Leimenstoll administration receives 231 applications for external appointments

In March, a student government committee had trouble finding the right students to join Student Body President Will Leimenstoll’s closest team of advisers.

But in recruiting external appointments — 19 positions that include various administrative committee memberships and certain positions in student government — two student leaders are having the opposite problem.

The executive branch received 231 applications for the 19 positions. A total of 93 students applied for multiple positions.

“It blew away all of our expectations,” said Student Body Vice President Rachel Myrick, one of the two students charged with reviewing the applications.

“We’re glad that we found a lot of interesting people who will occupy different niches.”

External appointments are student committees and groups charged with the task of bringing together students and faculty.

Members focus on specific issues, such as workers’ rights and parking space allocation, and attend meetings with faculty and administrators.

Myrick and Clay Hackney, chief of staff of external appointments, are in the process of making the appointments, which will be announced Wednesday. Some positions require approval by Student Congress.

Leimenstoll said he plans to improve communication between external appointments and executive branch cabinet committees.

“In the past, the external appointments are often separate from the executive branch,” Leimenstoll said.

“A lot of those students are sitting in on important meetings and learning information but are not bringing this info back.”

Leimenstoll said he plans to solve this problem by allowing members of external appointments to serve on executive branch cabinet committees.

“External appointments is a lot of what student government does, and more attention needs to be given to those people,” Myrick said. “We want them to be looped into student government as well.”

Myrick said publicity focused on public and private outreach in addition to recruiting specific students.

“This targeted outreach worked far more effectively than basic listserv blasting and was the reason we ended up with so many applicants,” she said.

Hackney said it’s important to put a student voice on these groups.

“It’s a great way to put student representatives on a board that is tailored to specific functions in the University.”

Myrick said the most popular committee is the student advisory committee to the chancellor, which received 42 applications for just six positions.

“It’s really important to get a good balance of people,” she said.
Leimenstoll, who is not involved in making the appointments, said it’s a difficult process.

“It’s not an easy decision to choose between students because we have a very high caliber of students who are interested in student government.”

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