Job titles in the student government are quickly changing hands.

Shadie Ghaibi, current senate chairwoman in the Associated Students of the University of Utah, has been appointed the new senior class president.

The position was vacated after current president Mindy Chidester announced earlier this month that she would resign to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Student Body President Jake Kirkham told The Chronicle Wednesday that he had selected Ghaibi for the job.

Although Chidester was elected to the position, ASUU advisers said Kirkham has the authority to appoint a replacement because the position is listed as part of his Executive Cabinet in Redbook, the student constitution.

Kirkham said he made a point of choosing Ghaibi for the position because she was elected to the Senate.

“I don’t think its undemocratic, simply because we’re replacing one elected official with another,” Kirkham said.

The ASUU Senate must now confirm Ghaibi’s appointment.

Ghaibi will begin working in the position after the Senate’s final November meeting on Thursday, where new leadership will be elected.

Her Senate replacement will be selected by a student advisory committee in the College of Health, which Ghaibi represents.

Kirkham said he had considered asking Ghaibi to run for the position with his party in student government elections last spring.

“I think this is something Shadie really wanted to do,” he said.

By selecting someone who had already been working with the Executive Cabinet for the position, Kirkham said, he hopes the transition will go smoothly.

“When we hit the ground running in the spring, we’ll be ready to go,” he said.

Ghaibi agrees with Kirkham that the transition in ASUU will be easier because she has already been involved in student government.

Some of Ghaibi’s duties will include heading both the freshman and senior councils and coordinating the senior class gift.

Shadie Ghaibi