Senate confirms executive committee appointments, passes bill

4/14/17 12:24am

The Student Association Senate confirmed six executive committee appointments and passed a bill creating an undergraduate advisory board task force at its April 10 meeting.

The Senate confirmed President Justin Onwenu’s nominations of Maurice Frediere as Parliamentarian, Phillip Hedayatnia as Associate Vice President, Jessica Lee as Director of Marketing, Ryan Cox as Historian, Vi Nguyen as the Director of Technology and Constantine Tzouanas as Director of External Affairs. The position of Director of Government Relations is yet to be filled.

According to Onwenu, a Sid Richardson College junior, many of the appointees occupied the same positions last year, with the exception of Frediere and Hedayatnia, whose appointments he specifically discussed.

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Frediere, a Duncan College sophomore, previously served as SA treasurer.

“Constitutional process was a large part of my job and I feel comfortable taking on a larger role in that regard, as I feel it's a natural transition given my previous experience and knowledge of the Constitution,” Frediere said. “Furthermore, I advised the Constitutional Revisions Committee on parts of the new Constitution and bylaws and have read both in their entirety.”

When appointing Hedayatnia, a Brown College freshman, to the position of Associate Vice President, Onwenu said that he specifically wanted someone outside the SA.

“My goal as Associate Vice President is to do my best to support Justin’s administration and facilitate dialogue across new and existing committees,” Hedayatnia said. “From focusing on entrepreneurship and innovation, to streamlining the custom major process, to working together with members of the SA to improve undergraduate teaching, I want to help students blaze their own path at Rice, and alongside Justin and the rest of the new administration, I plan on giving this new role my all.”

McMurtry College Senator Albert Nabiullin raised questions regarding the appointments’ experience in the SA.

“Every position, whether elected or appointed, is accountable to the undergraduate student body,” Nabiullin, a junior, said. “I welcome Justin's initiatives on broader engagement with the student body. I strongly urge that we [members of Senate] prioritize transparency, engagement, and accountability when fulfilling our duties."

The Senate also passed Senate Bill 2 to charter an undergraduate department advisory board task force, which plans on initially reaching out to roughly ten departments about the creation of student advisory boards, according to Taylor Morin. Several departments have already successfully implemented such boards.

“We are very happy SB2 passed as the bill gives official student support to our efforts in reaching out to academic departments about the creation of advisory boards,” Morin said. “The long term goal of this project is to implement advisory boards in as many departments as possible, creating long-term spaces of communication between students and faculty at Rice.”

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