The Student Government Association (SGA) announced available positions for this school year’s general board at their meeting on Oct. 6, along with the campaign schedules and requirements. The 10 positions include senator for first-year students, senator for the theatre school, and senator for sustainability. SGA executive vice president of operations, Cole Kitchens says the number of open positions ranges from year to year.

“Some positions are harder to fill than others, just because of engagement with students,” Kitchens said. “We’re trying to do a major push this year to fill all positions because we do want a full body.”

Students must be currently enrolled at DePaul as part-time or full-time students, have a GPA of 2.5 or higher, comply with the university’s code of conduct, and be a member of a specific student population they are running to represent in order to be placed on the ballot. They may only run for one position and must get 25 signatures from other DePaul students for their name to be put on the ballot.

“Voting in the election is easy, but signing a petition and putting thought into who you’re supporting helps connect you more to the process of the election itself,” senior Joseph Valliquette, SGA Election Operations Board (EOB) chair said. “It’s a great way to support your friends, classmates, and to know who is potentially going to be your advocate in student government.” 

When students meet the ballot requirements, they must then fill out an application on DeHub to be considered, which covers general candidate information and a few short answer questions. The application will be open from Oct. 10 through Oct. 21. Mandatory informational sessions for interested students will be held Oct. 10 from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. in-person and Oct. 12 from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. on Zoom. 

“We’re doing things differently than we have in past years for election marketing. Obviously, last year was strained by the pandemic and being able to be in-person to get the word out about the election,” Kitchens said. “We’re doing tabling this year, you’ll probably see a lot more physical materials around, and there was a change in the way students vote in the system itself. We’re trying to make it all easier for students.”

Students can campaign from Oct. 11 through Oct. 23 after securing their spot on the ballot. Any promotional work, including flyers and social media posts, must be approved by Valliquette and follow the EOB requirements. There will also be a Meet the Candidates event on Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m. before the SGA general board meeting.

“Any way that you can grab people’s attention is going to help you win,” Valliquette said. “It’s going to help track more attention to the election in general and help people know that there is something going on if they see some awesome, creative campaign.”

The election will be held from Oct. 24 through Oct. 27 on an online voting system recently revamped for easier user design that will be sent out closer to the election window. The results of the election will be released on Oct. 28 at noon. 

“To the general student body, your local election is coming up,” SGA president senior Kevin Holechko said. “These positions do carry a position of power in the school which you see in the multiple roles where you can dramatically affect a student’s life day to day. The higher turnout you get, the higher qualified your candidate is going to be who’s walking into that meeting space and advocating properly for the students.” 

SGA has had issues with voter rates in past elections, citing SGA engagement and student disconnect with administration as a few reasons for the struggle. This year, they hope to increase advertising for the election via posters and social media to encourage more students to have their voices heard. 

“We’re the group that got you all your final exams waived during the pandemic, we’re the group that got you the Vinnie Vans running five days a week instead of just during finals, we’re the group that got the shuttle buses put in place, we’re the group that got scholarships created,” Holechko said. “We’re the group that’s really pushing to try and make your DePaul experience what you are hoping it to be.”

“When you have the support of the student body behind you, if they are aware of what we are doing and they’re helping us in our efforts, the school has to listen to us,” Holechko added. “The change that people are looking for will come.”