Student Government approved a nomination for Claire Hosch to be chief of staff during Wednesday’s Senate meeting, announced the organization’s new website and seated two senators to the public relations (PR) committee.
Chief of staff vote
Hosch, a sophomore in political science, was nominated by Student Government President Martin Hursh and was confirmed in a 23-0-4 vote. Before the vote, several senators questioned Hosch about her qualifications, goals and the selection process that resulted in her nomination.
Sen. Asray Gopa, a junior in computer science, asked Hosch how she would execute her duties in the event that a member of the Senate is not doing their job. Hosch responded by highlighting her experience as a member of the Kappa Delta sorority and how it relates to her duties as chief of staff.
“When someone’s not doing the work that they’re supposed to be doing… you tell them again,” Hosch said. “Everyone has to be committing to the roles that they are applying for and making sure that they’re doing and fulfilling their responsibilities.”
Hursh was also asked several questions by Sen. Muhammad Azhan, a doctoral candidate in chemistry, about the process that led to Hosch’s nomination.
“Did you share the open position to Student Government members, student body… What was the selection process?” Azhan asked Hursh.
Hursh responded to Azhan’s question by discussing the background of the selection process.
“What happens is you have people resign and you have to find replacements for that,” Hursh said. “What can happen is it creates a card shuffling, so to speak, within Student Government where you’re pulling one member from a position to a different one.”
Hursh went on to highlight why he chose to nominate Hosch for the position.
“Not only is she committed, hardworking, smart and wants to do the job, she also has student government experience,” Hursh said. “Claire actually applied for [director of] governmental affairs this last year in April and, obviously we have director Colby [Brandt] who’s done a great job, but we kept Claire in mind.”
Sen. Sydney Jones, a senior in political science, asked Hursh a follow-up question about the decision to not hold open interviews for the position.
“How do you know who’s right for the position if you don’t hold interviews?” Jones asked Hursh.
“You know when you go through a process of interviewing… what you’re looking for, what the role requires and Claire has all those attributes,” Hursh said. “We reached out to other people in who they recommended become chief of staff, and Claire was the right person.”
Jones was among the four senators who abstained from the vote.
Senators seated to PR Committee
Sen. Jake Snyder, junior in public relations, and Sen. Alex Pallan, a junior in cyber security engineering, were seated as members of the PR Committee through a unanimous vote.
Before the vote, Pallan and Snyder were each given time to highlight their experience and qualifications in public relations.
Snyder spoke to the Senate about his experience as a PR major.
“I’m aware of the technicalities that go along with strategic communications and I’m interested in applying that to our organization as a whole,” Snyder said. “On top of that, I’ve been running the Student Government LinkedIn over the course of the summer.”
Pallan spoke about his various production and PR related duties that he has had in the past.
“I have been working in production my whole life,” Pallan said. “I’ve already been doing positions related to PR since I was in middle school really and it’s always been a passion of mine.”
The next Senate meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Sept. 4 in the Memorial Union Campanile Room.
