Six people serve on the student council, yet on May 16, the student body only elected three.
The other three Associated Students of Central Oregon Community College positions will be hired by a hiring committee. The committee consists of the three elected council members, Thomas Barry, who is a sociology professor at Central Oregon Community College, and Zelda Ziegler, a chemistry professor at COCC.
This policy exists because of a historic lack of interest in campaigning for the council positions, according to Taran Underdal, ASCOCC advisor.
“These last few years have been unprecedented,” said Underdal. “Where we’ve actually had a larger number of students running.”
Electing three members and hiring the rest gives students who aren’t comfortable with campaigning a chance to participate on the council, according to Underdal.
“I believe the whole campaigning process is intimidating for the average community college student,” said Underdal.
Campaigning can also be difficult on a community college campus, according to Underdal, because there is not always a consistent group of students around.
“It’s hard to make connections and build support,” said Underdal.
There are benefits to COCC’s method of selecting the members of the ASCOCC council, according to Underdal.
“One thing that I love, is that it gives elected members a chance to be on a hiring committee,” she said.
Underdal believes hiring other students provides council members valuable job experience. Council members also get experience with the hiring process by staffing their office with assistants.
The inconsistency of students on campus may impact the number of students who actually vote in ASCOCC elections. Out of 9073 eligible students, 389 actually voted in the election, according to Price. These are the six council members that would have been appointed if the student body selected the entire council.
There are a total of 10 valid applicants for the appointed ASCOCC positions, according to Gordon Price, the director of student life. However, not all applicants will get a chance to interview for a position on council, according to Underdal.
“The committee is modeled after the hiring process at COCC,” said Underdal, which means only certain applicants are selected for interviews.
Time constraints don’t allow for all of the applicants to be interviewed, according to Underdal.
On May 24 the appointment committee selected six of the 10 applicants to be interviewed, including current ASCOCC Director of Legislative Affairs, Kurt Killinger.
The selected three will most likely be announced on June 3, according to Price.
–Cedar Goslin
The Broadside
(contact: [email protected])
There are a total of 10 valid applicants for the appointed ASCOCC positions, according to Gordon Price, the director of student life. However, not all applicants will get a chance to interview for a position on council, according to Underdal.
“The committee is modeled after the hiring process at COCC,” said Underdal, which means only certain applicants are selected for interviews.
Time constraints don’t allow for all of the applicants to be interviewed, according to Underdal.
On May 24 the appointment committee selected six of the 10 applicants to be interviewed, including current ASCOCC Director of Legislative Affairs, Kurt Killinger
The selected three will most likely be announced on June 3, according to Price.
