Tracy Mulderig, a doctoral candidate in industrial/organizational psychology at UMSL, was nominated by Gov. Jay Nixon Tuesday as the student representative on the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. She will represent the more than 75,000 student in the four-campus system. (Photo by Bob Samples)
UPDATED 3/7/14: The Missouri Senate confirmed on Thursday the nomination of Tracy Mulderig as student representative to the University of Missouri System Board of Curators. She will participate in her first board meeting April 10-11 at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla.
After months of paper work, interviews and waiting, Tracy Mulderig learned on Tuesday that Gov. Jay Nixon had nominated her to be the next student representative on the University of Missouri System Board of Curators.
Mulderig, a doctoral candidate in industrial/organizational psychology at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, has to be confirmed by the Missouri Senate before she can begin her new role.
The process to choose the student representative for the UM System’s governing board began last September. The student representative, a non-voting member of the board, speaks for the more than 75,000 students on all four campuses of the system.
“I saw this as a rare opportunity to sit on a board at this level,” said Mulderig. “I couldn’t pass up a seat at this table. I have a lot to offer having done my undergraduate work at Truman State University and now my graduate work at UMSL. They are two very different cultures and I feel I can connect to both experiences.”
The student representative seat rotates every two years to one of the four campuses in the system. Mulderig hopes to be at that table by the next meeting April 11-13.
Mulderig, 26, was one of three UMSL finalists for the position. They were asked to submit a vita, essays, letters of recommendation and then were interviewed by the governor’s staff.
The finalists were invited to the board meeting and dinner in November hosted by UMSL. Mulderig also went on her own to another meeting in Columbia.
“I wanted to watch Amy (Johnson the current student representative) to see what she did, how she handled herself. She’s pretty wonderful,” Mulderig said.
Mulderig works as a research assistant at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and is in the dissertation stage of her doctorate. She said her schedule will allow her to attend curator meetings and work with the students she will represent.
I want to make myself available to the students on all campuses,” she said. “I’m becoming more Twitter savvy. I want them to know I’m their advocate and that I will make sure their voice is heard.”
Mulderig grew up in St. Louis and went to Lindbergh High School. She said she looked at several graduate programs, but chose to “come home” because of her attachment to UMSL and the St. Louis region.
“My father graduated from here along with lots of aunts, cousins and an uncle,” she said. “I loved the idea of being a second-generation graduate.”
Media Coverage:
Columbia (Mo.) Daily Tribune
