Student Senate announces general elections

BY RONALD HANAKI

SC Staff Writer

On February 10 and 11, ESU’s Student Senate will hold its 2014 Spring Vacancy Election for new Student Senators.

Some Student Senators graduated in December and some have chosen not to return to the Student Senate for the spring semester.

There are an estimated 5 to 10 Student Senate seats that have been vacated.

The existing Student Senate term will last until the end of the spring semester. The Student Senate is normally comprised of 45 elected Senators and an Executive Board.

There will be tables available in University Center and Dansbury Commons on both February 10 and 11 for students to meet the candidates and vote.

Tables in the University Center will be available from 2 PM to 4 PM. Tables in Dansbury Commons will be available from 5 PM to 7 PM.

In addition, an online survey will be circulated to every ESU student on February 10 that will allow students to vote for their new Student Senators. The online survey will be closed at 7 PM on February 11.

ESU’s Student Senate encourages students who are concerned about issues on campus to make a run for office.

ESU’s Student Senate aims to empower students so they always feel like they have a voice on campus. They are concerned with keeping the image of the university positive in the eyes of the community.

Responsibilities that fall under the scope of the Student Senate include reforming parking regulations, revamping the student code of conduct, participating in the university’s strategic planning committee, approving and recognizing clubs on campus for the purposes of funding student activities, and ensuring that student club representatives attend budget workshops before club budgets can be formally approved.

Prospective Student Senate candidates must be in satisfactory academic standing with a QPA of 2.0 or above—except for first-semester freshmen.

Candidates must fill out a petition to get 20 people on campus to endorse their candidacy, and they must provide a personal statement explaining why they deserve to be a Student Senator.

This petition must be filed with the Student Activity Association (SAA) by Friday, February 7 in order for the candidate to be eligible to stand for election.

Upon being elected, the Student Senator will be assigned to one of the Student Senate’s 6 standing committees.

Each Senator must attend her or his assigned committee meetings, which are scheduled on alternate Thursdays in conjunction with full Student Senate meetings from 2 PM to 4 PM. Meetings take place in the Student Senate Chambers located on the second floor of University Center.

Separately, a Student Senate meeting was held on Thursday afternoon, January 30.

During the meeting, a motion was passed for Tau Sigma, the national honor society for transfer students, to be recognized by SAA. Official recognition allows Tau Sigma to receive funding from SAA.

The second motion passed by the Student Senate retroactively approved $1,090 from the school’s emergency fund to cover the operating cost of the fan bus that took ESU basketball fans to West Chester University in wintry conditions on January 25.

On February 19, the Student Senate will host the Moes Fundraiser where Mexican food will be served.

Finally, the Student Senate announced the long-awaited theme and date for its annual Community on the Quad special event. The theme will be “Jungle Fever: Take a Walk on the Wild Side,” and it is scheduled to be held on April 26.

Email Ronald at:

rhanaki@live.esu.edu