Student Senate held another business meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 18. The meeting included guest speaker Dan Satriana, the Vice President and General Counsel, who discussed the current search process for the new president.
According to Satriana, the Board of Trustees must establish several statutory requirements at a public meeting, which will be held on Nov. 1st in the Panorama Room. These requirements include the Board of Trustees decisions on deadlines for the presidential search, the job description, and the goals they hope to see accomplished in the job.
According to Satriana, the first part of the interviews will be closed because of several considerations, such as the candidate’s current jobs. They also don’t want to scare off qualified candidates by having an open interview.
“You want to get as many good qualified candidates as you can,” Satriana said.
The Board of Trustees has to make their finalist, or finalists, public within 14 days prior to appointing or employing them. After the finalist(s) are chosen, they will come to UNC and have an interactive day with students.
“We gathered from what our students have told us, is that they want more transparency and a bigger voice,” Tammy Ortiz, Election Commissioner and Parliamentarian, said in response to the closed interviews.
The Board of Trustees takes into consideration everyone’s opinions on the search, but they Board of Trustees has the responsibility of hiring the president, Satriana said.
“Bringing the finalist, or finalists, to campus is a way for the board to get feedback,” Satriana said. “It’d probably be around the end of March and beginning of April when the finalist or finalists would be announced publically.”
Michael Kelly, a senior communication and sociology major, sent an email to Satriana regarding the key characteristics they hope to see in the new president. Kelly discussed the need for a diversity statement, and the want for a president that is more present on the campus.
In other news, guest speaker Jeremy Davis discussed the the Catalyst Social Justice Retreat. The trip is a three day and two night retreat to Estes Park, that is free for students and faculty.
Catalyst is an amazing opportunity if you’re looking to find more about yourself, others, or social justice, Davis said.
The application for the retreat closes on Nov. 3rd due to the limited number of spots. The application can be found at unco.edu/catalyst/.
Student Body President Kevion Ellis and Malaika Michel-Fuller, Student Rights Advocate, are also beginning to discuss the reconstruction of student senate.
According to Michel-Fuller, they are looking to see if they have met the goals they have made at the beginning of the year.
If we go through with the reconstruction, it won’t begin until next year after the elections, Ellis said.
Student Senate will hold another meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 1 at 5:30 p.m.
