GSC extends NomCom terms

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) voted Wednesday evening in favor of extending current Nominations Commission (NomCom) appointees’ terms until June 17 or the completion of the current nominations cycle. The meeting was the GSC’s first since the transition from last year’s representatives on Sunday.

Under the GSC bill, new appointees to NomCom will be jointly selected by the ASSU Executive, the GSC co-chairs and the Undergraduate Senate chair.

The interim measure — which garnered eight votes in favor and one abstention from GSC representatives — was necessary to ensure student representatives for more than 40 University committees are nominated.

The 13th Senate told this year’s NomCom that the committee’s responsibilities would be dissolved at the end of the year, likely in anticipation of an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at formulating an updated ASSU Constitution. As such, the Senate didn’t recruit new NomCom members after the commission’s term ended, expecting a revised format under the new Constitution.

The GSC bill echoed the attempts of the 14th Undergraduate Senate to address the issue Tuesday evening. The Senate passed the same bill — reinstating members of the outgoing NomCom — as an interim measure.

Other options, such as nominating ASSU President Robbie Zimbroff ‘12 as unilateral chair of an interim commission, were rejected by Senators on the grounds that they would defy ASSU bylaws.

— Marshall Watkins