The resignation of Janet Cummings, Graduate Student Association vice president of academic affairs, was announced officially at the forum meeting last Wednesday night.
Cummings was midway through her second year serving on the GSA when she resigned because of an overwhelming workload, said Nurit Katz, GSA president.
“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve in this capacity for the past year and a half,” said Cummings in a statement. “One of the accomplishments of which I am most proud has been ensuring effective and meaningful graduate student input and representation in the Academic Senate, particularly in the academic program review process.”
As of press time, Cummings was unavailable for an interview.
This abdication came in the wake of a number of premature resignations over the past several months including that of GSA Director of Communications Sarah Ostendorf, as well as Vice President Justin Hotter and General Representative Sanobar Sajan of the undergraduate student government.
“She was a … graduate student who was overwhelmed by work,” Katz said. “Sometimes people just have to take time off for themselves.”
As vice president of academic affairs, Cummings worked on academic reviews and department surveys among other duties.
Cummings was a “hard worker who created a lot of ways to improve processes,” said Monica Sanchez, GSA vice president of external affairs. “She put in a lot of time and energy.”
To install a new officer before regular elections, the GSA has to convene the assembly, a group made up of graduate student representatives from a variety of departments. Katz is pushing for a new appointment soon.
“I want to get this done before the spring quarter elections,” Katz said.
The assembly can only meet after all councils have submitted member lists to the officers. Councils are made up of graduate student representatives from different departments.
As of the last meeting of the forum, the assembly’s executive board, on Jan. 23, three out of 13 councils had not submitted lists, a task that was supposed to have been completed months ago.
Despite this, it is likely that a replacement will be found before the end of winter quarter, said Sanchez.
The new appointment for the vice president position will come from the a member of the assembly.
“We want to find someone with some experience,” Katz said.
Commitment is also high on the requirement list for a new vice president.
“Some people give up a lot working on GSA,” Katz said. “You have to make that commitment. When I was a first-year (graduate student) at UCLA, I had three different jobs. Sometimes it’s a little tough.”
Though there were two premature GSA resignations this year, this is not necessarily that unusual, Katz said.
“I’m a third-year at UCLA and we’ve had resignations in my time here,” Katz said. “It’s not unprecedented.”