Leonard Fomin Resumes Role as Chair of BSOS Dean’s Student Advisory Council
Senior Government and Politics major Leonard Fomin will once again serve as the chair of the BSOS Dean’s Student Advisory Council (DSAC), giving him the opportunity this academic year to build upon and continue the work he started during his first term as chair in 2025-2026.
This academic year, Fomin’s two main goals are to find a way to better promote advising services to students, and to design a “side-car” course for students taking difficult introductory courses.
“Aside from orientation and occasional emails students receive from their departmental advisors, students do not interact with their advisors unless they request an appointment,” Fomin explained. “Since advisors are also eager to reach more students about exciting opportunities, I am interested in asking advisors or advising peer mentors to speak in intro classes throughout the semester two to three times advertising resources in-person to students. In-person communication eliminates accessibility barriers and allows students to connect with the professionals who are there to support their education.”
The “side-car” course concept isn’t entirely new; Fomin learned about one such pilot program that existed for PSYC200 last year.
“As a senior who has taken many intro classes, I believe that there are other intro-classes, specifically one that focus on data-analysis, that would have greatly benefited from this program,” he said. “This is a larger undertaking, but I am excited to explore this with faculty and college administration.”
As he did during his first term, Fomin also aims to facilitate connections between faculty and students, support student well-being, and make sure students’ voices are heard.
Some of the ways Fomin managed to do this last academic year include restructuring the annual BSOS Student-Faculty Dinner around departmental networking and topic-based breakout sessions so that students could self-select areas of interest such as current events, internships, post-graduation plans, and key professional skills; working with the DSAC’s programming committee to host two “Road to Finals: Dimensions of Wellness” events ahead of spring final exams; and implementing a Council Concerns agenda item where DSAC members could bring concerns they or other students had directly to the council and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education Katherine Russell.
“Leonard is an extremely talented and mature leader,” Russell said. “He really knows how to engage stakeholders, listen, communicate effectively, and make hard decisions. These are often skills that inexperienced leaders have to develop over time.”
Fomin first joined DSAC his sophomore year. Before becoming chair, he was involved in two DSAC initiatives: Creating a flowchart for GVPT majors to better understand their schedule and developing a quiz to help BSOS students select a minor.
During his time at UMD, Fomin has also been an active member of the UMD Student Government Association (SGA), and most recently completed an internship with the City Manager's Office in the City of Los Altos, California.
“My projects included designing and leading an outreach campaign for a proposed downtown park, researching progress on the city's sustainability goals, and reviewing the city's economic development resources and processes,” Fomin, a California native, recalled.
Fomin’s 2026-2027 term as DSAC chair will be his last; he is on track to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in May 2027. Afterward, he plans to pursue a Masters in Public Administration and launch a career in local government.
“From working alongside dedicated student leaders to developing lifelong interpersonal skills, DSAC has given me an invaluable opportunity to grow as a student, leader, and individual while making a meaningful impact on the BSOS community,” Fomin said.
“DSAC 2026-27 is off to a great start with Leonard as Chair,” Russell added. “I am really looking forward to working with Leonard and the entire DSAC team this year!”
Published on Fri, Sep 18, 2026 - 1:42PM