Tempe’s Undergraduate Student Government handles about $2 million each year, yet many students admit to knowing little about the organization or participating in annual elections.
The student government is funded entirely through student fees. Historically, however, student turnout is less than 10 percent for USG presidential elections, and even lower for senate elections.
With presidential and senate elections on April 5 and 6, current student leaders are emphasizing how important it is for students to get informed and vote.
“Part of the voting process is learning about USG and learning that it does exist,” said Tina Mounlavongsy, USG’s vice president of services.
Last year, voter turnout hit a record high with more than 6,000 students voting in the presidential elections, and more than 3,000 students participating in the runoff election.
Student leaders said they hope to boost turnout again this year by increasing understanding of what they do and why they do it.
USG’s structure
Mounlavongsy said USG functions like a student council and is structured like a simplified U.S. government.
USG has three branches: executive, legislative and judicial.
The executive branch consists of the president and two vice presidents, the legislative branch of just a senate and the judicial branch of a supreme court.
As far as function, USG is responsible for services such as the bicycle co-op, safety escort, health and wellness initiatives and planning special events, among other duties.
USG is also actively involved in advocating for students, including campaigning against unpredictable tuition spikes and fee increases.
Current USG President Jacob Goulding, who is running for re-election, said USG serves an important function as the voice of the students.
“We represent the student voice to the federal government, the state and local governments, the Arizona Board of Regents and the ASU administration,” he said. “We also offer services for students in the areas of education, safety and entertainment.”
Student funding
All USG activities and services are funded by a mandatory $25 per semester, per student fee, all of which is reinvested in students and their activities, Goulding said.
USG’s budget reached an all-time high of $2.5 million this year because of leftover funds from last year combined with this year’s student fees.
How the funds are allocated within the organization is up to the president.
Goulding said his administration has focused on giving funds to student clubs and organizations.
The president sets a total appropriations amount, but how much each club gets is determined by the senate.
Clubs can apply for funding for fall, winter, spring and summer terms.
“This year, I built our budget all around clubs, appropriations and getting money back in their pockets,” Goulding said. “Last year we allocated $400,000 to appropriations. This year I set the appropriations around $750,000. Club funding is the most it’s been in student history this year.”
Student senate
Senate president James Sideman said appropriations is only one of several responsibilities of the USG senate.
“The senate’s role mainly is to oversee 1: appropriations, 2: the financing of college councils and 3: university affairs, which includes … student initiatives,” he said.
The senate is also responsible for updating the elections code, constitution and bylaws as necessary, and often takes official stances on proposed state legislation in order to clearly present the students’ opinion on issues directly affecting them.
The senate comprises a maximum of 25 senators with representatives from each college on the Tempe campus. The number of seats for each college is allotted based on size, but the structure is likely to change in the near future, Sideman said.
Each senator is also a member of the college council for the college he or she represents. A large part of their responsibility is to keep the college councils updated on USG activities. The councils are then responsible for keeping the students in their college informed.
This chain of passing on information may not be ideal, but it works well, said Gabby Kissinger, president of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences college council.
“We are the major liaison between USG and the students in our colleges,” she said. “I think it’s a good system, but I think like any system, there’s always improvements that can be made, and we are in the process of doing that.”
Kissinger said the college councils currently operate independently of each other and some even have different missions and relationships for how they operate with USG.
This is one area where Kissinger said students are likely to see improvements.
“Right now we’re working to set up a meeting between the college council presidents and the executive government and senate to discuss and finalize what councils should be doing and the link between the two organizations,” she said.
Members from all parties involved agree clarifying the role of councils would benefit students by making the senate’s financing of each individual council more fair.
The amount of money the senate deals with is the main reason students should care who is elected to both the senate and executive offices, Sideman said.
“Students should definitely care, because a large part of the student fee is coming to us,” he said. “We’re impacting all the students at our school through appropriations and financing when we’re giving out hundreds of thousands of dollars to clubs and councils.”
One of the smaller duties of the senate that has been important in the last few weeks is to revise elections code and bylaws.
The code lays out the rules for candidates and elections.
Supreme court
Violations of the election code are the most common issues that come before the supreme court, USG Supreme Court Justice Christopher Hoopes said.
“The purpose of the supreme court is to resolve disputes relating to USG and GPSA,” he said. “Historically, most disputes arise during the election process and require the supreme court to review the facts and the relevant governing document and make a decision.”
In the case of elections, the court’s decisions can be critical for candidates.
Each confirmed violation of the election code holds a different penalty, which can include fines or disqualification.
The court, which is comprised of five justices, also deals with other disputes throughout the year.
Any member of USG or GPSA can appeal a decision made regarding a dispute about bylaws or the constitution.
Oral hearings and proceedings are open to the public, but court deliberations are closed to everyone but the justices.
A majority vote is required to settle any case.
Working together
Mounlavongsy said all three branches work together to serve the students and that each is important.
“Every branch of student government is responsible for something different at ASU,” she said.
Because of this, it is important to understand how all three work together before voting in the coming elections.
“You want someone who represents what you want. USG is in charge of making a lot of important decisions that affect every student on campus, so it’s important to vote,” Mounlavongsy said. “If students don’t vote, that’s like having their voice not being heard. For me, it’s sad people don’t vote.”
Reach the reporter at keshoult@asu.edu
