Run in Fall Student Elections!

Fellow Students,

We hope that you have had a great start to your school year. Our names are Luke Lamberson and Tichara Robertson, and we serve as the Chair of the University Board of Elections and President of the Student Council, respectively. By now, you’ve probably heard a lot about student self-governance at the University. Whether you love what you have heard, or hate it, we all own our student institutions. And one of the best ways to steward and shape modern student self-governance is to get involved in University elections. This is an opportunity to voice your opinions and advocate for the changes you hope to see at the University.

Beginning next week, the New Student Elections will take place for: 

- First-Year Representatives (3)
- First Year Council President
- First Year Council Vice President
- Transfer Student Representative
- Graduate International Student Representative
- Undergraduate International Student Representative

Additionally, there will be special elections for: 

- McIntire Student Council Representative
- Undergraduate Nursing Student Council Representative
- Graduate Nursing Student Council Representative
- Data Science UJC Representative
- Law School UJC Representative
- SCPS Honor Representative

The First Year Council President additionally automatically serves as a representative in the Student Council Representative Body during their term. In order to run for FYC President or Vice President, you must have won a position on RLE First Year Council.

If you are interested in running for any of the available positions, please be on the lookout for an email from the University Board of Elections via "Big Pulse," which will contain a secure link to be used to register your candidacy.

Here are some important dates for the New Student Elections:

September 30th: Deadline to register candidacy
October 3rd: Deadline to edit candidate bio
October 4th: Campaigning begins
October 9th: Voting begins
October 11th: Voting & campaigning ends (results announced 5 p.m.)

Student Council (StudCo) is the student governing body, leveraging the bargaining power of all 25,000 students at the University in policy negotiations and lobbying as well as direct resource distribution. First Year Council, or FYC, focuses on events and programming to promote unity and social cohesion among the first-year class.

Your elected officials, from StudCo, FYC, or both, will be integral in shaping the experiences of the student body. We are excited to watch you participate in your first formal exercise of student self-governance. Further, we encourage you all to participate in both the Fall New Student Elections and the Spring University-Wide Elections.

More information about elections, including rules and regulations, can be found at the University Board of Elections (UBE) website, and any questions can be directed to the Chair of UBE, Luke Lamberson, at [email protected]. If you would like more information about StudCo, this can be found at uvastudco.com. Any questions about the position of StudCo Representative can be directed to the Chair of the Representative Body, Andreas Masiakos, at [email protected].

All the best,

Luke Lamberson
Chair, University Board of Elections