[641] in UA Senate
ASA elections next week
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Rachel Meyer)
Fri Apr 16 23:27:41 2010
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:27:36 -0400
From: Rachel Meyer <remeyer@MIT.EDU>
To: ua-senate@mit.edu, ua-exec@mit.edu
Hi Senate and Exec (and listeners),
I just wanted to give a quick plug for ASA and encourage you all to consider
running in ASA elections next week (Wednesday, 4/21, 7:30pm, 34-101).
I copied the official announcement below, but my summary/opinion:
- a lot of ASA work is more "administrative" but to go along with that, /a lot/
of concrete tangible things get done in the span of a year: activities midways,
new group recognition and funding, resource allocation (offices/lockers and
bulletin boards alternate years and both have some rolling allocations),
LEF/ARCADE funding board ($175k combined), first year summer mailing, and much
more.
- in addition to the more administrative projects, there are plenty of more
advocacy-based projects if people want to take them on. A couple of canonical
big ones: more space for student groups and adequate funding for student groups
and their initiatives (generally, with respect to the Student Life Fee, or for
specific projects).
- ownership of projects: a lot of ASA Exec is member at large positions and in
general ASA has operated where people take responsibility for a specific
project they're interested in and really get a lot of control over it. So you
get the experience and benefits of working as part of a group and of leading
your own project/initiative.
- opportunity to work with many different people and offices across campus: ASA
works with the other governments, especially the UA and GSC, and many offices
around campus including SAO, SAFO, CAC, PSC, Admissions, and Schedules. Plus
many interesting students and their groups.
In general, I think being involved with ASA is a great way to concretely impact
student life at MIT and a great opportunity to serve student groups, which are
a big part of what makes MIT MIT (besides academics).
Feel free to email me with any questions about elections or about ASA in
general.
-Rachel
(past ASA president)
******* Positions elected ********
The following positions will be elected on April 21, in this order:
* President
* Treasurer
* Secretary
* Undergraduate Members-at-Large (2)
* Graduate Members-at-Large (2)
* Student Member-at-Large
In order to be considered as a candidate for election, you may submit a platform
consisting of a single powerpoint slide to asa-elect@mit.edu. Alternatively,
candidates may announce their candidacy at the General Body Meeting, or may be
nominated on the spot during the meeting.
******* ASA Executive Board responsibilities ********
All ASA Executive Board members have shared responsibilities to carry out the
ASA's traditional activities, which involve organizing collective resources for
student groups, such as activities midways, the first-year summer mailing,
bulletin board space, and office space; processing new group applications;
voting on policy and rule enforcement; and representing MIT student activities
in meetings with administrators and other governments.
Additionally, the ASA President, Treasurer, and Secretary have special
responsibilities:
* The ASA President is the head of the organization, serving as the primary
representative to administrators, leading executive board meetings and setting
the agenda for discussion.
* The ASA Treasurer is the authority at MIT on student group funding. He/she is
charged with ensuring that student group funding policy maximizes utility and
fairness, and with linking the main funding bodies at MIT (the UA Finboard, the
GSC Funding Board, LEF/ARCADE, and special funds) in order to ensure that each
board fulfills its charge and that shared funding policies are consistent
across the boards. He/she is the chair of the LEF/ARCADE funding board.
* The ASA Secretary is in charge of taking meeting minutes and maintaining the
ASA's website.
******* Elections process ********
Please submit a platform consisting of a single powerpoint slide to
asa-elect@mit.edu, or you may announce your candidacy during the meeting or be
nominated during the meeting.
If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail asa-elect@mit.edu or
asa-president@mit.edu, or come talk to one of us in person.
