Of all the leadership positions on campus, the student trustee is arguably one of the most important.

The student trustee sits on the Board of Trustees, the governing body that oversees nearly all aspects of NIU, and is considered an equal member, being able to vote along with the other board members.

“In all that I do within the BOT, I am always representing the student body,” said current student trustee DuJuan Smith in a Nov. 4, 2008 article. Phone calls along with e-mails were sent to Smith which were not returned as of press time.

Eric Johnson, Chief Justice of the SA Supreme Court and a former student trustee, said the position gives the individual a “crash course” in how the university works.

“You get a wide breadth of knowledge on what you handle,” Johnson said, which includes fees and tuition, the university’s budget and any major hirings. Johnson added that the position of student trustee is required by state law in all public universities.

But while the official duties of student trustee are with the BOT, they do not always end there. Each trustee undertakes a pet project during their term.

With his interest in athletics, Johnson said he worked with then-athletic director Jim Phillips to increase student attendance at NIU games. Last year’s student trustee, Shaun Crisler, worked to get flat-screen TVs displaying the Huskie Tracks GPS system into some of the residence halls.

Matt Venaas, the student trustee-elect, said he hopes to tackle student involvement.

“NIU has a reputation of being a suitcase campus,” Venaas said. “I want to create a committee or a commission of some kind to address two questions related to this.”

Those questions, Venaas said, are whether NIU has enough opportunities for students on campus and if students are aware of them.

Johnson, a candidate in this year’s election, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, stating that his opponents, Venaas and Diara Fleming, did not list their district of residency on their petitions and should have been disqualified. Ethical concerns amongst the judges, however, have delayed the court indefinitely.

Because of the ambiguity, Venaas said he has not invested a lot of time into learning the ropes of the trustee position.