Board of Trustees Welcomes Diverse Voices Representing Campus Community

The Syracuse University Board of Trustees welcomes two new undergraduate student representatives to the board for the upcoming academic year: Student Association President Justine Hastings ’21, a dual major in English and secondary English education, and Patrick F. Penfield ’21, a finance major. In addition, the Board welcomes back Graduate Student Organization President Mirjavad Hashemi, a graduate student studying electrical engineering, who will serve a second term as the graduate student representative to the board; Michael Tick, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA); and Jamie Winders, professor of geography in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs. Tick and Winders will serve the second year of their two-year terms as dean representative and faculty representative, respectively.

The insights offered by these representatives support the board’s reflection, discussions and decisions in implementing the University’s strategic vision and sustaining the University’s mission.

Justine C. Hastings ’21, Undergraduate Student Representative

Justine C. Hastings

Hastings is studying English in the College of Arts and Sciences and secondary English education in the School of Education. Hastings, who is from Brooklyn, New York, was elected president of the Student Association for the 2020-21 academic year. She is a Truman Scholarship finalist, an Unsung Hero Award recipient, an Our Time Has Come Scholar and a Ronald E. McNair Scholar. She previously worked for the Office of Student Living, the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement, the LGBT Resource Center, the Center for Learning and Student Success, the Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, and the Office of First-Year and Transfer Programs. She has served on the executive boards of Pride Union and Sigma Tau Delta. Hastings will participate, ex officio, on the Board of Trustees’ Enrollment & the Student Experience Committee, and will report to the board at its Executive Committee and full board meetings. After completing her degree, Hastings hopes to work in higher education administration, specifically at a multicultural resource center.

Patrick F. Penfield ’21, Undergraduate Student Representative

Patrick F. Penfield

Penfield, a native of Baldwinsville, New York, is studying finance in the Whitman School of Management. He is the executive vice president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and has been the financial manager of the People’s Place café in Hendricks Chapel for three years. Off campus, Penfield serves on the Onondaga County Executive Youth Advisory Board and runs his own business buying and selling antiques and collectibles. After completing his degree, he hopes to work in private wealth management. Penfield will participate, ex officio, on the Board of Trustees’ Enrollment & the Student Experience Committee, and will report to the board at its Executive Committee and full board meetings.

Mirjavad Hashemi, Graduate Student Representative

Mirjavad Hashemi

Hashemi is a Ph.D. candidate in the electrical engineering program in the College of Engineering and Computer Science. He is the Graduate Student Organization president for the 2020-21 academic year. For his doctoral pursuits, Hashemi is working under the supervision of Assistant Professor Sara Eftekharnejad. They are investigating power system operation and planning under uncertainty, imposed by heavy penetration of renewable energy resources.

Mirjavad earned a B.S. and M.S. in electrical engineering at the Iran University of Science and Technology and Shahid Beheshti University, respectively, in Tehran, Iran. Hashemi participates, ex officio, on the Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs and Enrollment & the Student Experience Committees, and reports to the board at its Executive Committee and full board meetings.

Dean Michael Tick, Dean Representative

Michael Tick

Tick, who is also a professor of drama, came to Syracuse University in 2016 after serving six years as dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Kentucky and 11 years as the chair of the Department of Theatre at Louisiana State University. While at Louisiana State University, he was also the artistic director of Swine Palace, Louisiana’s premiere professional theater company. Tick earned an M.A. in performance studies from Northwestern University and a Ph.D. in theatre education from New York University. He began his professional career working as an actor on the long-running sitcom “M*A*S*H.”

Under Tick’s leadership as dean, the college created the Office of Student Success to support expanded services for students, including professional academic advisors and career services. He created the Office of Communications, supported by professional staff members who specialize in writing and editing, website content management and development, graphic design, and social media. With the University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families, the School of Education, and the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, he is working with the faculty to launch the Department of Creative Arts Therapy, which will offer online graduate programs in art therapy. Tick is a member of the Actors’ Equity Association, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and recently served on the board of directors for the International Council of Fine Arts Deans.

Tick participates, ex officio, on the Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs Committee, and reports to the board at its Executive Committee and full board meetings.

Jamie Winders, Faculty Representative

Jamie Winders

Winders is best known for her interdisciplinary engagement with timely topics, from international migration to emerging technologies. She is editor-in-chief of the International Migration Review and associate editor of cultural geographies. Jamie is the director of the Autonomous Systems Policy Institute, which focuses on interdisciplinary research and teaching related to the design, regulation, and societal impacts of autonomous systems. In this capacity, she works with faculty and students across campus, as well as with external stakeholders in areas from government to industry to advocacy. Winders was a pioneer in the study of new immigrant destinations in a domestic and an international context, and her research on international migration sits at the intersection of academic engagement and policy discussions. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and joined the Syracuse University faculty in 2004. Her teaching and scholarship have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Meredith Teaching Recognition Award, and her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation and Russell Sage, among other sources.

Winders participates, ex officio, on the Board of Trustees’ Academic Affairs Committee, and reports to the board at its Executive Committee and full board meetings.