GSA to fill vacancy in vice president of internal affairs position

The graduate student government will elect a new vice president of internal affairs this fall after Hope McCoy resigned from office on Sept. 18.

To fill the position, Graduate Students Association forum members, who represent different graduate departments across campus, plan to elect a new officer by Nov. 12. The position will have been vacant for about two months at that point.

McCoy resigned to take on research opportunities at Lomonosov Moscow State University in Russia and write a book with other students, leaving a vacancy in one of the four elected positions in the GSA. McCoy also served on GSA last year as vice president of external affairs.

“Due to these new and exciting opportunities, I can no longer balance the workload of GSA and (graduate school),” McCoy said in an email statement Thursday.

The vice president of internal affairs is responsible for calling and conducting meetings of the forum and of the council presidents, and acts as president in the case of an absence, among other duties, according to the GSA website.

According to the GSA Constitution and the elections code, candidates to replace an officer must be nominated by at least 50 GSA members in a petition and elected by forum members through a mail ballot.

A roadblock GSA may face during the election process is the absence of an elections commissioner, who is responsible for organizing the replacement of officers. Because GSA has not yet appointed a commissioner to run its elections and commissioner terms only span winter and spring quarters, the forum has no person to oversee the replacement process.

GSA plans to appoint an elections commissioner before the start of winter quarter, said GSA President Michael Hirshman.

In the meantime, Chad Henderson, GSA director of events, will coordinate the election, Hirshman said.

GSA forum members will meet for their regular meeting on Oct. 22 to hash out the election process and review the GSA Constitution and elections code to avoid potential violations, Hirshman said.

After the meeting, GSA will release candidate applications for the position. Students will be able to apply for an undetermined time period, and a vote will take place on Nov. 12.

All applicants will have the opportunity to present their goals for the position to the forum, and the new vice president of internal affairs will start the day after the forum elects a candidate, Hirshman said.

Hirshman added that he plans to continue working on McCoy’s platforms, which he thinks aligns with his own. The newly elected officer will be able to pursue his or her own platforms or continue McCoy’s if desired.

Compiled by Julia Raven, Bruin senior staff.