Union Board executives submit resignations two months early

For the last few weeks, Union Board has operated without two of its top three executives.

Senior Dan Haddad, former vice president of programming, resigned Oct. 3, and Erika Hall, vice president of membership, resigned on Oct. 10. Both vice presidents’ terms would have ended in December.

“I’ve got some concerns about the future of Union Board if two exec members are resigning,” Haddad said. “The overall Union Board experience could be improved. I think they’re taking the right steps in doing that.”

Though Hall — who declined an interview — resigned just one week after Haddad, it was by no means a joint separation, Haddad said.

The resignations were fairly abnormal, given both their vice presidential status and when they resigned, but not necessarily completely unexpected, said Amanda Malkowski, Union Board public relations and marketing director.

“I would say it was fairy abrupt but not incredibly shocking. I think you can infer from that what you may,” she said. “Based on how their investment seemed compared to other directors at that time, it wasn’t incredibly shocking. It was abrupt because it wasn’t discussed outright.”

It is Union Board policy to open all vacated positions to the entire student body. The board (made up of student directors and adult advisors) decided not to fill the spots for the remaining months and will instead redistribute Haddad and Hall’s workloads among other directors.

Malkowski has taken on many of Hall’s responsibilities, which included planning a biennial alumni reunion scheduled for this weekend. Union Board President Evan Farrell has taken over many of Haddad’s bookkeeping responsibilities.

“We’re just trying to function as well as we can while lacking those two individuals,” Malkowski said. “It’s a shame to lose anyone out of any of us, especially someone in a vice president position. We have to continue on.

“We still have programming to do. We still have committee members and assistant directors who look up to us and depend on us to provide
organization.”

Haddad said his departure was influenced by a number of factors and cited a recent stunting of personal growth while working for Union Board.

“I think I’ve done all that I could as Union Board vice president, and it’s time to focus my time on other campus activities,” he said. “I’ve resigned to focus more on IUSA and my future career. It’s unfortunate that we had to step down due to surrounding circumstances.”

While Haddad would not go into detail about specific circumstances, he said many of his concerns focused on both the interpersonal and financial aspects of Union Board.
As vice president of programming, Haddad dealt mainly with budgetary affairs. He actualized events and helped make the Union Board budget as a whole. In this capacity, he worked with many committee directors, who are in charge of putting on events.

“It might be time for Union Board to seriously reconsider the electing and instructing of their directors,” he said. “I’ve seen a lack of enthusiasm of the board itself.”

Some directors are elected to Union Board through student elections, and sometimes, students who receive many votes from a friend group can be picked instead of dedicated students from within Union Board, Haddad said.

This process, he added, could lead to directors that aren’t as well informed as they should be.

Financially, the Union Board budget was cut from about $450,000 to this year’s $370,000.

“It was not enough to significantly affect our programming, but we keep it in mind,” Malkowski said. “It’s brought up at almost every meeting that we need to be extra careful about our budget.”

Mandatory student fee money funds Union Board, though the Committee for Fee Review can change the amount students pay toward the student organization.

“I don’t feel like they‘ve been using their money as effectively, as evidenced by our Committee for Fee Review cuts,” Haddad said.

When the committee announced the cuts in the spring, citing a lack of fund transparency, Farrell was initially frustrated.

“It takes away our ability to do as many big events as we could have,” Farrell said. “The spirit of Union Board isn’t dependent on a budget number. We’ve just been kind of limited in the size of our events. I respect all the things that they told us and all the challenges they put before us.”

Farrell, who worked with Haddad and Hall as his vice presidents, acknowledged the trio had their differences.

The now-seniors all met their sophomore year and worked together in a directorial capacity their junior year, when Hall served as lectures director, Haddad as comedy director and Farrell as films director.

“I guess it was the first time we had worked as extensively with each other,” Farrell said. “It was different to just see how people worked and operated and communicated on business terms. I think that they had frustration, personal frustration. There were times when they brought them to me, and I worked to address those frustrations, but there were things that I was unable to address.”

Some of these frustrations stemmed from how he interacted with them, Farrell said.
“They had some criticism of my working style with them,” he said. “I had to find ways to better work with them and directors. I’m one to not take criticism personally. There are adjustments, but there are always adjustments you have to make.”

Malkowski, who said she considers both Haddad and Hall good personal friends, was also aware of the executives’ issues.

“They were all very good friends when they were all directors on the 2010 board,” she said. “Once they got into their new roles, I’m not sure if they saw eye to eye all the time, but that was never made aware to us as directors.

There was never any obvious conflict. We wouldn’t sit at meetings and think, ‘Oh boy, they’re fighting,’ or anything like that.”

She described what she saw as a gradual decline in motivation in Haddad and Hall since the beginning of the calendar year but did not expect them to resign.

“Yeah, it’s sad. I do agree that if you’re not going to invest your whole heart into a position like this, you should not be in that position,” she said. “In that sense, I am not as angry as I would be otherwise. I think it deserved someone who would give it what it needs, and they were not able to do that.”

Farrell would not directly comment on Haddad or Hall’s performance this year, saying that instead of wondering why they resigned, he is focusing on moving forward.

Although, he said the job is often trying and a constant learning experience.

“I think that when you’re a director, you’re constantly learning things as you go,” he said. “Now that I’m almost done with the job, I see things more clearly. Once you’re done, you finally get it.

No one is a perfect director. Just as there are ways I could improve as president, there were ways they could have improved as vice president.”

Union Board Offices

President oversees meetings, represents Union Board at all Indiana Memorial Union executive meetings. Chairs the Policy Committee, which proposes changes to the union board constitution and bylaws and allocates Student Activities Tower office space.

Vice president of programming serves as chief financial officer. Evaluates each programming committee to ensure they stay on budget. Chairs the Budgetary Affairs Committee, which reviews proposals for programs and sets operating budgets.

Vice president of membership maintains alumni relations, evaluates recruitment and retention efforts of all union board committees and records union board meetings’ minutes.

Public relations and marketing director promotes Union Board’s mission and sponsored programs.