Students who wish to run for a spot on the ASCWU board for fall of 2019 can begin filling out their applications now. According to ASCWU Vice President of Student Life and Facilities Jocelyn Matheny, any student can run for whichever position they choose as long as they meet the credit and academic requirements, and are able to pass a background check.

To run in the ASCWU elections, students must have completed 36 credit hours of which 24 credit hours were completed at CWU, be in good academic standing with a cumulative GPA of 2.5 or higher by the end of winter quarter, complete a university background check and not have served in any executive office of the ASCWU for more than two years, according to ASCWU’s website.

If students meet those requirements, they may order a candidate packet from the ASCWU website or pick one up at the student involvement office. Matheny said that to complete the candidate packet, students must get at least 100 signatures from students who support them.

“We want tons of people to run. We want any student to feel like they can do it and they should do it. We really would love to see a big turnout on both people running and people voting,” Matheny said.

Vice President of Clubs and Organizations Bailey Kinker said that in last year’s election, there was a rise in the amount of students running for student government. Both Kinker and Matheny said they weren’t permitted to say who will be running for reelection this year, but they did name off some of the board members who will be unable to run again.

ASCWU President Edith Rojas, Executive Vice President Kane LeMasters, VP of Student Life and Facilities Jocelyn Matheny, VP of Clubs and Organizations Bailey Kinker, VP of Legislative Affairs Leah Mobley and VP of Academic Affairs Claire-Anne Grepo will all have either graduated or in Grepo’s case, gone from campus come Fall 2019. All of their positions on the board will need to be filled.

Vice President of Legislative Affairs Leah Mobley said that one of the main roles ASCWU board members play in the elections is recruiting potential candidates. She said that the students she wants to recruit are the natural leaders on campus.

“If people stop and listen to them when they talk, I can see that they’re leaders. If there’s someone who has something important to say and can say it without bias towards one side or the other, I see them as a leader,” Mobley said.

Mobley said that once she has pointed a student towards the candidate paperwork, she isn’t allowed to get more involved because as a ASCWU board member, she cannot hold bias towards any one candidate.