New VP External Affairs and AVP Health and Wellness Appointed

The Associated Students executive search committee appointed Nicolas Monteiro as the new VP External Affairs and Derek Lim as the new AVP Health and Wellness this past week. The search committee submitted their decisions to the senate, who confirmed the nominees.

Monteiro has assumed the role of VP External Affairs immediately after his appointment, and is now beginning to focus his efforts on his agenda. He hopes to continue to work towards solving campus problems such as the lack of mental health resources, food and housing insecurity, and the recent tuition increase.

“In terms of mental health, I believe UC San Diego is moving in the right direction in the hiring of counselors, but we have gotten to the point where there is not enough space to place the incoming staff,” Monteiro said. “Therefore, I will be advocating for funding for capital projects in order to house the CAPS counselors.”

Monteiro also hopes to advocate for the renewal of funding for the Global Food initiative, which provides resources for students with food insecurity. He plans to continue advocating for different solutions to the tuition hikes, including reform and divestment.

“I have been collaborating with some native students in demanding the divestment from Energy Transfer Partners, the company invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Monteiro said. “With AS council adopting the resolution, the next step is bringing it to UCSA.”

Monteiro says that he also would like to use the lobbying power of his office to advocate for a statewide sanctuary state policy, beginning with the passage of the California Values Act.

“This bill would not only protect students, but also their families, friends, and workers” Monteiro said. “This is something that I have been working on for a while now and I’m excited to be in a position which I will be able to uplift this demand that is so necessary, especially in San Diego.”

Two positions remain vacant on Associated Students after members recently resigned. Biological Sciences Senator Christy Olds and Off-Campus Senator Azze Ngo have recently vacated their seats.

Since the resignations, AS has been working to fill these now vacant positions with other qualified candidates.These positions will be filled by appointments decided on by a search committee, consisting of all AS executives and three senators. The AVP Local Affairs will also vote on the appointment of the VP External Affairs. After the appointment is made the AS senate will vote to approve the decision.

“There was nothing in our standing rules that specified how to handle the resignation of an executive, so we had to pass this new protocol through our senate,” AS President Daniel Juarez said.

The office is still interviewing candidates for the senator positions, who will also then be approved by the senate after the appointments are made.

Maggie Robak is a staff writer at The Triton.