Student senators wanting to be more involved with filling vacancies among their ranks are still searching for a way to do so after a model they recently presented came under fire for violating ASUO rules.
Summer Senate President Sara Hamilton and Sen. Athan Papailiou presented senators with a vacancy model that would add a step to the process of hiring new senators last week. Although Hamilton said that model is no longer an option, she said senators will continue looking for a way to better get to know candidates before approving them.
Under the proposed model, the ASUO Executive’s hiring committee would recommend three top candidates to a new Senate personnel committee, which would select one to recommend to the Senate.
Currently, the Executive’s hiring committee recommends candidates to the ASUO president, who presents them to the Senate. Senators vote to confirm or reject the candidates and are only allowed by Senate rules to ask questions pertaining to candidates’ qualifications.
Some senators have long criticized their role in the process, saying they are not adequately involved.
However, student government bylaws contained in the Green Tape Notebook prohibit the Senate from taking power from the Executive, which has sole authority to appoint candidates, effectively making the proposal moot.
“I think it’s dead,” Hamilton said about the proposal. “It doesn’t mean we’re not going to try. If you see something wrong with the system, it’s trial and error to fix it.”
Hamilton said she will keep looking for a method that does not violate current rules and that can be agreed upon by all the affected parties.
“I don’t think the idea is dead,” Hamilton said. “We just need to adjust the means to that end.”
Hamilton thinks the Senate already works to bring applicants to the pool.
“Although we can solicit applicants, senators have little or no say in the hiring process,” she said. “We don’t know anything about the candidates that didn’t get appointed.”
Two senators participate in the Executive hiring committee, which asks applicants standardized questions.
The affirmative action policy contained in the Green Tape Notebook calls for the selection committee to remain consistent throughout the hiring process, keeping the same members and requiring them to ask the same questions in order to prevent personal bias from affecting who’s hired.
The proposed change was met with resistance at the Senate’s last meeting. ASUO President Jared Axelrod, who was Senate ombudsmen last year, said he opposed changing the hiring process.
“That’s how the system is set up,” he said. “That’s the proper system of checks and balances.”
Axelrod said senators should ask more questions at meetings before confirming them, but don’t need to rubber stamp Executive recommendations.
Sen. Jacqueline Justice also expressed concerns with the proposal.
“I don’t think a formal process is the wisest decision,” she said.
Yet Hamilton said more senators should be more involved in the hiring process “because it’s such a big decision,” adding that having more senators involved in the process might help new members feel comfortable with their positions.
“We wanted more senators to know applicants for Senate vacancies, but in no way wanted to violate affirmative action policies or rules in the Green Tape Notebook,” Papailiou said.
The Senate has a history of vacant positions. By Feb. 17, 2006, six of the 18 senators had resigned, according to Oregon Daily Emerald archives. By April 5, the Executive had appointed people to nine seats, and one seat had remained vacant since February.
The vacancy model does not propose any solution to turnover in Senate.
Papailiou said he doesn’t think adding to the hiring process to allow more senators the chance to meet candidates would hinder the process.
“Unfilled vacancies mean underrepresented students,” he said.
Hamilton said although adding a step in the hiring process might be a short-term hang-up, senators would “solidify the hiring committee’s decision that this will be the best candidate for the position.”
Senate began the year with three vacant seats: Seat 1, a Programs Finance Committee senator; Seat 13, a business senator; and seat 17, a graduate/law senator.
“Every year, there are people who have to drop Senate for various reasons,” Papailiou said.
Papailiou said he would like to see the Executive fill those positions quickly by the methods currently outlined in the Green Tape Notebook.
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