Students can file petitions to be in the Student Congress fall election beginning Wednesday.

Candidates are chosen after Oct. 27, when the filing period ends. Candidates may start campaigning after the first candidates meeting until elections on Nov. 13-14.

Seats for every school and college will be open. Students within their respective school or college will vote for candidates to serve a one year term. University-wide elections for Homecoming King and Queen and UTA Ambassadors will also be held. Elections for Student Service Fee Advisory Committee members, student body president and vice president, and more senate seats will take place in the spring.

All students are invited to apply for candidacy, including freshman and first-year students. Jeff Sorensen, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, said that in the last fall elections, two freshmen were elected to senate seats and one freshman was elected as an ambassador.

Carter Bedford, Student Governance and Organizations associate director, said he has seen an increase in voter turnout and candidate applications in the last several years. Sixty applicants applied during the last fall elections, and 80 candidates applied for the spring election. Bedford said that this year, his department will focus on getting on-campus residents to be more informed.

“There’s always a race,” he said. “The big thing is that this is a chance to voice input as a student. We want to make sure our on-campus residents get more involved.”

Advertising senior Ryan Hoopes, liberal arts senator and Mr. UTA, said he enjoyed his experience serving both positions.

Hoopes first ran for a seat in the senate during the second semester of his sophomore year and lost. The following year, he ran for senator and won the position. The year after that, he won the race for Mr. UTA.

“Serving both offices has been an incredible experience, and I’d encourage any student who’s thinking about running for office to run for office,” he said. “Time management is probably the hardest challenge, but you don’t learn how to manage your time unless you need to.”

Be first to comment this article

Powered by AkoComment Tweaked Special Edition v.1.4.6
AkoComment © Copyright 2004 by Arthur Konze - www.mamboportal.com
All right reserved