UP has been in an involvement slump since the pandemic. I have seen it at club meetings, at on-campus events and in ASUP elections. ASUP is the student government on campus, and if you are an undergraduate student, the decisions that the Senate and executive board makes directly impact you. ASUP is engaging in all sorts of things like writing a student bill of rights, passing the club budgets every semester and fighting for the university’s administration to add gender identity to its non-discrimination policy.
ASUP voter turnout rates have been decreasing over the years. Last year, we saw an increase in voter turnout, which can be explained by the contested presidential and vice-presidential elections. When there is a choice in who you have representing you, more people show up to vote because students can see how drastically different their next school year may be when presented with different candidates and their initiatives. Although ASUP is a very micro-level of government, it is a governing body nonetheless, making changes in the hope of bettering student life here on campus. But for a governing body to thrive, it needs choice.
Senate Bill 23-24-008 was passed last year. This gave the ASUP vice president the choice to separate executive board and senator elections — so I did. My hope was that it would encourage more people to run for these higher paying executive positions, giving students a choice of who they want to represent them. If anyone lost that election but was still interested in representing their constituents, they had the option to run for a senator position. But this didn’t happen. All executive board elections were uncontested and voter turnout decreased 14.32% from the year before.
We live in times where I find myself feeling frustrated at our national government. I feel that sometimes, the change I can make is limited because I am just a single voice. If you also feel like this, you should consider running for a senator position. Student government gives you the opportunity to use your voice to create a difference and help the students around you. As a senator, I was able to help so many clubs on campus get more funding, increase my transparency within the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) with a CAS Dean panel and Q&A and advocate to give StockUP a new permanent location. Senator applications are open until Sunday, March 16 at 11:59 p.m., and this is a great entry into student government, and no experience is necessary. If you have an opinion on how things are run on ASUP, have a change you wish would happen, or want to have a say in the decisions impacting you, then get involved, apply for a senator position, and engage with your current representative. The more diverse set of voices in the Senate, the more democratic our micro-government is.
ASUP is one of the only student leadership positions where you get paid to represent those around you. Senators get paid $1,100 a year, and executive board members get paid $6,500 a year. The requirements needed from a senator are:
- Be a full-time undergraduate student
- Maintain a 2.5 GPA
- Miss no more than three Senate meetings
- Not be on academic or disciplinary probation
- Be a member of the constituency you wish to represent
- Have no time conflict from 4:30-6:30 pm on Mondays
- Hold 2 hours of office hours a week
- Join an ASUP standing committee once elected
- Get Green Dot certified
- Participate in Molly Hightower Day of Service once per semester
Senator elections are April 1-2 on Engage. If running for a position isn’t your thing, it is still extremely important that you engage with ASUP, either through attending committee meetings, stopping by during visitor's open forum in a Senate meeting or voting. Your university experience is shaped by the micro-level of government; the time to get involved is now.
Stephanie Vasquez is the ASUP vice president. She can be reached at vasquezs25@up.edu.
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