Students in City Colleges of Chicago should be paying attention to the Board of Trustees. But, what is it and why should I care? In a quest to discover the purpose of the Board of Trustees, I interviewed Melanny Buitron, the Student Trustee of City Colleges of Chicago to find some answers.
What is the Board of Trustees?
The Board of Trustees is the governing body of City Colleges of Chicago Community College District No. 508. City Colleges of Chicago currently operates seven accredited colleges located throughout Chicago (as according to the CCC website). The Board of Trustees meets on the first or second Thursday of each month (with an exception of January and September) at a time and location designated by the Chairman of the Board. All meetings are monitored and held in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Open Meetings Act and other laws concerning the conduct of these meetings. Within the Board of Trustees, there are three standing Committees and one Ad Hoc Committee that meets on a regular basis. Currently there are 7 members of the Board of Trustees. The Board members are appointed by the Mayor with approval from the City Council of Chicago and serve for three years. In addition, there is one Student Trustee elected through a campus-wide election that represents approximately 60,216 students. This year, the candidate was Miss Melanny Buitron.
What is the position of Student Trustee?
Student trustees participate in board meetings in full and executive sessions, but they do not have a formal vote. They represent and advocate for all credit college students from all seven of the city colleges here in Chicago. The student trustee is responsible for working with the District Director of Activities and Associate Vice Chancellor Preston Harden to coordinate and implement monthly meetings with all seven city colleges’ student government presidents. This is so she can represent the student body with a well rounded consensus. These coordinated members create a group known as the District Student Government Association or DSGA.
The student trustee is also responsible for representing City Colleges of Chicago on the Illinois Community College Board- Student Advisory Committee (ICCB-SAC). ICCB-SAC has 39 members (representing the 39 community college districts in Illinois) and have meetings 3-4 times a year in Springfield (ICCB College Board Website). Student trustees from Community Colleges all over Illinois make up the Student Advisory Committee. During these meetings, they discuss state-wide issues (like MAP grant funding) and they work together to brainstorm for the communicating their initiatives to legislatures and the Illinois Community College Board.
How does the Student Trustee get elected?
The Student Trustee position rotates among the seven city colleges. Wilbur Wright College had their turn to elect a Student Trustee for the 2016-2017 school year. In order to be considered, there was a lengthy application. It was communicated that any Wright College credit student could apply as they completed the application on time. This year’s student trustee, Melanny Buitron, was the only student that completed the application and turned it in on time. She ran uncontested, but it was required for her to receive at least 10% of the vote or approximately 900 student votes. Credit students were able to vote through Blackboard during the voting process last year. Melanny’s term as Student Trustee for CCC started on May 5, 2016.
What types of issues are talked about in a meeting?
Board meetings are formal. The agenda for a Board meeting is sent out to all the trustees at least a week prior to the meeting. Examples of board meeting discussions/votes that directly impact students would be: tuition, consolidation of CCC, the approval of budgets for CCC, etc.
What is the major issue that the Student Government Association (SGA) is bringing up in front of the board (or advocating for)?
It is still early in the year since school is in the summer term. The new cohort of Student Government leaders recently had their first leadership orientation on June 24th hosted at Malcolm X college. As the Fall semester approaches, Buitron will begin to meet with DSGA then she will have a more general idea of major issues that SGA wants her to bring to the Board.
What would Melanny Buitron like to share with the students at Wilbur Wright?
My theme for this academic year is student empowerment. My goal is to empower the student body to achieve a more unified community by creating an engaging environment that the students can call home. It is a true honor to represent all City Colleges of Chicago students. I plan on informing student leaders of administration initiatives as well as the importance on how to effectively communicate with other students, staff, faculty, and district administration. I intend to motivate and empower students to exercise their student rights on a statewide level (i.e. budget crisis pertaining to community college students). I want to encourage the importance of voting in this upcoming general election. I also plan to make sure that student leaders are properly and successfully addressing student concerns.
About Melanny Buitron:
http://www.ccc.edu/menu/Pages/Board-Members.aspx