With student elections fully underway, it can be easy for Weber wildcats to get lost in all the campaigning chaos spreading throughout campus.
This week is set aside for legislative elections, and while it’s important for students to vote, they should first know how all the political magic works.
Below is a brief history of our student government and what the legislative branch is all about at Weber State.
The Weber State University Student Association (WSUSA)
If you didn’t know, WSUSA is where all the student politics happen at Weber State. Designed to promote representative leadership, WSUSA is for the students, by the students.
WSUSA lends itself to the overall welfare of the student body through principles of self-governance and shared-governance, all while creating leadership experience.
The Legislative Branch
Now that you’ve met the entire WSUSA, here is a small piece but a big part of the WSU government: the Student Senate. Established in 1915, the legislative branch at Weber State represents the Students’ Association in the governmental system.
Tasked with being the student’s voice, the Student Senate seeks to take action while giving support to various organizations.
How the Senate works
Conducting the inner workings of WSU policy, the legislative branch deals with campus concerns and works towards ratifying change. Working in harmony with the Faculty Senate, the Student Senate works to create policy that focuses on addressing issues their fellow wildcats may have.
There are at least two senators that can represent you: a student senator representing traditional students and one representing non-traditional students. However, this is just the baseline. With 22 academic and special constituency senators, representing students in specific colleges or even international students, you can have up to four or five senators as your voice on campus.
Student senators meet every Monday at 2pm, usually on the fourth floor of the Union building in the Skyroom. The meetings are open to the public and are in session to address student concerns.
Meeting weekly every fall and spring semester, Weber State student senators are always in action. What they do is a lot of hard work.
According to the WSUSA Senate Duties & Expectations, student senators are expected to fulfill four tasks to be a senator: be the voice of their specific constituency, bring ideas for improvement, represent the student body to administrative committees and take part in projects that benefit the campus as a whole.
Overall, the Student Senate is designed to give Weber wildcats the voice they deserve. However, to take part in the change that is going on across campus, students need to take the most important step: vote for who they think will be their best voice.
