Contact:
Dinah Winnick
Communications Manager
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
410-455-8117
dwinnick@umbc.edu

Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley has appointed UMBC sophomore Collin Wojciechowski ’13, political science and media and communication studies, as 2011-12 student regent for the University System of Maryland (USM). Wojciechowski’s one-year term on the Board of Regents, which governs the USM, will begin July 1, 2011.

Wojciechowski is a Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar and director of the Office of Government and Community Affairs for the UMBC Student Government Association (SGA). He previously served as the student member of the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Board of Education where, he says, “I learned how to effectively communicate my views, prioritize goals and work collaboratively.”

That experience propelled his interest in education policy, and he applied for the student regent position with encouragement from SGA President Yasmin Karimian, former USM Student Regent Josh Michael and UMBC Assistant Director of Student Life David Hoffman. Wojciechowski sees his parents—a firefighter and a teacher—as models for serving one’s community, and he strives to follow their example. “Education is the building block of society,” he says, “and anything I can do to protect and better that institution is time well spent.”

During his tenure as student regent, Wojciechowski hopes to work with the board to continue to protect the quality and affordability of education in Maryland and improve college accessibility for underrepresented populations. He also looks forward to interacting with more senior board members. “Having worked with colleagues far more advanced in their careers,” says Wojciechowski, “the most important thing I’ve learned is how to listen. Diverse perspectives are necessary for us to understand and address the challenges we face.”

Wojciechowski is currently a member of the UMBC Neighborhood Relations Committee, opinion editor for The Retriever Weekly UMBC student newspaper and an education reporter for Patch.com. His volunteer service also includes work with the Baltimore Urban Debate League, local homeless shelters and the Relay for Life.

The USM specifies that the 17 members of the Board of Regents “oversee the system's academic, administrative, and financial operations; formulate policy; and appoint the USM chancellor and the presidents of the system's 12 institutions.” Past UMBC students who have served as student regent include Claudia Ordonez (1986-87), Phil Shockley (2003-04) and Josh Michael (2008-09). Last year's UMBC nominee, doctoral student Alexia Van Orden ’06, history; ’09, M.P.P, now serves as the sole student member of the Maryland Higher Education Commission, representing Maryland’s 337,000 college students.