The Associated Students of Pomona College (ASPC) voted Feb. 7 to appoint replacements for the positions of North Campus Representative and Commissioner of Academic Affairs after receiving resignations from the students who held the positions last semester.
Derek Schaible PO ’11 replaced John Thomason PO ’12 as Commissioner of Academic Affairs, and Caroline Rubin PO ’12 took over for Amal Karim PO ’11 as North Campus Representative.
Karim cited personal reasons, which made it impossible to continue to hold her position as North Campus Representative this semester. However, she does plan to stay on the Residence Hall Committee and hopefully hold a North Campus open house later in the semester to give underclassmen an opportunity to view North Campus rooms before room draw.
“I’m just grateful that I had this experience with Senate,” said Karim. “It wasn’t the greatest timing for me, but I would really like to encourage people to be more interested in Senate activities. There is real impact that Senate can have on students’ lives.”
Thomason declared the voluntary termination of his post as Commissioner of Academic Affairs after being named Editor-in-Chief of The Student Life this semester. According to ASPC President Stephanie Almeida PO ’11, a student is not allowed to hold an ASPC position and be Editor-in-Chief of TSL during the same semester due to a conflict of interest, because ASPC funds TSL and appoints TSL Editor-in-Chief each semester.
According to Almeida, having two elected ASPC members resign in a single semester is unusual but not unprecedented. Though she admitted it was not ideal, she did not think the shifts in power would be detrimental to Senate.
ASPC decided to fill the vacant positions through appointments rather than a special election because of the unusual timing, given that elections for next year’s ASPC members will be held in April, and that running an election is a major process.
Two subcommittees were formed to find replacements for North Campus Representative and Commissioner of Academic Affairs, consisting of Almeida, Vice President for Finance Cosi Thawley PO ’11, and Karim and Thomason, respectively. Three students applied for North Campus Representative, and five applied for Commissioner of Academic Affairs.
“The fact is there are way more appointed positions that elected positions,” Almeida said. “Obviously elections are nice and students feel better knowing they elected the people on the Senate, but I think we had a really good subcommittee and a really fair process.”
The committees interviewed each candidate, and Schaible and Rubin were chosen based on their experience, availability, and communication skills, Almeida said.
Schaible has served on a number of ASPC committees during his time at Pomona, including the Curriculum Committee, where he will continue to serve as part of his duties as Commissioner of Academic Affairs. Schaible will also serve on the Academic Procedures Committee and may sit on the Faculty Position Advisory Committee. He has attended Senate meetings in the past while serving on other ASPC committees and as Election Supervisor last fall.
“I am familiar with the way the committees of the College work in general and in particular the ones that the Academic Affairs Commissioner is expected to know,” Schaible said. “As a double major in two different divisions I feel like I can bring a pretty broad view of the curriculum in general to a position that needs to have a wide understanding of the liberal arts curriculum that we have.”
Rubin has actively participated in ASPC committees as a student-at-large member of the Residence Hall Committee and a committee chair for CCLA. She was unable to run for an ASPC position last spring because she studied abroad during the Fall 2010 semester.
As North Campus Representative, Rubin will co-chair the Food Committee and the Residence Hall Committee with South Campus Representative Ian Gallogly PO ’13. She will represent all residence halls north of Sixth Street, as well as Pomona’s College Park Apartments.
“I’m really excited for this position,” Rubin said. “As North Campus Representative you get to work more directly with students, which I really enjoy doing.”
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