Updated March 10, 1 a.m.: Suria confirmed to The Daily that Groce’s resignation will be effective March 21. Until that date, Groce will remain acting CEO/FM of SSE/ASSU.
According to Suria, Groce has indicated that he will not use his FMSC vote for selecting his replacement. The other members of the FMSC (Finley; ASSU Vice President Brandon Hill ’16; Graduate Student Council Financial Officer Sam Bydlon; and Suria) will select the candidate.
Updated March 9, 11 p.m.: According to Finley, who serves on the SSE Board of Directors, Groce resigned on March 7 but will remain on the five-member Financial Manager Selection Committee (FMSC), which is responsible for choosing the next CEO/FM of SSE. Finley said he expects that the FMSC will choose a candidate before the end of winter quarter, pursuant to ASSU/SSE bylaws.
In the interim, Groce remains involved in the daily operations of SSE, as the full Board has not yet officially met to decide upon a “defined role” for Groce. Employees, however, have been told to direct any operations questions to Suria, Finley, or other SSE leadership, instead of Groce.
“I imagine that he will still play an instrumental role in the transition of the new FM/CEO, as he would have even without a resignation,” Finley wrote in an email to The Daily. He added, “I hope he’ll decide to remain in his office from day to day helping us out until someone new has been chosen, but I can’t say for sure.”
By Finley’s memory, this year is the first time in a while that the FMSC has been active; in the past four years, the CEO/FM has been hired through internal promotion.
Until a new CEO/FM is hired, SSE COOs, ASSU Assistant Financial Managers, the Accounting Manager/CFO of ASSU/SSE, and the Executive Committees of the ASSU and SSE Board of Directors will help manage day-to-day operations.
Finley disputed any alternative narratives of the transition process.
“The truth is in that letter,” he said.
Finley emphasized that Tuesday’s edition of the FoHo laid out concerns that the SSE Board of Directors “were very aware of.” He also denied that there was any causal effect between the FoHo story and Groce’s resignation.
“I know that’s what the FoHo wants people to think, but [Groce] resigned before the issue came out,” Finley said.
Original article below:
In an organization-wide email sent to employees of Stanford Student Enterprises (SSE) this morning, SSE Board of Directors chairman Ateeq Suria Ph.D. ’16 and ASSU President John-Lancaster Finley ’16 announced the resignation of SSE CEO/Financial Manager Frederik Groce ’14.
According to the letter, which is addressed to the Undergraduate Senate and signed by Suria and Finley, Groce announced his resignation on March 7, and the SSE Board of Directors accepted his resignation today. It remains unclear when Groce’s resignation takes effect.
“During his tenure, Frederik has helped to grow SSE’s enterprises, tightened fiscal policy across the ASSU, and engaged key stakeholders to shore up on the operational and strategic vision of the organization,” the letter stated.
Groce’s resignation came the day before the publication of an edition of the Fountain Hopper, which targeted his alleged mismanagement of SSE. Citing Groce hiring his girlfriend and his “absenteeism” in relation to a part-time job with Storm Ventures, the Fountain Hopper called for his resignation yesterday evening.
This article will be updated.
Contact Victor Xu at vxu ‘at’ stanford.edu.