ASUO President Adam Petkun hired 12 students to work as staff members in his 2004-2005 ASUO Executive administration and reopened the application process for three positions in hopes of attracting a larger pool of applicants.
Although many of the newly hired applicants are returning ASUO interns or staff members, Petkun said they are experienced and not just ASUO insiders. They will bring fresh perspectives to next year’s Executive and will listen to the needs of the public, he said.
“We’re really excited that our staff is very experienced, whether they are returning in different roles on staff or from the intern class, which has been a great resource to develop leaders on this campus,” Petkun said. “One thing you’ll notice — these aren’t people who have been in the same positions year after year after year. These are people who are bringing in new insights to the ASUO, but also have broad experience outside working with different communities.”
Petkun also introduced some changes to the structure of the Executive staff.
First, Petkun created both state and federal advocate positions to help reduce the cost of tuition by lobbying for more state and federal funding, which was part of Petkun and ASUO Vice President Mena Ravassipour’s election platform. The State Affairs coordinator position will be filled by Amy DuFour, and the Federal Affairs coordinator position will be filled by Ashley Rees. Both have previous experience in the ASUO.
This past year, only a single “legislative associate” position existed for these tasks.
Another change Petkun introduced is the creation of the Outreach Director position, which will be filled by former ASUO Greek Community Liaison Taylour Johnson.
“The biggest change to the outreach team that I’m really excited about is the institution of Taylour Johnson as the student Outreach Director,” Petkun said. “She is going to be tasked with doing actual outreach to students, which isn’t something we’ve ever really focused on specifically before. It’s something that we say. It’s been in job titles for years, but Taylour’s job is to develop new and creative ways to reach out to all the different constituencies.
“She is one of the most experienced staff members and someone who has a broad view of how the ASUO can fit into other students’ lives. So we thought she’d be a perfect fit as Outreach Director.”
Scott Lu will be the Community and Housing Outreach coordinator and will continue the ASUO’s support for implementing housing standards for Eugene, which was another plank in the Executive’s platform.
Corey Harmon, who will fill the role of Campus and Safety Outreach coordinator, will be a member of the Public Safety Advisory Group and report to the Eugene City Council on issues relating to student safety.
Petkun has reopened the Co-Multicultural Advocate I, Co-Multicultural Advocate II and Programs Administrator positions to get a stronger pool of applicants. Applications for those positions will be accepted until 5 p.m. on Monday, June 7.
“We decided to make sure there was a strong pool of applicants for those positions because it’s really important to us to do a good job of reaching out into the community and making sure there was a strong voice in this office for those communities,” Petkun said.