Benaiges, a three-year veteran of the council and the its only member to have served in past years, was elected chair at CC’s weekly meeting on October 19. He announced last week that he had named Fagan, a fourth-year representative, as vice chair. Fagan had also run for the chair position two weeks ago.
“She ran for Chair which I thought was a testament to her interest and dedication,” Benaiges, a third-year, said in an email message.
The vice-chair position is uniquely important this year. While in recent years, the vice chair’s role has been limited to occasionally running meetings in the event that the chair was absent, this year, Benaiges will be studying abroad during Winter, leaving Fagan at the helm for an entire quarter.
“Her and I will be working very closely this quarter so that she will be in the know by next quarter about all her responsibilities. We also think it will help provide consistency to the Council if they are used to seeing both of us up front early on,” Benaiges said.
The chair’s responsibilities include setting meeting agendas, running meetings, helping members carry out initiatives, and representing the council in SG’s Executive Cabinet, a body that consists of the Executive Slate, the liaisons to the Board of Trustees, the Community and Government Liaison, and the chairs of both College Council and Graduate Council.
The CC vice chair’s only explicit duty is to run meetings when the chair is absent, but has latitude to take on additional responsibilities.
In an email message, Fagan said this of her new position: “As Vice-Chair of College Council, I have a few personal year-long aims. I would like to work with College Council to set tangible goals for our term in order to ensure that we’re making an impact on the campus community in a meaningful way. I also hope to encourage more collaborative projects between representatives, as well as with the Executive Slate, based on personal interests and the interests of the various representatives’ constituents.”
“[Travis and I] hope to work as a team to facilitate College Council discussions and projects,” she said.
