The Student Government Association of App State holds a majority of its elections every year during the spring semester.
This year, instead of their usual debate, SGA will hold a town hall for the sole presidential and vice presidential candidates to answer questions at 7 p.m. Tuesday in room 226 of the Plemmons Student Union, Deputy Assembly Speaker Hampton Smith said. The SGA will host a variety of side panels to engage students with SGA, Smith said.
The voting period began last Thursday and will run through Friday. Students can vote online through Engage.
The presidential and vice presidential elections are run separately from the assembly elections and are overseen by the Elections Oversight Board. The board consists of five App State students who are nominated by the EOB chairperson, according to their election bylaws act.
The nominee for SGA president is Nicole Tran, a senior political science major with a minor in leadership studies. She is currently the director of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. According to the SGA constitution, the student body president is to lead the leadership team meetings and can sign and veto bills from the general assembly.
The vice presidential nominee is Courtney Castellow, a senior public relations major with a minor in digital marketing and building sciences, who is currently the assembly speaker. The role of the student body vice president is to maintain the relationship between the SGA, the Town of Boone and campus clubs and organizations.
There are a total of 33 candidates in this election running for assembly seats, not including the presidential and vice-presidential.
According to the SGA Constitution, there are eight seats for each academic class, two for each college representative, eight at-large seats and eight for university clubs and organizations. Each position’s eligibility depends on the rising year of the nominee; if one was a sophomore, they could apply for the junior representative seat.
The positions being held for election are the sophomore seat, junior seat, senior seat, at-large, Reich College of Education, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Fine and Applied Arts, Beaver College of Health Sciences and Honors College. The president and vice president are also up for election, but with only one candidate for each position.
During the voting period, candidates are ranked by the number of votes they receive. Additionally, each candidate must have one vote to be eligible for an assembly seat. The candidates with the highest votes will fill the seats currently up for election.
These seats represent each class body at App State, from sophomore to senior, and are in charge of speaking for their respective class. There are eight candidates for the sophomore class, four for the junior class and five for the senior class. There are eight open seats for at-large members, which can include undergraduate students from any class.
There are a total of nine open seats for the various college representatives. This includes one seat for the Reich College of Education, two for the College of Arts and Sciences, one for the College of Fine and Applied Arts, one for the Beaver College of Health Sciences and two for the Honors College.
