The Wilfrid Laurier University Students’ Union board of directors has officially elected Nick DeSumma as their new chair and chief governance officer while also voting Nick Molkoski as vice-chair for the 2016-17 year.
“I’m very excited that I was elected chair. It’s an unbelievable feeling and I couldn’t be more thankful that the new board has put their faith in me,” said Nick DeSumma.
As a former vice-chair for the 2015-16 board, DeSumma will be the first-ever chair from Brantford. He was elected instead of director-elect Jonathan Ricci for the position.
Director-elect Molkoski beat fellow directors Shannon Kelly and Matt DeSumma for the role of vice-chair. Molkoski, only a first-year student, will be looking to bring a new perspective to what the role is.
“I’ve put a lot of time into kind of researching the role and talking to past chairs and vice-chairs and recognizing what the needs for the upcoming year is going to be, so I think that through that research I had answers to a lot of the questions [in the board meeting],” said Molkoski.
As chair and CGO, DeSumma’s responsibilities will include, but are not limited to, monitoring board meetings while supporting and answering questions from fellow directors. He will run the meetings as a non-voting members unless in the event of a tiebreaker. As vice-chair, Molkoski’s responsibilities include keeping the chair accountable, as well as stepping in as chair if DeSumma is unavailable.
“I’m extremely excited with who got elected and how excited everyone seems to be for the upcoming year and I look forward to working with everyone,” said Molkoski.
DeSumma plans to focus on relationship building and training on the board when he starts in his new position as of May 1, 2016. He recognizes the lack of returning directors — which includes only the DeSumma brothers and Ricci — and will need to focus on training.
“I want the new board to feel not only comfortable with me as chair, but to feel comfortable and supported with themselves as directors. A large turnaround is tough, but this is a very smart and passionate group so I have no doubts that it’ll be a strong table.”
