UCOSA confidently confirms officers

UCOSA held its annual vote of no-confidence during its Monday Congress, the 11th and final meeting of the semester.

The vote, which takes place at the end of each Fall semester, allows Congress to dispel UCOSA officers with whom members are not confident by means of a two-thirds majority vote in favor of removing the officer.

During Monday’s Congress, three UCOSA officials, Chairman De Shannon, Vice-Chairwoman Hannah Turner and Secretary DeLauren Diaz were each confirmed in their respective positions.

During the process, a vote is held for each officer. The process goes as follows:

• Before their respective vote, officers are allotted time to advocate for themselves, recall good deeds or present their merit as a competent legislator.
• Time is then given for members of the voting body to direct questions to the officers or debate amongst each other.
• The candidates for approval are then directed to leave the room — or in the cases of Shannon and Turner, the Zoom call — so the body can vote.
• A yes is a vote to remove the officer in question from their position, and a no is a vote to confirm the officer.

The vote was held via a Google document organized by UCOSA Secretary Emily Grim, so that the almost congruent numbers of physical and virtual attendees could hold a quick vote.

All three were confirmed in their current positions: Shannon in a five-to-46 vote, Turner in a 25-to-14 vote and Diaz in a one-to-49 vote. 

“It’s just like any legislative body,” Diaz said. “You want to make sure that the people you voted-in are maintaining their promises to the student body and to the Congress.”

Grim said that a vote of no-confidence can also be called during any meeting by a UCOSA senator, allowing students to participate in the democratic process by taking up grievances with their respective representatives.

“If a student had an issue and wanted any of the congressional officers to be removed, they would be able to contact their senators in their college,” Grim said, “and the senator could bring it up again with that student’s concerns.”

Grim said that students could find contact information regarding their representatives on UCOSA’s Instagram Account.

“They would be able to also message the UCOSA social media pages,” Grim said, “and that can always get delegated to a senator.”