By Stephanie Garibay
The Associated Student Union at East Los Angeles College has started to accept applications from students for the 2016-17 ASU board, although no applications have been turned in.
“We really need to spread the word about these elections. That’s why no one has actually applied because no one knows about them,” ASU president Romel Lopez said.
Although the elections are being promoted around campus, Lopez still does not believe that is enough to get students attention.
“We post flyers all around campus, we tell all the clubs who are chartered in, but at the end of the day, it’s really about word of mouth and people actually talking about it and telling their friends about it,” Lopez said.
Any ELAC student is allowed to apply for the board as long as he or she meets the qualifications. Students who are qualified must be enrolled in five or more units, maintain a 2.0 GPA, pay the $7 fee to be an ASU member and not have completed more than 80 units, although if they have, they can petition to have that appealed.
The positions that will be elected include president, vice president, vice president of finance, treasurer, chief justice, chief delegate, historian and secretary.
ASU board members will receive a stipend while they are in office.
“It’s honestly not that much. It comes out to be about two dollars an hour. You have to really enjoy what you do. You have to enjoy advocating for students,” Lopez said.
Executive board members are required to be in their office for at least four hours a week.
“We are required to attend at least one shared governance committee meeting and they are usually two hours long and they are twice a month,” Lynette Dolatre, vice president of finance, said.
Along with new board members, the Students Activitie Office will also move to a new location in the Student Center after spring break.
The new offices will also have a new layout.
“Right now there are eight executive board members. Six of them share offices. In this new building there are going to be four executive board members sharing one big office. The president will keep his own. I’m sharing an office with the treasurer, which is really important and the executive vice president gets her own office,” Dolatre said.
The new office will also include a separate room for club members who want to make posters.
“In this current office, when club members come in, we have to push all the tables together and it gets really crowded, so with this new office it’s going to be great to have a separate room just for that,” Dolatre said.
After submitting an application, candidates must attend a mandatory orientation in the Student Activities Office.
Candidates must set up an appointment for the orientation.
The current application deadline to become an ASU board member is March 18, but may be delayed until the end of the month because of scheduling conflicts.
“March is just really busy for us right now. I had to change my budget affairs committee meeting a couple times. When we start school, we start getting notices for other meetings, for other things that take priority so we reschedule as we go,” Dolatre said.
Voting will take place April 19-20 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. by the northeast side of the ASU parking lot. Results will be posted in F5 212 on May 13.
This is Dolatre’s and Lopez’s last year on the ASU board, since they are both transferring out.
“I learned a lot from being an ASU board member. It’s dedication, but you gain a lot from it. For the new board members I would say come in early during the summer and shadow who ever you are replacing. Get to know the board and ask as many questions as possible,” Dolatre said.