Executive staff summer plans

Now that ASPSU President Katie Markey and Vice President Selina Poulsen have taken office, they plan to work with their executive staff over the summer on campaigns.

Markey and Poulsen—who were elected last April—said they are excited to be working for Portland State students.

One of Poulsen’s summer goals is to have the new staff work as a team. 

“This is the time the executive staff has together where we can get to know each others’ strengths and weaknesses,” Poulsen said.

As vice president, Poulsen is also responsible for overseeing the Student Senate. She said that the first senate training meeting, held on June 1, went very well.

In addition, she said she looks forward “to working with senators on leadership development.” Over the summer, she will continue to train the new senators in order to have a good start in the fall.

Aside from seeing ASPSU working as a cohesive unit, Markey said she would like to see the senate make quorum at its meetings.

“The senators who have been elected and appointed are an amazing group and I think they will accomplish great things this year,” she said. “I would like to see them embrace their position as the largest representative body of ASPSU and work to represent students.”

During the summer months, Markey will also be preparing for her first campaign.

“We will be hitting the ground running this summer,” she said. “Once the executive staff is fully hired we will begin deciding on summer and fall campaigns and starting to work on them. We will also be attending trainings, meeting with PSU administration and participating in candidate visits.”

Markey, who will be a senior next year, would like to leave ASPSU and PSU in a better position.

Currently, the Markey and Poulsen are also concentrating on hiring staff members. Markey said that all executive staff positions are scheduled to be filled by July 1.

 “So far we have hired three positions,” she said.

According to Markey, they are waiting to release names until the hiring process is complete.

Poulsen said she is looking forward to working with the new staff, once it is finalized.

“I am excited for the new team dynamic,” she said.

Deviating from prior years, Markey and Poulsen have decided to use hiring committees for staffing purposes.

For the most part, Poulsen has organized the hiring committees. Markey, on the other hand, makes the final decision on hiring after receiving input from the hiring committees. After someone new is hired, they will also be appointed to various hiring committees to help fill other open positions.

In previous years, the president, vice president and chief of staff selected all new-hires without any outside input.

Markey said she chose to use hiring committees this year because she “wanted a diverse group coming from across the Portland State campus to be a part of the process.”

“It is important to me to remember that ASPSU works for students, so students should be a part of the hiring process,” she said. “I also wanted some professional staff on the hiring committees in order to provide feedback to not only myself and Selina, but to the candidates that we interview.”

 The committees consist partly of individuals with prior experience in hiring, education and other backgrounds helpful to the specific positions they are filling, according to Markey.

“The hiring committee is great,” Poulsen said. “I enjoy working with a diverse committee to make sure we gather a lot of different perspectives before we hire anyone.”

Markey said that she and Poulsen believe that the executive staff, so far, is a team that works and communicates well together.

“The staff is a talented group of individuals who come from a wide range of backgrounds and experience,” Markey said.

  She and Poulsen also encourage PSU students to get involved with ASPSU or other student groups and committees to ensure that students’ voices are heard. According to Markey, involvement also enhances the college experience.

 “College is a place for learning and growing, not just attaining a degree,” she said.