SGA Elections: What Positions are on the Ballot?
SGA office located in the basement of the DUC. Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

SGA Elections: What Positions are on the Ballot?

Spring presidential and vice presidential elections for the Student Government Association are upon us.

Despite the democratic nature of student government, only three positions are elected by the student body.  The others apply directly to their position and are selected by student government and advisors.

The three positions elected by the student body are President along with Vice President and Senators.

To run for president and vice president, the candidates are required to have a minimum GPA of 2.0,  be enrolled in at least six credits or three graduate credits at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the candidates must obtain a combined total of 200 student signatures.

Sean Piette, senator for the College of Natural Resources and presidential candidate for this year’s elections, stated that the reason our student government only elects three positions and selects its executive board is to mimic the way the government is run on the national level.

Senators are the other position that the student body has a chance to elect.

To be elected into the senate, a student must meet the same credit and GPA requirements as the president and vice presidential candidates but need only obtain 40 signatures.

The student body votes for senators each fall after they have been confirmed by existing members of the senate throughout the previous academic year.

Some SGA members working in their office. Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

Some SGA members working in their office. Photo by Nomin Erdenebileg

Melissa Clement was elected senator for the College of Letters and Science on Feb. 23.

After filling out an application and collecting her 40 signatures, Clement answered questions posed by current senators.  After extensive questioning, the senators took a vote, electing Clement to be a senator for the College of Letters and Sciences.

Other schools in the University of Wisconsin System take a different approach to student elections.

According to their website, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire elects 30 senators, a president and a vice president.

Unlike UWSP, the 30 senators represent students living on and off campus, not the different colleges.  The 30 senators are divided up proportionally and change every year to match the percentage of students living on and off campus over all.

In their current session, there are 11 on-campus and 19 off-campus senators.  The Student Senate President appoints directors, chairs, commission and committee members at his or her discretion.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison has a similar system to Eau Claire. Their student council is elected in pre-ordained numbers.

Unlike Eau Claire, they split their senators up by college, rather than living situation.

Most similarly to UWSP, the University of Wisconsin-Platteville has each college represented by a specified number of student senators elected each spring along with president and vice president.  Their executive board members are appointed each spring as well.

“We have more committees that I know of. This year this SGA has been noted throughout more of the SGA’s as being incredibly active,” Piette said.

Senate meetings are at 6:15 p.m. Thursday nights in the Legacy Room of the Dreyfus University Center and are open to the student body.

 

Olivia De Valk

Reporter

odeva199@uwsp.edu

 

 

About pointer

Avatar

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*