The Student Government Association is now without the leader of its cabinet.

The SGA Executive Board expelled Chief of Staff Nicholette Maiers Feb. 10 due to absences.

“There was a clear majority—more than a two-thirds vote—that was required, and Chief of Staff Maiers was expelled,” said Vice President of Intergovernmental Affairs Christopher Duke.

In response, Maiers e-mailed a letter in regards to her expulsion to be read in senate. Director of Association of Events Samantha Cook read Maiers’ letter during the Feb. 11 senate meeting. In the letter, Maiers said that the absence review process was flawed and that the decision to expel her was personal.

“[Executive Board] uses the absence review process as a gateway to evaluate how you are doing your job,” Maiers said. “I’m sure that there were personal reasons brought up.”

Although not present during the deliberation, Maiers said that she believes there is a personal vendetta involved because working with the same people for two to three years can create disagreements.

The same individuals who approved Maiers’ nomination voted to remove the cabinet leader as well.

Duke, who chaired the Executive Board meeting during which Maiers was expelled, said he believed the system worked because it holds members accountable in a fair process.

“There are certain expectations that student government outlines, and if a person is in violation of that, then I think it is important that student government maintains [those requirements] to ensure that voters and students know that student government is going to conduct business fairly and to get the peoples’ work done,” Duke said.

Maiers, who had accumulated four-and-a-half absences, said that the absences were a result of her leaving SGA meetings early.

“It has always been a policy that I can leave after I give my report because I do not vote,” Maiers said.

Maiers also said that she had discussed leaving SGA meetings early with SGA President Meghan Kuentz, but no agreement had been reached. Maiers said she had also missed the first SGA meeting of the semester because she had to work.

The responsibility of the chief of staff is to oversee the other cabinet positions and serve as a nonvoting member on the Executive Board and at SGA meetings.

The absence review process is based on how many absences a member accumulates per semester. Once a member has more than four absences, they are called before the Executive Board for a hearing.

The SGA bylaws allow the member in question to present their case to the board and before their expulsion if the Executive Board upholds their absences.

Recently, two additional SGA members also faced absence review on Feb. 10.

The Executive Board also expelled Freshman Sen. John Zullinger who had eight absences.

“He had some extenuating medical conditions, and we wish him well,” Duke said.

Executive Senator of the Schools Zachary Peal also faced absence review with four-and-a-half absences, but the Executive Board did not expel Peal.

Of Peal’s four-and-a-half absences, three were related to Cabo Lead. Duke said that SGA promotes leadership and that the Executive Board felt that by attending Cabo Lead, Peal was enhancing his leadership abilities and, therefore, did not expel him.

There are 42 positions that make up the Student Government Association. The Senate is composed of 34 positions that are elected by the student body during two elections in the fall and spring semesters, while the Cabinet is composed of eight positions that are appointed by the president and approved by the Senate.

During the 2009 election cycle, 25 of the possible 34 Senate positions were filled.

Currently, only 18 of the original 25 Senate officials are still serving in their positions. In total, 31 of the possible 42 SGA positions are filled, 26 of 34 in the Senate and five of eight in the Cabinet. The vacancies, expulsions and resignations that have occurred over the past year have resulted in 11 members that have been appointed by SGA who are mostly filling positions that are normally elected by the student body.