By Vantage Staff
It’s almost election time at Newman again.
Next month, the student body will vote for a new executive team to lead the Student Government Association. Students also will elect 15 senators.
Now, SGA is looking for students interested in filling those rolls. Those who think they’d like to run for office, though, must fill out an intent-to-run form no later than noon on Friday. Forms also can be found at https://linktr.ee/newmanu_sga
Students who turn in the form on time will receive an email on March 26, the Wednesday after Spring Break, notifying them if they’ve been approved to run. To be eligible to run for president or vice president, students must have a 3.0 grade point average and have already served in SGA (unless they get approval from SGA adviser Andi Giesen.)
Candidates for president also must be in at least their fourth full-time semester in college, and two of those semesters must have been completed at Newman.
To be eligible to run for a senate seat, a student must have a 2.5 grade point average.
Once approved, candidates can start campaigning around campus. Voting will happen online April 2-9. The candidate elected as president will later appoint eligible students to serve as treasurer and secretary.
SGA reserves five seats for incoming first-year students. Those elections will happen in the fall.
According to SGA’s constitution, those who fill the executive team spots (president, vice president, secretary and treasurer) will get a stipend. The president gets a $2,000 annual scholarship. The vice president gets $1,750. The secretary and treasurer both get $1,500.
Senators get paid $25 a semester.
For the past two years, current SGA President Alondra Valle, a senior who will graduate in May, has run unopposed. This year’s SGA vice president, senior Gabe Trevino, also ran unopposed.
Newman’s SGA meets once a week and is in charge each semester of a pot of money that it allocates to address campus concerns and to help clubs operate.
PHOTO: Courtesy, Dannicka McGrath
