USI trustees appointed by Governor

Governor Eric Holcomb has reappointed one trustee to the University of Southern Indiana Board of Trustees and named two new trustees to the board. Returning trustee Jeffrey L. Knight of Evansville was reappointed to serve a four-year term. Knight was first appointed to the board in 2006 and has previously been reappointed in 2007, 2011 and 2015.

New trustee appointments are Christina M. Ryan of Newburgh, Indiana, and student trustee Josi Barscz of Huntington, Indiana. Ryan will serve a four-year term, while Barscz will serve a two-year term as student trustee.

Ryan serves as chief executive officer of The Women's Hospital at Deaconess Health System, Inc.  She has been an administrator at Deaconess since 1999 when she was recruited to help with the initial plans, construction and successful opening of the Women's Hospital in Newburgh, Indiana. Ryan served as director of Women and Children Services at St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Northwest Indiana from 1989 to 1999, where she worked on a federal grant and was awarded $7 million to help reduce infant morbidity and mortality for the cities of Gary, Hammond and East Chicago. She was appointed by the Mayor of Hammond to oversee the grant funds and programming and opened a prenatal clinic for the indigent, as well as a pediatric intensive care unit and new birthing center.

Ryan's civic and community involvement includes serving as the Southwest Division Chairman for March of Dimes, as a member of Building Healthier Communities, Leadership Evansville Public Schools Foundation Board, The American Hospital Association Governing Council for Maternal Child Health, Welborn Baptist Foundation Advisory Committee for Movement, and as secretary for the Advisory Council for Infant Mortality.

She received her bachelor's degree in nursing with a minor in psychology from Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois, and a master's degree in health administration from Indiana University.

Barscz, USI Class of 2022, is a biochemistry major with minors in Spanish and military science. She is a participant in the Honors Program and currently holds a 4.0 cumulative GPA. She works as an academic skills tutor at USI and is a member of the Army ROTC. She is involved in a number of groups and activities including Emerging Leaders, Timmy Global Health, American Chemical Society, American Sign Language Club and the Rugby Club.

The student trustee, a voting member of the nine-member USI Board of Trustees, brings a student's perspective to the governing board. The student trustee must be a full-time student, a U.S. citizen and resident of Indiana, have a 2.5 GPA or above, and have completed 24 semester credit hours at USI.

The USI Board of Trustees has nine trustees and must include one alumnus of the University, one current student and one resident of Vanderburgh County. Trustee terms are for four years, except for the student term, which is two years.

Additionally, Governor Holcomb appointed Dr. Trent Engbers, USI assistant professor of political science and director of USI's Master of Public Administration Program, as the faculty member of the Indiana Commission for Higher Education for a two-year term.