SVSU Board of Control

The SVSU Board of Control is the governing body of Saginaw Valley State University. It was established when the State of Michigan ratified Act 278 of 1965.

The board is comprised of eight members who are appointed to eight-year terms by the Governor of Michigan, subject to confirmation by the Michigan Senate. The term of office is eight years, with two members rotating off every two years in odd-numbered years. The SVSU President serves as an ex-officio member of the board without the right to vote.

Article VII, Section 2 of the Student Association Charter mandates that the board have final approval of all amendments to the Charter.

Jenee L. Velasquez
Velasquez began as the first Executive Director for The Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation in October of 2005. She served as Chief Executive Officer of Midland County’s economic development corporation, Midland Tomorrow, beginning in 1999. For two years prior to that, she served as Midland Tomorrow’s Manager of Economic Development Services. She was Midland’s first Downtown Development Authority Coordinator. Prior to living in Midland, Velasquez worked for the Manhattan, Kansas Convention and Visitors Bureau. She earned a B.S. in business administration from Kansas State University and her M.B.A. from Michigan State University as well as completing an executive education course at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Donald Bachand
Bachand was appointed Saginaw Valley State University’s fourth president in February 2014. He first joined SVSU in 1978 as an assistant professor of criminal justice and rose through the ranks of the faculty and academic administration.

Bachand served as SVSU’s vice president for academic affairs starting in 2006 and added the responsibilities of provost in 2010. During that time, SVSU received new accreditations by the National Association of Schools of Music in 2009 and the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences in 2011; seven other accreditations were renewed on his watch. Prior to becoming vice president, Bachand served nearly 10 years as dean of the College of Arts and Behavioral Sciences, the largest college in terms of the number of academic departments.

As a faculty member, Bachand played a leading role in the growth of SVSU’s criminal justice program, which had a small number of students when he arrived but grew into one of the most popular majors by the time he became dean. He received the Landee Award for Teaching Excellence, SVSU’s highest honor for classroom teaching, in 1987, and Michigan Association of Governing Boards Distinguished Faculty Award in 1988.

Prior to SVSU, Bachand served 10 years with the Detroit Police Department, where he spent several years on patrol, in investigation, and in supervisory positions including press relations officer for the Chief of Police, and also as a member of the strategic planning division.

Bachand earned his bachelor's degree at Mercy College, a master's degree at the University of Detroit, a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan and he completed an executive management program at Harvard University.

Vicki Rupp
Rupp was appointed to the SVSU Board of Control in 2015. She recently retired from The Dow Chemical Company as the corporate director of service management in the Business Services Group. Her career with Dow has included responsibilities as research & development director supporting multiple business, global regulatory affairs director, global remediation director and global director of business process services.

Dennis Durco
Duroc is Founder and Director of Rysenia Capital Solutions, LLC, a professional services firm which provides comprehensive business practice consulting services to small and middle market companies. Previously, Durco was President and Chief Financial Officer for Michigan Orthopedic Services, LLC. Durco also held various Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer position for several entrepreneurial companies including consumer products, software, and laser guided navigation. These experiences included frequent international travel abroad. Durco became a certified public accountant while employed at Price Waterhouse during the first six years of his career. Durco is a member of the American Institute of CPA's, the Michigan Society of CPA's, and is an original member of the Bank of Ann Arbor's Technology Industry Group. He is presently a board member for the Common Bond Basketball Club, Inc., Livingston County Catholic Charities, and has held various Board positions during his career both in the for profit and not for profit sector. Durco holds a bachelor's degree in accounting from The Ohio State University graduating from the Honors Accounting program.

John Kunitzer
John is the retired CEO of Yeo & Yeo, PC, (a Certified Public Accounting Firm that is ranked as one of the top 100 largest CPA firms in the country) a position he held for 15 years. He spent over 40 years with the company throughout his career. Kunitzer is a certified public accountant who graduated from SVSU in 1973 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree. He has been actively involved in the community over the years, serving as chairman of the Saginaw County United Way fund raising campaign, past president of the Saginaw Valley Rotary Club, past member of the city of Saginaw Hospital Finance Authority, past president of The Saginaw Club. He currently is a member of the Saginaw Diocese Finance Committee, board member of the Michigan Catholic Conference Lay Employees’ Pension Board, a member of the Saginaw Valley Rotary, and serves on the Saginaw Township Pay Planning Commission.

Scott Carmona
Carmona earned his Bachelor of Science degree at Saginaw Valley State University. Carmona has distinguished himself as a successful business leader, experienced developer and visionary community leader. He is the owner of Sunrise National Distributors, Inc., a Michigan-based, national distributor of automotive aftermarket products. He also is the owner of several real estate development companies and serves as the managing member.

JoAnn T. Crary
Crary is the President of Saginaw Future, a non-profit economic development organization. She has held that position since 1993. Crary completed her undergraduate degree from Ferris State University and has a Masters degree from Central Michigan University. She is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD), a graduate of the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute and is a certified Economic Development Finance Professional. She was recently awarded the Fellow Member and Honorary Life Member designations by the International Economic Development Council.

Luis G. Canales
Canales was appointed executive director of global government affairs in October 2017. He leads the development and implementation of Nexteer’s global government affairs policies. He is responsible for Nexteer’s legislative and regulatory advocacy on issues that impact current and future product go-to-market strategies. He reports directly to the president and is a member of the Global Operating Committee.

In 2010 prior to the purchase of Nexteer by Pacific Century Motors, Canales became director of global external affairs and led the development of the Nexteer brand. He was responsible for all publicity activities during Nexteer’s initial public offering on the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong in 2013. Canales was appointed to his most recent role of executive director of global corporate affairs in 2015. He led the development of Nexteer’s sustainability monitoring and reporting framework and the publication of Nexteer’s first Sustainability Report in 2016.

Canales began his automotive career with General Motors as a summer engineering intern in 1987. He held various engineering positions on the development of electric power steering at the company’s advanced product center until 1996 when he was assigned to the advanced chassis center at GM Opel’s operating unit in Germany.

In 1999, Canales was appointed international business development manager at Delphi Steering. He was responsible for structuring new ventures and alliances as well as mergers and acquisitions. In 2003, he became the halfshafts business line planning manager. In 2005, he was appointed the steering business line planning and marketing manager, responsible for strategic planning for the hydraulic power steering, electric power steering, steering columns and intermediate shafts product lines. Canales was named director of corporate strategy in 2009.