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A journey from student liaison to board secretary, chief of staff

March 31, 2023
MSU Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Board of Trustees Stefan Fletcher during an interview with The State News in the Hannah Administration Building on Feb. 23, 2023.
MSU Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Board of Trustees Stefan Fletcher during an interview with The State News in the Hannah Administration Building on Feb. 23, 2023.

As Stefan Fletcher settles into his position as the Secretary and Chief of Staff to the Board of Trustees at Michigan State, he reflects back to the time he spent at Michigan State as a student.

“It gave me a good understanding of the fabric of the university,” Fletcher said. “I guess it put me back into a familiar environment in that way.”

Fletcher obtained his undergraduate degree at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and then came to Michigan State for law school.

This led to his involvement with the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS. 

Fletcher he said he held his time in COGS very close to his heart, so much so that he visited the office when he started his new position.

“It felt like an exchange between intellectuals,” Hannah Jeffery, the President of the Council of Graduate Students said.

After serving as a student liaison for the Board of Trustees, he went to become the President of the Council of Graduate Students, or COGS.

In his office now sits his old nameplate from when he was student liaison. 

“I do keep in mind the four years that I sat around the board table," Fletcher said. “I'm always committed to sort of looking at working with the board on working with the liaisons and staff on and figuring out what are the best mechanisms within the structures that exist. Given the board's role and my support role with the board, how can we move forward productively?”

Michael Zeig is currently serving as the MSU chief of staff to the President. In 2011, he worked alongside Fletcher as the recording secretary.

“He was always very passionate to advocate on behalf of graduate students," Zeig said. "He developed great relationships with university administrators to help advance different issues that were of interest to graduate students at that time.”

Both Zeig and Fletcher reflected on their time in COGS fondly.

“I think some of that experience is really about relationship building," Zeig said. "You're having an opportunity as graduate students to learn more about the way universities operate ... I think that's a lesson that is really helpful for individuals as they get into administration.”

Fletcher said he is excited for what is to come in his new role.

“I have a passion for Michigan State,” Fletcher said.

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