Tennessee Tech University undergraduate and Tennessee Delta Chapter President Alex Martin has been appointed by Gov. Bill Haslam to serve on the Tennessee Higher Education Commission (THEC) as a student representative from the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR).
Martin will serve a two-year term on the THEC as the sole student representative from the Tennessee Board of Regents.
The TBR is composed of 21 colleges of applied technology, 13 community colleges, and six universities. The TBR has 18 board members and meets four times a year.
Also serving as a student representative on THEC is Robert J. Duncan from the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees.
The UT Board of Trustees is the governing body of the statewide university system including Knoxville, Chattanooga, Martin, Tullahoma and Memphis.
Martin’s duties will include attending all the quarterly THEC meetings and attending TBR Students President Council (SPC) quarterly meetings.
He will be an ex-officio member of the TBR SPC for the two years of his term on the TBR, which helps to further communication between student leaders and those on the commission.
It is not uncommon for commission members to be contacted by media for official statements or to be asked to testify before the legislature.
“I look forward to voicing the perspective of our students,” Martin said of the appointment. “It is an honor to be involved in our state’s government at such a young age.”
Martin went through an extensive interview process before he was selected. His student body president nominated him last year. All student body presidents from all the colleges represented in the TBR interviewed him.
The nominees were narrowed down to two students who then went to the state capitol to be interviewed by the governor’s staff. He was notified in June that he had received the appointment.
Martin’s goals for the appointment are directed toward both the UT and TBR systems when he becomes the sole student-voting member on the commission next year.
“My goals are to increase the extent of dual enrollment programs in our high schools, reduce the cost of online courses, and to aid in the successful roll out of the Tennessee Promise,” he explained.
During his second year of the THEC he will vote on such things as the budgets, capital projects, new programs, and new graduate programs.
Martin plans to visit every community college and university in the TBR to take concerns from the students. Student input is vital, he said.
Martin is involved in many organizations as a student at TTU. He serves as a senator in the Student Government Association, and he is a representative on the Inter-fraternity Council. He serves on the Ad Hoc University Admissions Standards Committee. He is a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity and is active in the college of business.
Martin’s current plans after graduation from Tennessee Tech University include pursuing a law degree and managing his own hedge fund.
He is the son of Martha Gambrell and Kenneth W. Martin.
