By Makenna Hall, Staff Writer
Former Snyder County Commissioner, Malcolm Derk, has resigned from the position to become the full-time director of grants and foundation relations at Susquehanna, effective this past January.
Derk spent 10 years in the county commissioner position; he was first elected in 2007, and served three terms. As county commissioner Derk credited his most proud accomplishments to be: creating a unified 911 service center with Union County, expanding recycling accessibility throughout the county and making the prison 100 percent compliant with the State Department of Corrections.
Along with those accomplishments, Derk said that as county commissioner he enjoyed being a part of the County Commissioner Association of Pennsylvania that allowed him to advance legislative priorities and also see how counties were impacted by statewide policies.
Derk said that in terms of who fills his position he hopes that they will continue with some of the main priorities that were advanced while he was in office, like the 911 service center.
“Whenever you try a drastically new initiative it does take a great deal of commitment to keep that going,” he said.
Derk has lived just about his whole life in the Selinsgrove area, having grown up in Freeburg, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Selinsgrove Area High School and then from Susquehanna in 2005.
The sense of community, the small town nature, and the quality of the education systems are just a few of the reasons Derk said that he has continued to live in the area.
“At Freeburg Borough Council when I started in that role, we improved a playground for the community,” Derk said. “When you start to have those little successes you just realize how much you can do to impact the area in a smaller community.”
Since late 2014, Derk has had a few part time positions at Susquehanna, working with the annual fund, in the business office, and also as the grant coordinator. As grant coordinator, Derk worked with faculty on research proposals to find matching funding opportunities.
As the director of grants and foundation relations, Derk will be doing a lot of the same work, helping faculty write proposals for competitive grants, but also creating relationships with private foundation and introducing them to Susquehanna, seeking out new funding opportunities, and also looking to see where the university could advance to help both students and faculty.
On his excitement for the position Derk also said: “I’m a student that was a Pell Grant recipient and also the recipient of quite a few private donor scholarships. So, if I am able to help other students receive support for their quality education, that is really fulfilling to me and one of the reasons I like this job.”
Michelle Demary, professor of political science at Susquehanna, recalls Derk’s time at Susquehanna as a student, as a council member and as a county commissioner through an educator’s eye.
DeMary said, “I have mixed feelings about him resigning from being Snyder County Commissioner, not because I do not want him to work at Susquehanna, but because he cared so much for the community he served.”
She is not one to shy away from talking about public officials and often welcomes it in her political science courses.
DeMary said, “He is ethical, cares about the people in the community, and tries to do what is right, which is not true of all public officials.”