BY GEMMA PAGE / FREELANCE WRITER

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all aspects of our lives are now online… including the upcoming Augustana Students’ Association (ASA) election and nomination processes.

The time has come for the virtual Spring 2021 elections. If you are a full time Augustana student and you have a minimum GPA of 2.0, you are able to run for a seat on the Students’ Council for the 2021-2022 school year! Nominations are now open and will continue to be open until February 25, 2021.

Running for a position on the ASA is much simpler this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as candidates are not required to gather signatures in order to qualify their nomination. Instead, candidates must simply complete two online forms- the “Candidate Declaration” form, as well as, the “Eligibility for Office” form, which can be found on the Augustana Students’ Association website (http://augustana.su.ualberta.ca/governance/elections). In addition, interested candidates must submit an outline of their platform. All of these steps must be completed by 5:00 p.m., on February 25, 2021. Finally, each candidate must participate in the candidate forum that is to be held virtually on March 15, which will allow candidates to highlight important points of their platforms and answer questions posed by the student body. Voting will take place virtually on March 17-18, 2021.

Executive positions open include: 

• President
• Vice-President Academic 
• Vice-President Finance
• Vice-President Communications
• Vice-President Student Life 

The rest of the available committee includes:

• Two Second Year Representatives
• One Third Year Representative
• One Fourth Year Representative
• Two Off Campus Representatives
• One International Students’ Representative
• One Indigenous Students’ Representative
• One Councilor-at-Large. 

Next year will be an interesting year to be on the Augustana Students’ Association committee as they will begin the challenging process of switching back to in-person events after a year of online events due to COVID-19 restrictions. Social media will still, however, place an important role in providing an outreach to students. The most important job of an ASA member is being a resource to students, especially during this crazy, uncertain and confusing time.

According to current VP Communications, Rebecca Nicholson, “[being on the ASA] is more of a platform for you to do real change that matters to you. Even if you’ve never been on council before, don’t let that stop you from running!” There are many reasons for you to get involved with the ASA: if you want to plan events, help the school. There are countless ways to get involved in fostering an exciting, energetic, supportive, caring university community under the umbrella of the ASA. If you have ideas on ways to make positive and impactful changes to the ASA, get involved and do your part to make it better. After all, there is always room for improvement.

(For more information, please check the ASA website at http://augustana.su.ualberta.ca/governance/elections).