April 2006 | Vol. 24, No. 4

Service on the SVU Board of Directors

First Student Director's Report on Board Service

by Student Representative Robert Sexton, BS

This past year I was selected from several candidates to work on the SVU Board of Directors as the first appointed student representative to the Board. The idea for this new concept was to give a vascular student the opportunity to get to know the inner workings of the SVU. It was also intended to help the SVU get a student perspective on issues that concern them. As the appointed student representative, I was able to attend the December 2005 SVU Board meeting in Pittsburgh, PA, and be in contact through email with the Board members and the SVU staff.

At the Board meeting in Pittsburgh I was able to give input as to what I believed students were concerned about with their education and their future in the Vascular Technology profession. The Board members asked my opinion and ideas about specific issues concerning students, and they actually listened to what I had to say and built on it.

My position on the SVU Board was one of a non-paid and non-voting Board Director, but I was reimbursed for my travel expenses to Pittsburgh and a complimentary hotel room was provided for me. I also went to dinner with the Board. I believe what I had to say at the Board meeting was important and listened to by the Board. For me, the opportunity to be involved in the business affairs of the SVU gave me a great understanding and respect for what our Board of Directors does and goes through in order to keep our members involved and informed. Each member of the Board is either a committee chairperson or is involved in some way with at least one committee. These Board Directors are not only involved deeply in SVU business, but they all have careers as vascular technologists, physicians, educators or vendors. I think it’s impressive that they are able to do as much as they do for SVU while also balancing careers and families.

LeAnn Maupin is a great example of this, being the current Medical Imaging Technology Program Director at OIT, as well as the Vascular Technology program director, and an Assistant Professor who teaches vascular classes. LeAnn does all of these things as well as being an academic advisor to the vascular program students, and traveling to visit students while on their externship. She is also an SVU Board Director, the Committee Chair for the SVU Academics Committee, and SVU’s representative to the Commission on the Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP). She does all of this and has a personal life as well. This is just the profile of one Board Director, but is typical of all the Board members. The point I’m trying to make is that the SVU Board of Directors that represents us do so because they want to and they feel it is important for the vascular technology profession.

This year was a great opportunity for me to learn about the SVU and what they do for me as a student member of SVU. I also think that one day in the future I would like to be a part of this experience again, but next time serving as an elected Board Director. Whomever is chosen as the next student representative on the SVU Board of Directors has a great opportunity to be involved in the business of the SVU and to give their input as a student to help the Board better understand what it is that students need or expect from their membership in the SVU. Thank you.