Updated: Vacated USG junior class senator seat to be filled by application

Members of the Class of 2015 can now apply to be a USG class senator, USG president Shawon Jackson ’15 announcedMondaynight in an email to the junior class.

The appointed junior will fill the seat vacated by Deana Davoudiasl ’15, who stepped down from the position in order to take a semester off, Jackson said in an interview.

The new senator will be appointed, rather than elected, in accordance with Section F of theUSG Constitution. The USG president and the class president will nominate the replacement, who then must be approved by the Senate.

Davoudiasl was halfway through her second term as Class of 2015 senator. During her tenure, she spearheaded the Summer Storage Initiative, which gives students the opportunity to store personal items over the summer, and Tiger Universe, which encourages attendance at athletic events.

Davoudiasl said she was taking time off due to a personal matter.

“Deana was a huge resource and a huge advocate, not only for the Class of 2015, but a great resource for USG," Zach Ogle, the other Class of 2015 senator, said. "We’ll miss her quite a bit, and we can’t wait for her to get back.”

Jackson said that the applications for students interested in the position will be dueon Thursdayand he hopes to complete interviews with the finalists over the weekend.

The applications will be reviewed primarily by Jackson and 2015 class president Jon Ma. USG vice president Carmina Mancenon ’14 and Ogle will provide input during the application review and interview processes, but the formal nomination will come from Ma and Jackson, Jackson said.

“As always for a class officer, it’s an elected position — you want them to be responsible, be passionate about USG, have some sort of project in mind that they can have, have been involved already in campus in the sense that they know what’s going on,” Ma said of the kind of candidate he is looking for. “I want to make sure that they have been participating in the activities and the events and they have a good feel for how they can contribute.”

After the interviews, Jackson will introduce the nominee during the first Senate meeting of the yearon Sundayevening in order to obtain Senate approval.

Should the nominee be confirmedon Sunday, he or she will not begin duties as Class of 2015 senator until the following Senate meeting.

Three members of the Class of 2015 ran for the two positions of Class of 2015 senator in November of 2012. As ofTuesdayafternoon,fourmembers of the Class of 2015 had submitted an application, Jackson said.

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“I would predict that it [the application pool] would be a little larger since some students tend to be intimidated about putting themselves out there in an election and feel more comfortable with filling out an application,” Jackson said, noting that the USG received about 20 applications to fill the empty Class of 2015 social chair position last spring.

The nine-question application asks students why they are interested in serving as a senator, what project ideas they may have and how they would try to fix a perceived problem in the USG. It also asks applicants to list a television show or movie that best describes their life.

Whoever is chosen to fill Davoudiasl’s vacated seat will hold the position until the end of January, unless he or she is reelected during the November elections.