ASWC Oversight Chair Shayna Tivona announced her intention to resign her post last week, stepping down after serving for the first two weeks of her second term.
Tivona, who held the same position last year, was planning on retiring after her first term, but then Director of Student Activities George Theo, who advised ASWC until his departure from the Whitman community this summer, convinced her to stay.
Sophomore Jordan Clark, who sat on the oversight committee last year, will fill the vacancy left by Tivona’s resignation.
Because the Oversight Committee runs all elections, including the first-year elections held on Sep. 17, Tivona’s resignation will not be effective immediately.
“Really, we’re phasing me out,” Tivona said. “I’m still running elections and coming to meetings to make sure the transitions go smoothly.”
Tivona has no doubt about Clark’s ability to take over her place. “I have total faith in Jordan and his ability to chair the Oversight Committee,” Tivona said.
Clark, meanwhile looks forward to taking over the committee chair. As Oversight Chair, he will be responsible for overseeing ASWC and ensuring that the codes spelled out in the ASWC Constitution and its by-laws are followed. The Oversight Committee, which is selected from a pool of applicants who are not on ASWC Senate, runs all disciplinary or impeachment proceedings for ASWC.
“A big part of my role is to be a sort of fundamentalist,” Clark said. “I need to oppose changes to the by-laws unless there is a really specific reason to do so.”
Clark has already set forth various goals for himself and his committee. He hopes to see a stricter application of ASWC’s attendance policy. Also, he wants to increase the efficiency of ASWC meetings by ensuring that all senators and officers are well versed in Robert’s Rules, which spells out standards of procedures for ASWC sessions.
Clark’s primary goal is to improve communication between the oversight chair and the students. “They need to know we’re here,” said Clark. “Their senators are here to listen, and oversight members are, too. Any complaints you have. We almost never get complains outside of the ones we get from senators or EC.”
Members of the executive council have updated the Web site (whitman.edu/aswc), which now includes current contact information for all ASWC representatives and officers, schedules for future committee and senate meetings, and other resources and information for anyone curious about the inner workings of the association that spends your student fee on your behalf.