Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) student government candidate filings are open until Feb 23. Students can run to serve on the Board of Directors or as ASI president for the 2018-2019 academic year.
To apply, students must fill out packets available on the ASI elections webpage and send them to asielections@calpoly.edu. Students must be enrolled in a minimum of nine undergraduate or four graduate units per quarter next year to maintain a position. To qualify for scholarships in an ASI leadership position, students must earn 12 undergraduate or eight graduate units each quarter next year.
Applicants must also have a minimum 2.0 overall GPA and a minimum 2.3 quarterly GPA.
The 27 Board of Directors representatives, which will be reduced to 24 next year, provide oversight of ASI corporate activity and advocate for students, according to the ASI website.
“We’re known as the official voice of the student body, and that’s really what we are, we represent students,” chair of the ASI Recruitment and Elections Committee Chair and biomedical engineering senior Denae Dupray said.
Colleges are given a number of seats on the board dependent on their student population.
Campaigning will begin in April and elections will be held April 25 and 26.
ASI student government is composed of three branches, the Executive Cabinet, Board of Directors and University Union Advisory Board (UUAB). The Executive Cabinet is headed by the ASI President and works to carry out the president’s goals. The Board of Directors upholds the voice of the student body. The UUAB oversees financial issues and makes policy recommendations to university leadership.
While they represent the student body, many students feel they do not know about ASI.
Environmental engineering freshman Mackenna Rawlins was asked what she felt about student leadership.
“I think leadership is good because it’s always good to have a democratically elected leader,” Rawlins said.
However, Rawlins said because she does not know how ASI student government affects her, she would not vote.
In 2017, ASI is responsible for the addition of 500 new bike racks around campus in partnership with the University Police Department, the maintenance of the floor of Chumash Auditorium to hold more students, and the implementation of “Buck the Stigma” week.
Board representative for the College of Science and Mathematics Mitchell Collins co-authored a resolution this year, with Executive Cabinet Secretary of Inclusivity and Diversity Nimrah Aslam, which recommended Cal Poly provide religious accommodations for students who fast during finals week. The idea came after the Muslim Student Association asked for religious accommodations and were declined by administration last year.
“We wrote a resolution saying, ‘Hey, this is something the university needs to be taking into their consideration,’ and that’s something I am really proud of,” statistics senior Collins said.
Collins and Dupray both said this resolution was the accomplishment they were most proud of.
According to Dupray, four students ran for ASI president last year and 54 ran for ASI Board of Directors.