Become a Trustee

Eleven of the trustees are members of the public.  The other five trustees are associated directly with the university.  Two of these are current students of the university.  One trustee is a current faculty member, and one is current staff member. Finally, the university president is an ex officio member of the Board of Trustees. 

Public trustees serve four year terms.  Student, faculty, and staff trustees serve two year terms. All trustees (except for the president) are limited to serving two complete terms.  The president is a trustee throughout the president’s period of employment. 

Appointment Process

With the exception of the president (who becomes a trustee upon hire), all trustees obtain appointment by applying to the Governor of Oregon, being selected and nominated by the governor, and achieving confirmation by the Oregon State Senate. 

People interested in serving as a trustee (whether in a public, student, faculty, or staff capacity) must submit an application online to the Governor’s Executive Appointments Office. The governor encourages a strong pool of applicants and prefers to have multiple candidates to consider for each position.

Those applicants who are students, faculty, or staff should also notify (respectively) ASEOU, Faculty Senate, or the University Council that they have applied.  Each of those groups has a process for reviewing the applicants from their group and making recommendations to the governor.  The governor will consider any recommendations received, but will review all applicants, and will select the candidate the governor thinks best. 

Once the governor nominates a candidate, EOU’s University Advancement Office assists the candidate in preparing for the confirmation hearing at the Oregon Senate.  A formal announcement of appointment is typically made shortly after the Senate confirmation hearing.  At that point the Board Secretary’s Office will work directly with the new trustee, to get all their initial paperwork and tasks completed (“onboarding”) and to orient them to the position. 

Time Commitment

The Board of Trustees has regular meetings four times per year, typically in August, November, February, and May. Trustees are also appointed to one or more of the Board’s three standing committees. Committee meetings generally occur about four times per year, usually two to four weeks in advance of the November, February, and May board meetings.

Board service represents a meaningful commitment of time and engagement. On average, trustees can expect to spend approximately 11 hours per month on board-related responsibilities.

Apply

Applications must be submitted online through the Governor’s Executive Appointments portal by the posted deadline.  The governor typically announces nominees a couple of months after the application deadline.  The Senate confirmation hearing typically takes place a month after the governor’s nomination.  Appointments usually begin on July 1.