Student groups voice concerns about USAC endorsement process
By amanda schallert
April 18, 2014 1:03 a.m.
Several student organization leaders have voiced concerns about the deadline to submit applications for the undergraduate student government elections group endorsement process.
To formally endorse candidates in the upcoming Undergraduate Students Association Council elections, student groups must first register by submitting informational forms to the USAC Election Board.
The general deadline for the group endorsement applications was Wednesday, but some students said they felt the Election Board did not give them adequate notice about the deadline. They also expressed concerns about some student groups receiving an email notification about the deadline while others did not.
Several students also said they thought the Election Board should have marked the deadline on the official elections calendar they distributed to candidates and posted on their website. Former Election Board Chair Dana Pede said the board marked the event on the official elections calendar last year, but she does not think the board sent out any email reminders to groups about turning in the applications.
To publicize the deadline, this year’s Election Board placed at least one ad in the Daily Bruin and posted the date on their website.
Election Board Chair Anthony Padilla said he thinks the board did everything it could to reach students and publicize the deadline. He added that he thinks people interested in the elections read the Daily Bruin and check the elections website.
Padilla said he went to the Student Organizations, Leadership & Engagement office to obtain a list of officially registered student groups’ emails so he could remind organizations about the deadline.
With that information, the Election Board compiled a listserv of the undergraduate student groups on the list and sent emails to them April 10, Padilla said.
But some members of registered organizations said they did not receive emails when they think they should have.
Tammy Rubin, the president of Hillel at UCLA and a signatory for multiple student groups, said some of the groups she is in did not receive the email.
Hillel was granted an extension for the application because Passover fell over the weekend, causing complications with the group’s ability to get in touch with the necessary signatories, said Rubin, a third-year human biology and society student.
But Rubin said she thinks that all groups, not just groups with religious conflicts, should have received an extension because of the short notice about the deadline.
Padilla said that the Election Board is currently reviewing applications and moving forward with the process.
Compiled by Amanda Schallert, Bruin senior staff.
