Applications for Student Government Association are due March 21.
The applications opened on OrgSync Feb. 29, giving students about three weeks to get their applications turned in.
“We sent out our initial call so early since our election timeline falls so inconveniently with Spring Break,” said Chance Johnson, current SGA president. “If they weren’t able to get to it during that time, if they’re really interested then they have Spring Break to fill out the application.”
Essentially all positions are up for election, Johnson said. The applications are for SGA president, vice president of SGA, vice president of Student Activities Council and around 20 senator seats.
Anyone can run for president, vice president of SAC and senate, but vice president of SGA requires previous experience on senate before running.
“Obviously for those positions it’s preferable for those students to have experience within the organization, but there have been people in the past who have done it without,” Johnson said.
Officials from SGA and Involved Center go through the applications to put together a list of all the candidates and categorize the senators by school. Then an electronic ballot is created for students to vote on OrgSync. Every student is able to vote for the three high officers, then only vote on the senators for their particular school.
“We want people to be involved and we definitely want people to vote when the time comes,” said Nic Rhodes, current vice president of SGA. “The more people that vote, the more that administration respects our representatives.”
Voting is March 29-30.
The election process can last until April 4, if there is a runoff between candidates.
Lavetra Ray, assistant director of student life, is who receives the applications and said she’s unsure of how many people people have already applied, but she encourages students to become more engaged.
“It’s pretty simple, SGA is how [students] make sure they’re being represented and how their voice is heard,” Ray said. “Students seem less engaged and it’s really important. I really encourage students to be involved, but we can’t do it for them and we can’t make them excited.”
Check back with MediaOCU.com for more updates and a full list of the candidates.
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