The University of Wisconsin student government appointed its first ever chief of staff on July 1, a position that will support and coordinate efforts between committees, the government chair and students.

Brandon Williams, current chair of the Associated Students of Madison, appointed former Student Council Vice Chair Tom Templeton to the position.

Williams said last session’s student council created the position as a way to assist the chair in his every day duties.

Templeton said he was excited about being selected, adding he is looking forward to working with the leadership of this ASM session.

the According to Williams, the chief of staff will largely work on coordinating efforts between different ASM committees, act in Williams’ stead in an informal way at events and make sure ASM is working effectively for students they are representing.

The position was an appointment, Williams said, so no one applied for it. Instead, he selected from a number of candidates who he thought would be a good fit for the position.

“Tom was by far the most qualified candidate,” Williams said. “I could count on one hand how many people I considered for this position and I could count on one finger the number of people who were willing and capable of doing it.”

In an e-mail to The Badger Herald, Student Council Representative Max Love said he was disappointed the position was appointed by Williams and not the ASM Nominations Board.

It is typically the job of the Nominations Board to appoint positions to the council.

However, Vice Chair Adam Johnson said Williams believed the chief of staff would be working so closely with the chair that he should appoint someone he knows he can work with and who has good working knowledge of ASM.

Love also voiced concerns that a position that pays more than $8,000 per year could be appointed to anyone. Even though he thinks the position will be effective, he was against its creation from the start.

“It’s just another position, with more power for one person. That’s not how ASM is supposed to work,” Love said. “I disagree with the position because it basically gives the chair another person to do their own delegated tasks for which they already make $9,300 (to do).”

Templeton was elected to the current session of student council but decided not to serve and was replaced by Johnson who had the next highest vote total.

He said he decided not to serve because he was unsure if he wanted to put in the time commitment necessary to be a full member of the council.

“Chair Williams came to me some time after he was elected and I thought that would be a good fit for me and I could help him, the council and the student body,” Templeton said.