Leanne Merrill was elected President of the PACES Board of Directors at the October Meeting at SUNY Potsdam.

Merrill is the first student to serve as President of the Corporation. PACES has been providing services to the campus community since 1950 and is in the process of celebrating its sixtieth year of operation at SUNY Potsdam.

Merrill’s parents, both of whom attended SUNY Potsdam, experienced PACES services when they were students at Potsdam College.

Merrill started attending SUNY Potsdam in the fall of 2006 and has been busy ever since. She is currently pursuing a Bachelors degree in Math and Music, with a minor in Environmental Studies.

Along with these degrees she is also set to receive an MA in Math when she graduates this spring. Leanne is planning on graduate school in Pure Mathematics. Her goal is to become a teaching professional in higher education.

Leanne has been part of the PACES board for the last years, serving as the Treasurer of SGA, as a representative from the student body at large, and currently, as the President of the Student Government Association. The PACES board is compromised of students, faculty and administrators. The Board of Director’s set policy and procedures for the organization to ensure that the organization’s mission is achieved. The President of the Corporation provides leadership for the Board of Directors so that the services the corporation provides truly reflect its mission.

In an interview last week, Leanne stated that during her tenure as President she would have the organization focus on services that directly affect the student body. As she articulated “I have a few broad goals for the year: I would like to continue the Bear Express Off-Campus initiative, with the potential to expand to new businesses in Potsdam and possibly in Canton. I want to ensure that PACES and the College successfully transition to comply with the new Textbook Access Laws. Finally, I want to collect student feedback on meal plan structure and pricing to make sure that campus dining services are fairly priced and provide the flexibility needed to serve the SUNY Potsdam community.”

The PACES Board meets again on November 15th to review current operations and discuss any changes in operations for 2011-12. In recent years the corporation has made a number of changes based on student input and Merrill has been an active member of the Board during this time. A critical thinker at heart, Leanne enjoys understanding the components of complex decisions, how the details are interrelated and how the different solutions affect the outcome. Her goal as a board member and president is to continue to ensure that PACES provides the best services possible at the best cost to the campus community.

For more information about the PACES Board and its operations, contact Leanne or any member of the PACES Board. Student Representatives include Geoffrery VanderWoude, Michael Perry, and Bradley Rooke; Faculty Representatives: Amy Swartele, Keith Compeau and Jan Trybula; Administrative Representatives: Michael Lewis, John Horan, and Karen O’Brien and Dan Hayes, PACES Executive Director, is an ex offico member.