The last vacant seat in the Residence Halls Association’s executive board was filled Wednesday night.

The general assembly approved the hiring of advertising sophomore Brian Winters, and elected him the next director of public relations and advertising for the organization. In his new position, Winters will handle publicity and advertising as well as being the media spokesman for the organization.

In his speech to the general assembly, Winters said he wants to get RHA’s name known to students by bringing the organization out of the hallways and into the dorm rooms.

“The main thing I noticed is people don’t know who RHA is,” he said. “Awareness and perception is the first issue I want to tackle. I see a lot of good things down the line.”

Winters is replacing the former Director of Public Relations Charles Russman, who resigned in late September because of time constraints.

In the three week absence of a public relations position, RHA President Tim Liss and RHA Secretary Dave Warden took on the responsibilities of the position.

External Vice President Derek Wallbank and Human Resources Director Melissa Kessler were in charge of hiring for the position.

Kessler said the screening process for the post took about three weeks. She also said the applicant pool was a lot higher than she expected, adding Winters was the most qualified for the position.

Kessler said that although Winters is a mentor in Akers Hall - the last two executive board members to resign also were mentors - time commitments would not be an issue for him. Winters said he only has class on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s - giving him a lot to time to devote work to his new position.

“His enthusiasm, his willingness to use resources available to him and his ideas were all reason why he was selected,” Kessler said.

But some students did not agree with the general assembly’s approval of Winters.

“It worries me that he has no experience in the field,” Case Hall Rep. Adam Raezler said. “It is his major, what he’s studying to do, but he doesn’t have any real experience.”

But Liss said he was excited that the executive board was finally full and the organization can now move ahead.

“We currently have a full executive board,” he said. “And now we will be able to operate more efficiently and not spread ourselves so thin.”