The Residence Halls Association’s executive board wrapped up elections Wednesday, adding Holden Hall Rep. Emily Edick as external vice president.
Edick beat out Julie Hughes, the association’s director of treasuries and allocations, for the position. Edick will join President-elect Tim Liss and Internal Vice President-elect John Sturk, who will form RHA’s executive board next year.
General assembly members elected three members of the assembly to the organization’s top three spots instead of previous leaders.
A portion of Edick’s time will be spent as a liaison between ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, registered student organizations and hall governments.
“A lot of the time the (external vice president) is the face of RHA,” she said. “We need to make sure organizations know where we stand and knowing where other organizations stand in relation to RHA.”
She said communication also must be improved within the association to combat problems such as the RHA Movies service decrease after the program went more than $10,000 over budget.
“There needs to be an open line of communication with my program directors,” she said. “I need to make sure they know what is expected from them and what they expect from me in both of our jobs.”
With the hiring of a new director of human resources next week, the four board leaders will hire the remaining positions on the executive board.
“I am big on integrity and honesty,” she said. “That should be the foundation of how programs run smoothly.”
Current External Vice President Amy Sa’id said this only will be the third year the association has had the position. Sa’id will not return to RHA next year.
“It’s going to be a lot easier because I have taken notes through my year as external vice president, and I hope to give that to her so they know where the pitfalls are,” she said.
“I know she is very willing to jump into this position, so I think it will be a lot easier for her,” she said. “This position is also a big troubleshooting position, you don’t know what’s going to come up, so you have to be able to take your hits in stride.”
Former external vice president candidate Justin Komori said he withdrew from the race last week because he wanted to focus on academics.
“It wasn’t an issue whether I felt I could or could not perform the job or the other candidates,” Komori said. “I had to evaluate my academic status for next year.
“I want to be able to play a more vocal role next year as a general assembly member. As (external vice president) I wouldn’t be able to do that as much.”
