The Academic Senate elected Kimberly Monda as their new interim president on Friday, Sept. 1.
Monda served as Academic Senate president in 2014, and currently teaches in the English department at City College.
The senate’s presidential cycle consists of a one year term as president-elect, followed by a two year term in office, and then a remaining one year term as past-president.
As of June 30, the group has been without a president or president-elect, and so appointed current acting president Tara Carter.
Former president Melanie Eckford-Prossor chose to retire from City College. Moreover, former president-elect Linda Beers also resigned from her duties.
During a summer Academic Senate meeting on July 19, members discussed details regarding the election process of an interim president for the 2023-2024 academic year.
According to the meeting’s agenda, the resignation of Eckford-Prossor and Beers left the senate in a “rare situation.”
Section six of the Academic Senate bylaws states that, “If the [presidential] resignation happens outside of a regular term, then the special election will take place during the first week of a regular term.”
The election subcommittee ran the interim presidential election until Aug. 29, when calls for candidates closed, and opened the election period from Aug. 30 until Sept. 1. Elizabeth Chisholm, senator of the mathematics division, headed the subcommittee.
“One of the most important things was getting back on track with when the elections are supposed to happen and making sure the president gets that year of being president elect and, you know, all the normal things,” Chisholm said.
Monda will serve as interim president for the remaining term, which lasts until the summer of 2024, when the newly elected president is scheduled to take office.
“The main thing is hopefully getting back to the normal sequence of what the president’s terms are,” Chisholm said.
The Academic Senate will hold an election in the Spring of 2024 for new presidential candidates.
Monda is set to start on Tuesday, Sept. 5.
