Run for office and get paid to run the school.
Nomination forms for Student Association Executive Board positions are available in the SA Office, located in 350 Student Union. The completed forms are due in just over two weeks, on Tuesday, March 8 at noon.
Student who choose to run for office must meet a minimum GPA requirement of a cumulative 2.0 average or higher and be registered undergraduates.
SA elected officials serve a one-year term, leaving all seven executive positions, president, vice-president, treasurer and four delegate spots, up for grabs this year.
SA elected officials, unlike most SUNY schools, receive a monthly stipend and a host of other benefits for holding office, including first dibs for Spring and Fall Fest tickets, front row seats at the Comedy Series and Distinguished Speakers Series, and the opportunity to meet with UB administrators.
Students interested in running for office are encouraged to pick up a form as soon as possible.
Those running for president and vice-president must collect a minimum of 200 undergraduate signatures to run, and those running for treasurer or SA SUNY delegate need to collect at least 100 signatures.
Petitions are heavily scrutinized after being turned into the SA office, and the SA staff will verify that every signature and accompanying person number is authentic, that no duplicates appear on any sheet, and that individual students have not signed more than one form for the same office.
Illegible signatures, invalid or prank person numbers, and duplicate names will be crossed off, and students will not be given additional time to gather more signatures after the due date. Petitions that are short a single signature can be determined invalid by SA staff members, so students are advised to collect as many extra signatures as possible.
Students who successfully collect all necessary signatures and are approved by the elections and credentials chair as registered undergraduates in good standing must attend a mandatory meeting on Tuesday March 8 at 5 p.m. that will discuss election rules and criteria.
While students can run for office independently – except for the president and the vice-president, who must run together – students are encouraged to form a party ticket. In years past, students who have run alone have been unable to garner the votes necessary to beat a seven-person ticket.
Based on recent history, the SA Elections are usually composed of candidates currently holding positions in the SA office, including club coordinators, SA Senate chairs, SA SUNY delegates, and current presidents and vice-presidents. Also, while all undergraduate students are welcome to participate in the election, the number of candidates tends to be relatively low.
Most of this year's executive board will be graduating in the spring, leaving only SUNY Delegates Amanda Horn and Franklin Ramirez, both juniors, as possible candidates.
In past years, SA Senate chairs have made bids for SA president and have successfully won, including Hassan Farah (2009) and current SA President Nischal Vasant (2010). Current Senate Chair and Homecoming King Yanco Escano, a junior, has not announced plans to run as of yet.
Interested students should stop by the SA office with any questions they have on eligibility or the election process.
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
