Former ASUO Legislative Affairs Coordinator Sara Marcotte-Levy resigned Oct. 20 and ASUO Chief of Staff Ben Eckstein said he hopes for this to be the last executive staff member to resign during the year.
This is the fourth ASUO executive staff member resignation since ASUO President Amelie Rousseau appointed the staff in May. Marcotte-Levy joins former ASUO Political Director Robert D’Andrea, former ASUO Finance Coordinator Kamal Ararso and former ASUO Chief of Staff Conrad Hulen on a growing list of ASUO executive resignations.
Rousseau said Marcotte-Levy left her position to focus on academics.
Since this last week was Eckstein’s first full week as ASUO chief of staff, he said he has spent most of his time working to understand the various working styles of members of his staff in order to better understand how the ASUO executive can work together.
“(We hope to) build a cohesive team even while every member needs something different from the team,” Eckstein said.
Eckstein said that while the job requires a lot of time commitment, especially with a full class load, he already feels like he has struck a good balance between work and school.
“I’ve definitely been thinking a lot about the meaning of balance lately,” he said. “If I put in work hours now, hopefully, (it will be) a smooth rest of the year.”
ASUO Events Coordinator Molly Bennison said the Executive already places a high priority on managing school, ASUO work and a social life.
“Everyone can work on time management. Every week, (we) manage weekly goals, maintaining a balance between school and the ASUO,” Bennison said.
Eckstein said he and the other members of staff prioritize staff retention as a goal.
“We very much prioritize (retention), we want our staff members to be successful … we hope to be a complete staff,” Eckstein said.
Prior to becoming Rousseau’s chief of staff, Eckstein worked with Marcotte-Levy as legislative affairs coordinators to plan and run the ASUO’s voter registration and education drives.
Before the Oregon voters’ registration deadline, the student voter drive was a staff-wide priority, Eckstein said, but following the deadline, the staff input on the drives has dropped, while he said people are very committed to their specific tasks.
“The legislative affairs interns have the lead role, obviously people have their own roles, but day-to-day involvement has dropped (from the majority of staff),” he said. “Every staff member … (is) as committed as ever.”
Bennison added that the drive still incorporates some staff-wide participation as the group is in the process of hiring a new legislative affairs coordinator.
As of deadline, the Emerald was unable to contact Marcotte-Levy for comment.
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