for the 2025–2026 academic year as a full and equal voting member of the Board. This is a tremendous opportunity to weigh in on issues such as funding priorities for the public higher education system and quality of academic programs, as well as to learn about the initiatives of the colleges and universities and the Department of Higher Education to address students' college readiness, college-going and college success rates, and readiness to enter the workforce upon college completion.
The Board of Higher Education meets at least six times per year, generally virtually or on campuses within the public higher education system. Additionally, the Student Member would be assigned to one of the standing advisory councils of the Board, which generally meet virtually or in Boston the week prior to any scheduled Board meeting.
Each year, the BHE Student Member is selected, on a rotating basis, from among the three segments of the public higher education system - either the community colleges, the state universities, or UMass. For the upcoming academic year, the Student Member must be enrolled at a Community College.
| Year | Segment | Student |
|---|---|---|
| 2016–2017 | Community College | Jasson Alvarado-Gomez, Mount Wachusett Community College |
| 2017–2018 | State University | Danielle Dupuis, Bridgewater State University |
| 2018–2019 | UMass | Kush Patel, UMass Boston |
| 2019–2020 | Community College | Abby Velozo, Mount Wachusett Community College |
| 2020–2021 | State University | Charles Bianchi, Massachusetts Maritime Academy |
| 2021–2022 | UMass | Cameron Costa, UMass Dartmouth |
| 2022–2023 | Community College | Travis Lawrence, Massasoit Community College |
| 2024-2025 | State University | Cindy Mack, Bridgewater State University |
| 2023-2024 | UMass | Cindy Mack, Bridgewater State University |
| 2024-2025 | UMass | Niki Nguyen, UMass Boston |
| 2025-2026 | Community College |
While the voting Student Member position must be a Community College student in 2025–2026 year, the Student Advisory Council will also choose UMass student and one State University student to serve as Student Advisors to the Board. The Student Advisors are permitted to be full participants in all meetings and policy discussions, with the only exception being that they are not permitted to vote on motions before the Board.
The deadline to apply for the student board member and segmental advisor positions is May 9, 2025. Elections will take place at the May 15, 2025, SAC meeting. We will follow up with applicants directly, with the meeting time and details.
If you have questions please contact Nicole Johnson at nicjohnson@dhe.mass.edu.
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