Senate approves new hiring policy

As a result of the hiring problems that plagued Student Government (SG) this summer, senators unanimously voted Tuesday for a new hiring procedure statute that affects all student-held positions within SG.

The statute doesn’t apply to student-elected officials or divisions such as SAFE Team.

SG previously had no such statute in place, said Khalid Hassouneh, chairman for the Senate Committee on Rules.

“This is really the first hiring bill, but it goes into statutes,” he said. “This is the first year that this has really been felt as a problem.”

The procedure will now follow human resources’ hiring policy, which entails having a committee review applicants and make a recommendation to the student body president. The top three candidates will then be interviewed by the committee, said College of Arts and Sciences Sen. Rachel Brown.

She said this new application process will be seen as a welcomed change that will more properly fill job vacancies within the student body.

“I’m really happy that we have something that is like a standard now,” Brown said. “You’re getting hired because you’re qualified not because you’re friends with someone. We want the average Joe student that has some experience. We want them to get involved. We want them to apply and we want to make sure that their application is given a fair chance.”

In June, Brett Farrar, a senior majoring in finance, was named the new director of Bulls Radio despite admitting he had no prior experience in radio and that he is a fraternity brother of student body Vice President Spencer Montgomery, who interviewed him for the position.

Former director of Bulls Radio Michael Ranon was given one-day notice of his interview, which was three days before the application deadline closed. His second interview was conducted on the same day of the Senate meeting. He then received an e-mail alerting him of his removal from his position at 5:14 p.m., less than an hour before the commencement of the Senate meeting.

Later that month, Nicole Kummer, an SG applicant, was interviewed for a position she didn’t originally apply for, and she said her application was “passed on” to another department within SG because they felt she would “better fit that department.”

Hassouneh said the statute addresses these concerns.

“We saw problems such as candidates that didn’t apply for that position that was being offered,” he said. “It’s not fair to student applicants that are applying.”

Hassouneh said in the summer that students applied for a position and didn’t get it weren’t notified – another reason for the policy change in statutes.

“There were around 150 applicants. Yet, very few were actually interviewed about the position,” he said. “This will (be) a solution so we won’t have to look at it again.”

Hassouneh said there was no specific person responsible for the hiring mishaps.

“(With this bill), we know solely where the responsibility lies. That way, we can uphold the statutes to that individual,” he said. “This bill makes it where there is no gray area.”