Chad Charton, Associated Students president, and Steven Vanover, assistant director of elections for A.S., are two of eight CSU students recently nominated to become the new student on the CSU Board of Trustees.

Charton and Vanover both received calls informing them of their nominations from the California State Student Association, according to the nominees.

Charton said that after considering of his nomination, he decided to remove his name from consideration.

“I applied with the intensions of pursuing it, but after thoughtful consideration, I decided to step down,” Charton said. “I decided that it was not in my best interest as (CSUN) A.S. President to take on an additional leadership position”

Charton said he has not abandoned the idea entirely and intends to apply for student trustee for next year in February 2006.

The CSSA conference will begin Nov. 4 in Bakersfield, where all 23 CSUs student body presidents will hold a board of directors meeting, according to Mona Mohammadi, vice chair of external affairs for CSSA and A.S. president at CSU Fullerton.

“We will interview the student trustee applicants and make our recommendations to the governor,” she said.

According to Vanover, an individual is a non-voting member on the board during their first year as a trustee. Once a student’s second year starts, he or she is considered a voting member.

Charton said there are two available seats for student trustees. One seat is vacated every year because students serve offset two-year terms, he said.

There is currently one student representative on the board, Corey Jackson from CSU San Bernardino. CSU Sacramento former trustee Eric Guerra’s term ended this past summer. Jackson will start his second year in 2006.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is looking for two student trustees to fill the vacant seat and to replace Jackson’s current seat next year, Charton said.

The CSU Board of Trustees is a governing committee that enacts policy procedures of the system, as well as presenting positions and issues, he said.

“Their (student trustee) key responsibility is to fully and accurately represent the interests of students while simultaneously think of the present and future of the system and what is in the best interest for it,” Vanover said.

“If there’s only one person going to the Legislature and advocating an issue, how do you know they’re advocating on behalf of the CSU?” Vanover said.

Charton declined to comment on possible goals he would implement if he is selected as a student trustee when he applies.

“I think the student trustee relationship is a working relationship with other trustees,” Charton said. “It’s really not a position that you can provide an agenda for.”

Vanover is a transfer student from College of the Canyons. He said he believes that the CSUs should have close ties with community colleges to ease the transfer process.

“I believe I’m the right person (to be selected as student trustee). I think we need to create a bridge between the CSU and community colleges,” Vanover said.

He said the transfer process is usually simple, but when it comes to credit, the CSU needs to work with community colleges to match the curriculums.

“All of us want an increase of funding and a decrease of student fees. We can make a bigger impact if we work together,” Vanover said.

A letter from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appointment secretary indicated to the CSSA that the governor wanted them to forward two more applicants early this semester.

“The governor hasn’t rejected the two nominees,” Mohammadi said. “He just wants a larger applicant pool.”

Mohammadi said the CSSA hopes to have selected to applicants by next Monday.

“We’re hoping to have a student trustee by January,” Mohammadi said.

Cynthia Ramos can be reached at city@csun.edu.