USUSA appoints new College of Engineering senator

Olivia Binks, the Utah State University Student Association senator of the College of Engineering, recently decided to step down. On Tuesday, USUSA President Ashley Waddoups appointed Jaque Johansen, a senior studying electrical engineering, to fill Binks’ position.

Waddoups said she opted not to perform interviews for the position because Johansen was so highly recommended by Binks as well as other students who worked with him.

“The senator knows the job better than anyone else, so they know who’s best qualified to be their successor,” Waddoups said.

Linda Zimmerman, the director of the Student Involvement and Leadership Center said she is not permitted to release details regarding why Binks stepped down.

However, Zimmerman said she thinks it’s a “good personal decision” and she supports it.

Binks said she has experienced support from colleagues in her decision.

“I am grateful for the support I’ve had from my advisors and fellow officers during this transition,” Binks said in a text message.

Johansen will be formally taking the position next semester, right before engineering week, which will be held Feb 21-25.  

However, he does not feel overwhelmed with the work load.

“We started planning for engineering week a lot earlier this year and a lot of things have just fallen into place,” Johansen said.

This year, the Engineering Student Council created a new position dedicated solely to planning engineering week.

“In past years, planning engineering week was mostly led by the president and senator, but we thought creating this new position would be helpful,” Johansen said.

While Johansen is new to the senator’s position, he certainly isn’t new to leadership roles in the College of Engineering.

Johansen has served as president of the Engineering Student Council for the past two years under two different senators. He was also involved in the Engineering Student Council before he was president.

He has been involved in the engineering program at USU since his freshman year, and has studied both electrical and mechanical engineering.

While Waddoups said she is confident Johansen will perform well in the position, she said her biggest concern is him feeling welcomed.

“It’s always hard when you come into a group that’s been hanging out together and planning things… It would be hard to come into that in the middle of the year,” Waddoups said.

However, Waddoups said she thinks Johansen is kind, easygoing and likeable.

Ryan Bentall, the USUSA executive vice president, said Johansen “has really impressed him as someone who’s going to do a great job.”

Normally, motions presented by the USUSA president only require a majority vote to pass. However, when a new senator is nominated in the middle of the year, the vote only requires two-thirds to pass.

When Johansen was nominated, all members of the executive council voted in favor of  his taking the position.

The new president of the engineering council will be determined at the beginning of next semester.

—aligirl123@att.net

@alison__berg