Smith Student Appointed Student Regent

How could I not apply for a job like this? That was Joel Willchers immediate reaction when asked why he chose to run for the position of student regent on the University System of Maryland's governing board. This kind of opportunity does not knock very often, he adds.

Willcher, a junior business major at the Robert H. Smith School of Business and president of UM's Student Entertainment Events (SEE) was nominated by Maryland Governor Robert L Ehrlich Jr. to serve on the University System of Maryland's Board of Regents. The student regent, chosen from nominees from each University System of Maryland school, serves a one-year term and acts as the student representative on the board, which governs the system. He has the same voting power as other regents.

As the only student from UM to serve on the board in two years, Willcher describes the nomination process as arduous. The process began with a campus competition to select College Park's candidate for the position. As I walked to my interview for the campus competition, I thought about all of the great leaders at the university who would make excellent regents. I felt confident in that I was qualified to do the job and knew that I would be taken seriously by the committee but I had no expectations in terms of the outcome, he says. I was so honored to have been chosen from a pool of what must have been excellent candidates.

After the competition, the System Student Council picked three top candidates and forwarded their names to the systems Chancellor William Kirwan. I was particularly nervous about the meeting at which the student council members interviewed us because, while I was completely comfortable discussing any and every issue pertaining to my university, I was not as familiar as I expected the other candidates to be with the rest of the systems institutions, he says. He believes he won the council over by focusing his comments on the importance of a statewide network of students and of collaborative policy making. My description of the approach that I would take if offered the position must have struck a chord with the council members, he opines.

Chancellor Kirwan confirmed this on hearing of Willchers nomination by the governor. He [Willcher] seemed to have a good grasp of the issues facing higher education ... and was also able to look at the larger public policy issues, Kirwan said.

After a last interview with Chancellor Kirwan, there was nothing for Willcher to do but wait. In mid-February I received a phone call from the governor's appointments office, which I was not expecting until at least April if at all to tell me that he had submitted my name to the State Senate for confirmation. I nearly fell on the floor when I heard the news. I was absolutely ecstatic and I still feel excited when I think about all that I will be doing in the year ahead, says Willcher.

Speaking on his one-year tenure, which begins on July 1, 2005, Willcher says he plans to make a genuine difference in an institution that does a great good for society. Next year I will be the one student out of 400,000 throughout the state that will have a voice on the Board. I will get to travel all over the state talking to students and administrators about why Maryland is great and how higher education can help it to be greater.

A native of Gaithersburg, Md., Willcher describes attending Smith as receiving a champagne and caviar education at beer and peanuts prices. I attended Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg and as a high school senior looking down the barrel of as much as seven years of higher education ahead of me, I could not see the value in going anywhere else, he says.

I have really enjoyed life at the Smith School. The strong emphasis on career placement can be overwhelming at times, but at the same time -- and more than any other college on campus the business school makes its students feel valued and supported, he says of his time here at Smith.

The one thing I would change is the sense of urgency that students feel about their education and about their lives. There will be plenty of time down the road for the stresses of life and career, he says. College offers us a rare opportunity to just sit and think. I believe that if more of our undergraduates took this view of their time at Maryland, they would leave with a greater sense of satisfaction and a stronger sense of self.

The difficulty that student regents face, however, is the short length of a term. I will have only one year compared to the other regents' five to fulfill all the goals that I have, he laments. My top priority therefore will be to increase communication among the students and between students and administrators around the state. He anticipates that his major contribution to the board will be his ability to see key issues from two angles, that of a student as well as a regent. It is critically important that students understand the work of the board as it has a significant influence over their college lives. As major stakeholders they need to know what is happening and how it affects the in that way they can more effectively advocate for their issues, he concludes.

▓ Priscilla Mwangi, MBA Candidate 2006, Smith Media Group