In a unanimous decision, the Associated Students Inc. Senate passed a proposed bylaw amendment calling for a change in procedure for filling subsidiary board vacancies on its third reading Feb. 23.
Previously, there was no time limit set for subsidiary boards to fill a vacancy. However, this caused some vacancies to be left empty for months on end — in rare cases, up to a year. This trend has been especially true in regards to the Student Media Board.
The campus’s three subsidiary boards are the University Student Union Board of Trustees, the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center Board of Trustees and the Student Media Board.
The bylaw amendment adds a provision for when a seat has been vacated and subsidiary boards only have 30 calendar days following the first meeting to make a new appointment.
Otherwise, the authority to appoint falls to the Senate.
“We think that this will serve as an incentive for the subsidiary boards to get those seats filled,” ASI Executive Director Richard Haller said.
The appointment procedure typically involves a subsidiary board advertising its vacancy, collecting applications and interviewing the applicants on its own. The board then selects the person that it would like to fill the vacancy and recommends him or her to the ASI Senate. The Senate then makes the decision on whether or not to appoint the recommended applicant.
Even though the Senate has the final say in who will be appointed, those recommended by the subsidiary boards themselves have always been placed in office without hassle. Haller said that the Senate’s power of final authority is simply a ‘check and balance.’
“I have yet to see the Senate overturn an appointment made by a subsidiary board,” Haller said.
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