Junior Nick Rampone will resign as vice president of the University of Massachusetts Student Government Association at the end of the 2016 fall semester, SGA President Anthony Vitale announced at Monday’s meeting..
At SGA’s first meeting after Thanksgiving break, Vitale announced Rampone’s resignation. Rampone was absent from Monday’s meeting, but later said he’s resigning to study abroad next semester in Shanghai, China.
Rampone was elected vice president in April, but didn’t plan on studying abroad when he ran.
“When I agreed to run alongside Anthony on the executive ticket I did not expect to be going abroad my junior year,” Rampone said. “It was sort of a spur-of-the-moment decision” he added.
According to Rampone, the post of vice president is a fairly new position in SGA. It has only been around for less than a decade, so his mid-term resignation is the first of its kind.
Vitale, Rampone and leaders from the executive and legislative branches of SGA will form a committee to appoint the next vice president. The committee will meet with an attorney at UMass Student Legal Services to ensure the transition is in accordance with SGA bylaws.
According to Vitale, the committee will produce an application for the position to the student body at some point before winter break. The committee will review each applicant, and Vitale will choose a candidate based on the recommendations of the committee.
The candidate will be presented before Senate, who will appoint or dismiss the candidate. They, he or she will assume office at some point over winter break.
Any undergraduate UMass student may apply for the position and Vitale said there is no shortlist of potential candidates at this time.
“We look forward to having a successful and easy transition,” he said.
Rampone joined SGA last year as the undersecretary of the registry, assisting in the application process for new Registered Student Organizations.
He currently has no plans on returning to SGA after studying abroad, but he says he’s not opposed to getting involved again in his senior year.
Jack Martin can be reached at [email protected].
