At the end of the spring semester, Student Body President Mark Lombardi-Nelson became the first student from a regional campus to sit on the USF Board of Trustees — entrusted with a decision-making position for the entire USF system.
Until the creation of the Student Advisory Council in 2011, the student trustee position was only open to the student body president in Tampa. Now, student body presidents from St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee get a chance as well.
The Student Advisory Council decides the fate of the student trustee position. It consists of new and outgoing student body presidents, student body vice presidents and senate presidents from all three campuses. Each campus gets three votes, with an additional vote for each 10,000 students in its population (capped off at six.).
Lombardi-Nelson beat Tampa president Will Warmke 8-4, winning all three votes from both St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee and two of six votes from Tampa.
“It was kind of magical the way it happened,” Lombardi-Nelson said.
Warmke, however, has a different opinion of the outcome.
“It’s different,” he said. “But it’s not necessarily bad.”
Former Tampa president Brian Goff, who held the student trustee position last year, advocated for Lombardi-Nelson instead of Warmke.
“[Lombardi-Nelson] had a good plan for keeping the campuses engaged,” he said. “He has a popular mentality and isn’t someone who will sit idly by and be absorbed by the flashy perks of the position.”
Goff also noted that Lombardi-Nelson brought more leadership experience than Warmke, with senate and student body presidencies already under his belt.
Earlier in Warmke’s Student Government career, he served as Goff’s attorney general. After realizing the position wasn’t what he thought it would be, he stepped down and ran for senate.
Though he didn’t state it as reason for stepping down, Warmke admits he and Goff’s personalities and ideologies often clashed. “We haven’t always seen eye to eye, but we’ve maintained a professional relationship,” he said.
Goff mirrored Warmke’s sentiments in an interview, calling their relationship civil but rocky. He said he offered advice on running for the trustee position to both Lombardi-Nelson and Warmke before the Student Advisory Council voted.
Warmke recalls a “10-second conversation” with Goff on the subject. “I wouldn’t call it advice though,” he said.
According to Warmke, many Tampa students — those who were aware of the vote, at least — were not happy with the outcome. But after having the summer to “let it all simmer,” he thinks most of their worries have been put to rest.
He said he and Lombardi-Nelson have a “healthy friendship,” and is confident he’ll be able to bring problems from Tampa to the new trustee. The most important thing though, is that all current presidents get along well, he said.
According to its website, the BOT is “responsible for cost-effective policy decisions appropriate to the system mission and the maintenance of high quality education programs within the laws the United States.” Its members include distinguished figures in law, medicine, education, philanthropy and public policy leadership.
Lombardi-Nelson sits on the BOT’s Academic and Campus Environment board, which has the final say on subjects ranging from tuition and new academic programs to campus speed limits and student health fees.
As a regional campus student, he believes communication will be the key to making decisions for the entire USF system. Whereas Goff’s leadership was mostly Tampa-centric, Lombardi-Nelson wants to facilitate conversation among all three campuses and promote tri-campus collaboration.
“It’s not about what I want; it’s what the people want,” he said. “It’s been that way since we started.”
Since the BOT will consume much of Lombardi-Nelson’s time this year, he said his vice president, Christa Hegedus, will essentially serve as “acting president.”
