The terms “ASUI senator” and “student advocate” are essentially interchangeable.
University of Idaho Director of Student Involvement Colleen Quinn said senators serve as the students’ voice to the administration, faculty and staff.
“The senators’ jobs are to work with living groups to find out kind of the pulse of students and find out what the students are wanting — any needs or issues there are on campus,” she said.
Quinn said another important role of ASUI senators is to relay information back to their living groups.
“For example, they’re sharing Vandal Entertainment board events and they’re sharing new initiatives,” she said. ” … So it’s their job to be kind of the voice from ‘here’s what’s happening on campus’ to the students, and then get students’ feedback and opinions in return.”
At the end of the day, ASUI senators have a lot of say in who gets hired and what money is spent at UI, Quinn said.
“I don’t think people recognize this about the senate, but they pass the ASUI budget and approve all appointments,” she said.
For example, the process for selecting a new ASUI lobbyist is underway. The senate will get to approve or disapprove the lobbyist, Quinn said.
She said what’s neat about ASUI is the way it’s structured — it has the executive, or programmatic, branch and the legislative branch.
“Just to think about that there are 15 people whose only job it is, is to find out how they can make campus better for students and then do the research to make it better — that’s pretty unique,” Quinn said.
ASUI President Hannah Davis said good senators listen well, are open-minded, conduct research and create opinions about issues — even if they aren’t passionate about them.
Quinn said the most successful senators are those who take initiative and get to know their classmates and living groups.
“They’re coming in, and there isn’t a lot of structure,” she said. “So it takes a person with a lot of initiative and the willingness to say ‘OK, based on my conversation with students, this is an issue.'”
It’s important for senators to not only establish campus-wide issues, but to conduct research in order to find solutions as well, Quinn said.
Davis said she hopes that with every election, more people become aware of ASUI and understand the power students have.
“You don’t have to be a senator to have your voice heard,” she said.
In order for students to make their opinions known, she said it’s important to vote.
“I know sometimes national elections are overwhelming because some students feel like their votes don’t matter, but with ASUI elections they really do,” Davis said. “If you want your voice heard, vote.”
Britt Kiser can be reached at [email protected]