The Concordia Student Union is officially looking for a new chief electoral officer following the resignation of Justin Holland early Monday.
Citing personal reasons, Holland will not be taking courses at Concordia University during the winter semester and therefore stepped down from the position with only two months to go before the general elections in March.
In accordance with the CSU’s bylaws, only individuals who are undergraduate students at Concordia are eligible for the posting. Therefore, not taking classes renders Holland ineligible to keep his employment with the CSU as he is no longer qualified for membership under bylaw 3.1.
Holland also clarified that he will finish his CEO report and reimburse by-election candidates for their expenses by Jan. 22 at the latest.
President Schubert Laforest said the departure was announced Monday morning in an email from Holland.
“Being that I will still be in Montreal during this time, and I will be, in a fashion—auditing courses for future reference, I will be making myself available for an orderly handover with my successor,” the email read.
Laforest told The Concordian that he was pleased with Holland’s work thus far.
“He learned quickly and managed a good election and he was always professional,” said Laforest. “It was a loss for us.”
The CSU listed the CEO posting the same day and already started advertising online through social media platforms in order to attract potential applicants. Some of the responsibilities of the CEO include ensuring that elections run independently and fairly, issuing directives on the carrying out of the standing regulations and training election officers.
Laforest said that while the timing is tricky he is “fairly confident” that his team will address the situation responsibly by hiring a new CEO quickly.
In order to be eligible to apply for the posting, applicants must be registered as an undergraduate student for the current semester and must possess a good knowledge of the CSU’s bylaws and standing regulations.
