This archived article was written by: Emily Williams
Emily Williams
staff writer
[email protected]
It is student body election time once again at USU Eastern. The student body gets a chance to decide who the student leaders on campus will be next year. This past school year the student government has accomplished some exciting things including hosting dozens of dances, and other social activities they have improved many campus facilities. New drinking fountains that accommodate water bottles, re-painting the cross walks, are a few of their projects, plus more big projects in the works. The big focus for the year was to leave a legacy that the school can be recognized by. It is an exciting time for the candidates running for office because they get the chance to take the progress that has already been made and run with it.
Being a student body officer is a full-time job. The work behind the scenes is more intensive than most people realize. The current leaders said that being in student government cannot be about the payment. The scholarship does not compensate for the time and energy put into the program. The motivation must be a passion for this school and the student body. It’s a big job, but everyone involved in student government loves it. There is a definite sense of fulfillment when something is accomplished that can really help students enjoy their college experience more.
Every year there are three-elected positions that students run for. The first is student body president. The president is ultimately the person responsible for a successful student association. Their job is to run meetings and make sure everyone is doing their job correctly. The president also attends a myriad of meetings and represents the school politically to the rest of the state.
The vice president over activities has a big job. He/she is in charge of all of the activities on campus. This includes dances, entertainment, intramurals, sports games, and of course the Eagle Frenzy. They work with a committee of four event directors and a director over intramurals and sporting activities. Between the six of them it takes a lot of organization and delegation skills to host these activities.
The vice president over academics must have a diverse skill set. They are in charge of all of the non-traditional students, promoting diversity on campus through activities, any academic services (such as the chancellor’s call or providing students resources to help them academically) and overseeing all clubs on campus. Each position is challenging in its own way and it takes a lot of dedication from the student officers to successfully run the campus.
The biggest concern for anyone leaving office, is that the institution continues to progress. While talking with Tommy Garvin, student body president, he shared with me some of his hopes for next year. Garvin hopes that the new student government line up will be able to find a way to light a fire in the students here. He says that he had many goals for this year, and feels he has accomplished all of them except increasing student involvement. School spirit can make or break a campus experience. He wants to see his successor bring a spark to the student body, so that everyone feels the same passion for the school that he has.
From his association with other student body presidents, Garvin learned that many schools in Utah are having problems keeping their student involvement up. In fact, this campus has had trouble finding people to run for leadership positions. Last year, two out of the three candidates ran uncontested for their positions. It is difficult for this year’s leaders to see such unenthused students left to run the campus they have invested so much in. Some good advice for any college student interested in a leadership position is that you can only get as much out of this school as you are willing to put into it. Just ask anyone who has got involved on campus, and they will tell you that it has enriched their college experience. Studies show that extracurricular activities improve academic performance. Therefore, the more fun you have on campus, the more likely you are to do well in your classes. According to Garvin, next year’s student association should have student involvement as their top priority.
The reason this time is exciting for the student body is because students have the power in this democratic process. USU Eastern is lacking in a few areas, especially school spirit and student involvement. So this is student’s chance to make the campus what we want it to be. Voting is such an easy way to have your voice heard, and electing a dedicated student association really can make a big difference in student’s college experience. Just as when we vote for presidential candidates for the country, when we consider who to elect to lead the school, it is good to make an informed decision. The primaries is a series of debates hosted to help students get to know how each candidate would lead the school. These debates are under-utilized and attendance is sparse. Everyone should attend these meetings and invest energy into making this school what you want it to be. Even if you are not running for office, you can still take ownership of the school by making an informed vote for strong student leaders.
It is election time once again at USU Eastern. The student body gets a chance to decide who the student leaders on campus will be next year. This past school year, the student government has done some pretty exciting things. Besides hosting dozens of dances, and other social activities, they have improved many campus facilities. We have new drinking fountains that accommodate water bottles, re-painted the cross walks, and there are more big projects in the works. The big focus for the year was to leave a legacy that our school can be recognized by. It is an exciting time for the candidates running for office because they get the chance to take the progress that has already been made and run with it!
Being a student body officer is a full time job. The work behind the scenes is more intensive than most people realize. As I spoke with our current leaders, they told me that being in student government cannot be about the payment. The scholarship does not compensate for the time and energy put into the program. The motivation must be a passion for this school and the student body. It’s a big job, but everyone involved in student government loves it. There is a definite sense of fulfillment when something is accomplished that can really help students enjoy their college experience more.
Every year there are three elected positions that students run for. The first is student body president. The president is ultimately the person responsible for a successful student association. Their job is to run meetings and make sure everyone is doing their job correctly. The president also attends a myriad of meetings and represents the school politically to the rest of the state. The vice president over activities has a big job. They are in charge of all of the activities on campus. This includes dances, entertainment, intramurals, sports games, and of course the eagle frenzy. They work with a committee of 4 event directors and a director over intramurals and sporting activities. Between the six of them it takes a lot of organization and delegation skills to host all of these activities. The vice president over academics must have a very diverse skill set. They are in charge of all of the non-traditional students, promoting diversity on campus through activities, any academic services (such as the chancellor’s call or providing students resources to help them academically) and overseeing all clubs on campus. Each position is challenging in its own way and it takes a lot of dedication from our student officers to successfully run our campus.
The biggest concern for anyone leaving office, is that the institution continues to progress. While talking with Tommy Garvin, the current student body president, he shared with me some of his hopes for next year. Tommy hopes that the new student government line up will be able to find a way to light a fire in the students here. He says that he had many goals for this year, and feels he has accomplished all of them except increasing student involvement. School spirit can make or break a campus experience. Tommy wants to see his successor bring a spark to the student body, so that everyone feels the same passion for the school that he has.
From his association with other student body presidents, Tommy has learned that many schools in Utah are having problems keeping their student involvement up. In fact, our campus has even had trouble finding people to run for these leadership positions. Last year two out of the three candidates ran uncontested for their positions. It is difficult for this year’s leaders to see such unenthused students left to run the campus they have invested so much in. Some good advice for any college student interested in a leadership position is that you can only get as much out of this school as you are willing to put into it. Just ask anyone who has gotten involved on campus, and they will tell you that it has enriched their college experience. Studies have shown that extracurricular activities improve academic performance. Therefore, the more fun you have on campus, the more likely you are to do well in your classes. According to Tommy, next year’s student association should have student involvement as their top priority.
The reason this time is exciting for the student body is because we have the power in this democratic process. We already know that our school is lacking in a few areas, especially school spirit and student involvement. So this is our chance to make our campus what we want it to be. Voting is such an easy way to have your voice heard, and electing a dedicated student association really can make a big difference in our college experience. Just as when we vote for presidential candidates for the country, when we consider who to elect to lead our school, it is good to make an informed decision. During the primaries, a series of debates are hosted to help students get to know how each candidate would lead our school. These debates are underutilized and attendance is sparse. I would encourage everyone to attend these meetings and invest a little bit of energy into making this school what you want it to be. Even if you are not running for office, you can still take ownership of the school by making an informed vote for strong student leaders.
