Two senators resign
The second and third Senate meeting of the new semester both saw the resignation of a senior Student Senator. First Senator Amanda Smith resigned and then Senator Jeremy Collette. Ezekiel Kimball, Student Senate chair, remains the only senator from last year’s executive board. The resignations leave open one commuter chair and one “at large” chair.
“I’ve served on the Senate for two years and on every committee and given countless hours to the Senate,” said Smith, who graduates in three months. “I need to put my energies into the [Board of Student Organizations] while I still have time.” As well as continuing to serve as BSO chair, Smith will continue her work with the Leadership Development Board and the Student Involvement Center.
Collette will also continue to function as the chair of the Student Communications Board, and hopes to be named to the new Unified USM Student Government Steering Committee.
“I’ve been on the Senate for about two years,” he said. “I didn’t feel I was contributing [to the senate] as much as I liked to.” Collette said he also plans to focus more on his schooolwork.
New dean soon to be announced
The search for a new dean for the College of Arts and Sciences concluded and USM Provost Joseph Wood will recommend a candidate to the University Board of Trustees (BOT). Wood declined to identify the candidate but said that he expected BOT members would approve his selection on March 14. Wood said he felt a release of the candidate’s name prior to the Board’s approval could hamstring the process.
Four candidates were in the running for the position: Earl Anderson, English professor and interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at Cleveland State University, Carol Bresnahan, history professor at the University of Toledo in Ohio, Devinder Malhotra, associate dean in the Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Akron in Ohio, and Michael Vincent, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the University of Paris.