Brandon Wallingford has resigned as the Carleton University Students’ Association’s administrative commissioner of clubs and societies.
Wallingford said he was presented with “more opportunities with my other job. I didn’t have the time necessary to commit to continuing to be in the clubs and societies office.”
In his resignation letter, Wallingford suggested changes that should be made to the office, including hiring a full-time staff member.
He also noted constant pressure to “bend the rules and allow friends and political allies of the establishment special treatment.”
“When you’re dealing with the amount of money that the commissioners deal with, pressure from the individuals who are vying for the money, as in ‘hey, make sure that this club gets the funding, otherwise we won’t support you in the future.’ Basically, keep your friends happy,” he said.
Wallingford said this was not an issue that the office struggled with, but said it was important that his replacement prevent it from becoming an issue.
CUSA vice-president (internal) Sofia Dala said the association is currently in the process of hiring a new commissioner.
“Perhaps by the end of the week I’ll have someone new working there,” Dala said.
“The person that we hire, has to have that integrity and that loyalty to be a good worker,” Dala said. “They have to know there’s rules, there are guidelines to follow and everyone has to follow this. So they have to be strict, they have to be able to say no when the time comes.”
The clubs and societies office currently has two commissioners working part time—an administrative and a programming commissioner.
Wallingford made a firm recommendation in his letter to hire one full-time commissioner for the office instead of having two.
“It is impossible to provide the expected level of service with two part time employees,” reads the letter. “There is an endless communication issue that can not be resolved when both commissioners are not in the office half the time.”
Dala said it would be difficult changing from two part-time commissioners to one full-time commissioner.
“Because this is a position under the union CUPE, you wouldn’t say all of a sudden, ‘No, I’ll have just one full-time staff working at it,” she said.
She added that a full-time position would be difficult to manage, since a commissioner needs to be picked from CUSA’s student body and would therefore have to juggle work and school.
“We can definitely in the future take a look into it, but in the meantime, it’s all about organization and being able to manage well the 20 and 20 [hours] with both commissioners.”
