USUSA View: Elections

Elections are upon us. Most of you are probably aware because you’ve seen all of the social media posts by now. It’s an exciting time for the candidates and voters alike. For the past weeks and months candidates have sacrificed time, money, resources and maybe even schoolwork to prepare for this week. They have put in a lot of time brainstorming what they can do to help the students at Utah State.

When I was running last year, the common question I was constantly asked was, “Why should I care? Student government doesn’t do anything anyway.” That’s a very common misconception.

Student government has done many things that have had an effect on your experience at Utah State, whether you realize it or not. In my term as USUSA President, the one thing that always sticks out to me is the confidence and trust that administrators have in the student leaders at Utah State. They give student leaders the opportunity to weigh in on big university issues as representatives of each student voice.

One example where this happens regularly is on the Utah State University Board of Trustees, the governing body of the university. The members of the Board are selected by the governor and ratified by the Utah State Senate. They make most of the final decisions at the university. The USUSA President actually sits on that board as a full, voting member. When decisions need to be made, your student body president will represent the student voice with his/her vote on issues ranging anywhere from adding new academic programs to purchasing new land.

More often, however, officers are empowered to take on issues that usually go unnoticed but can make the biggest difference to individual students. Some examples include:

• Changes to general education breadth requirements (AKA simplifying the number of classes you have to take in order to graduate);
• Revamping the policy on Dead Week to ensure students can succeed on their final exams and projects;
• Evaluations for academic advisers;
• Reforming depth course requirements;
• Creating a website with centralized mental and physical health resources;
• Organization of clubs and other student groups so that they all have equal access to the resources provided by USUSA;
• Efforts to make more students aware of financial aid resources;
• Holding events to increase awareness and support for sexual assault;
• Bringing the magic back to the Spectrum through HURD Rewards and other athletic events;
• And efforts to advertise events to a wider student population.

Why should you care? Because, believe it or not, your student leaders are making decisions every day that will influence your experience at Utah State. Sometimes those are big changes like voting to increase your student fees to build a new rec center, and sometimes they’re small changes like choosing what registration times would be best for students. But big or small, rest assured that these decisions will impact your time at USU.

I urge you, fellow student, to remember this as you vote this week. Take the time to speak with the candidates before you cast your ballot. Research their platforms and find out for yourself who will make a difference, whose ideas are feasible and who you can support.

Don’t vote blindly, like so many of us have, because someone stops you on the sidewalk in front of the BNR. Ask them hard questions, but be kind. We’re all in this together. By taking an interest in student government elections, you are taking an interest in your experience at Utah State.

— Trevor Sean Olsen, USUSA President

Trevor was elected to serve as the 2015-16 student body president one year ago. His term ends on April 15, 2016. He is also currently serving as the Utah Student Association (USA) President. In his spare time, he enjoys eating yogurt, playing soccer and speaking French. He can be contacted at president.ususa@usu.edu.