Carleton University’s Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) appointed two new executives at a virtual meeting on Jan. 24.
Rae Landriau, a student in Carleton’s master’s of science in geography program, was appointed vice president (operations). Council also appointed Reza Sohrabi, an international student pursuing a PhD in sociology, as vice president (external). Sohrabi’s and Landriau’s terms end on April 30.
The appointments follow the resignation of two executives last semester. Former vice president (external) Hesam Farahani posted a letter on Reddit stating he would resign hours before a council meeting on Oct. 4, 2021. Just more than a month later, former vice president (operations) Kimberly Keller emailed council stating she would also step down.
Last November, GSA voted to forgo a byelection to fill the vacancies. Instead, Landriau and Sohrabi presented their platforms to council and were nominated to fill executive positions at GSA’s monthly virtual meeting on Dec. 13, 2021.
Sohrabi and Landriau are not affiliated with any slate and did not run for executive positions in GSA’s last election in March of 2021.
At the latest meeting, Landriau said she would begin creating a committee this week to review GSA’s governing documents.
“It’s been brought to my attention that there’s some discrepancies between the [documents] and some contradictory statements,” Landriau said. “So we want to address that going forward.”
Other student governments are also making governance changes this year. The Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) will be governed as an incorporation under new bylaws effective May 1. The Rideau River Residence Association (RRRA) struck a constitutional review committee to edit its bylaws last October.
GSA’s next meeting has not yet been scheduled.
Featured image from Screengrab.
