UIS Trustee Craig McFarland designated official voting member for BOT

Governor Patrick Quinn has designated D. Craig McFarland, student trustee from the University of Illinois at Springfield, an official voting member of the U of I Board of Trustees. It is only the second time that a UIS student trustee has received that coveted designation.

The Governor gave McFarland voting rights for the remainder of his term on the board, which ends on June 30, after UIC Student Trustee James Winters resigned from his position on the board due to medical and personal reasons. Winters had been serving as the official voting student trustee.

McFarland, from Moline, Illinois, is a senior majoring in political science and communication. He served as the UIS Student Government Association’s Senator to Transfer Students in 2007-08. He is a member of the College Democrats, Students Allied for a Greener Earth, Model Illinois Government, and was active in Students for Barack Obama.

Each of the three U of I campuses elects one student trustee to serve on the board each year, and the governor designates one of the three as a voting member. The designation had always gone to either the Urbana or Chicago trustee until July 2006 when Sarah Doyle became the first student trustee from UIS ever to be given official voting rights. That designation was made by then Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The U of I Board of Trustees is comprised of 13 members appointed by the governor for terms of six years and three student trustees who serve one-year terms. The governor serves as an ex officio member.