SA creates deputy positions

By Amber Tong     9/13/16 10:04pm

The Student Association Senate passed Amendments #3 and #4 to create the appointed positions of deputy treasurer and deputy parliamentarian on Monday. The deputy treasurer will assist the treasurer on financial tasks such as the Blanket Tax, Initiative Fund and SA bookkeeping, according to parliamentarian Annabelle McIntire-Gavlick.

“The treasurer is a huge position,” McIntire-Gavlick said. “It’s incredibly complex — there’s a lot going on. So the Deputy Treasurer is really there to alleviate some of the work [the Treasurer] will have to do. They as the deputy will learn a lot of the ropes and then hopefully actually become the treasurer the next year.”

According to SA President Griffin Thomas, the Deputy Treasurer application will be open to all students, except for seniors. To assume the role, the selected candidate must be recommended by the Treasurer and approved by both the President and the Senate. Per an amendment introduced by Hanszen College president Kenny Grozsman, the Deputy Treasurer will be a non-voting ex-officio member of the Blanket Tax Committee instead of a voting at-large member.

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Thomas said that as the treasurer’s responsibilities have expanded in recent years, there is a growing need for people to support the management of student funds.

“We really want to make sure that we are getting good people into the position,” Thomas said. “We’re not trying to endorse a candidate for the future, we’re just trying to have the best blanket tax system in the current time.”

Whether experience as the deputy treasurer will help someone in running for treasurer is ultimately up to the voting student body, Thomas said. He said the SA will not show preferential treatment towards any candidate and that the new position is just a potential part of a leadership ladder.

“It is to say that experience on whatever level is important when you’re running for a position and being able to demonstrate you can confidently fulfill the roles in that position is important,” Thomas said. “We see that senators typically run for external vice president, that committee chairs appointed by the SA will typically run for internal vice president and that’s the general progression.”

McMurtry College President Madhuri Venkateswar voted against the resolution. She said she believes the addition of another position is at best a stop-gap solution and will not solve the SA’s problems.

“In terms of managing people and managing roles and responsibilities, I want an institutional solution,” she said. “I don’t think adding another body means adding productivity and efficiency to the process.”

At the same meeting, the Senate also created the position of deputy parliamentarian. The deputy parliamentarian will be responsible for assisting the parliamentarian while learning about the SA constitution and administrative procedures.

In addition, the Senate approved McMurtry sophomore Antonia Iyer as the director of government relations. Iyer is tasked with monitoring discussions concerning higher education at national and state levels and communicating student voices to policy makers when necessary.

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