After two members resignations, student council began the year with no members returning from previous councils.
In September, Amber Ruedi, the vice president of Associate Students of Central Oregon Community College affairs, and Shanelle Allen, ASCOCC treasurer, submitted their letters of resignation from ASCOCC, leaving the council two members short of a full executive office.
“My new job has turned out to be more demanding and will not afford me the time to be a member of student council,” said Allen in an email to Taran Smith, ASCOCC advisor.
According to Smith, Allen’s resignation was prompted after she began employment at an accounting firm in Eugene.
“I thought I would be able to do both,” Allen stated in her letter of resignation. “However, I will not be able to do both jobs while in school.”
Similar to Allen, Ruedi’s reasons for leaving ASCOCC also stems from limited availability.
“I resigned from [my position] to meet the needs of my son who has special needs,” explained Ruedi in an email to The Broadside. “My commitment to the position did not change, but the time and effort needed to help my son through his struggles made it difficult to give full attention and detail to the position.”
Due to the members giving notice of their resignation before fall term began, ASCOCC had ample time to plan for filling those positions, according to Justin Warren, vice president of legislative affairs at ASCOCC.
“Its never great to know someone will leave the office,” Warren said. “I am glad the process went as smoothly as it did.”
Application process open
ASCOCC is now seeking to fill the two executive office positions in addition to eight other positions on council.
For the two positions on the executive council, ASCOCC will use representatives of an appointment committee to select students for those positions.
“Part of the hiring process last year was to fill some of the positions and then have the council hire the additional council members,” Smith explained. “Those two positions are now encompassed in the overall hiring process.”
Evelia Sandoval and Zelda Ziegler will be the representatives of the appointment committee this year, according to Smith.
The application deadline for all ten of the available ASCOCC council positions is Oct. 31. Interviews will be held the first week of November with notification of employment occurring on Nov. 15.
The skill sets required for the two executive positions are specific and are a good step for students with some institutional knowledge of COCC who are interested in being involved on campus and advocating for students, according to Smith.
“The vice president of student affairs is really all about working with the council so they remain focused on their mission and goals, some supervisory experience would be great experience for the position,” Smith said. “When it comes to the treasurer, there is a lot of money and budget stuff, so having someone with that experience is really helpful.”
Though the skill sets may be different for each position, Warren believes that no matter the position, the students selected must be interested in being leaders.
“Leadership qualities are first priority,” Warren explained. “If anybody is taking a job in student government, they should know how to lead people and interact with others well. You have to feel comfortable about connecting with everyone on campus. That’s what it is to be a leader.”
Even though the council started the year short staffed, Smith believes their “positive and exciting energy” has been of benefit.
“Everything they have wanted to do so far, even though they are short staffed, has come to fruition. I am overwhelmingly impressed with these four council members, and I am ecstatic to see the other ten that they bring on and what they will accomplish collectively,” Smith said.

Emily Kalei | The Broadside
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