Carnegie Mellon University
Student Government  ›  Undergrad Student Senate  ›  Get Involved

Join the Undergraduate Senate...

as a Senator:

  • There are a fixed number of seats available for each college, depending on the size of that college.
  • Senator terms expire at the end of every academic year.
  • Senators have the power to vote for or against motions in Senate.
  • Senators debate motions, sit on Committees, and communicate with school officials to address the needs of the student body.
  • Senators can be elected through the Spring Elections, which are generally held in late April, or through vacancy elections, which are generally held at the beginning of each semester.

as a Member-at-Large:

  • There is no limit on how many MALs each college can have.
  • MALs can participate in Senate in the same way as Senators, but do not have the power to vote on motions.
  • MALs are confirmed at vacancy elections, generally held at the beginning of each semester.

Current Vacancies

  • College of Fine Arts: 0
  • Dietrich College of H&SS: 1
  • College of Engineering: 0
  • Mellon College of Science: 0
  • School of Computer Science: 0
  • Tepper School of Business: 0
  • SHS/BXA: 1

Spring Elections

  • Held by the Elections Board as part of the Student Government Election, usually in early April.
  • All Senator seats are up for reelection in the Spring Elections.
  • For details, see the Official Elections Site, which is updated for every election cycle usually by March.

Vacancy Elections

NOTE: Our next vacancy elections will be held on Thursday, November 16 at our GBM, between 5:20 and 6:30pm, in UC Danforth. Please come with your filled-out paper petition if you are interested in running for a seat! All students from MCS, CIT, and Tepper are welcome to run for the vacant seats in those colleges.

  • Held at the discretion of the president, usually during a General Body Meeting at the beginning of each semester.
    • We will be holding vacancy elections as needed throughout the semester. Contact Mahitha Chaturvedula (senate-operations@andrew.cmu.edu) if you are interested in running for a vacant seat and have any questions.
  • Candidates (for Senator only) must fill out a paper petition and receive at least 25 signatures from students within their home college to be eligible.
  • Candidates are expected to attend the GBM within which the vacancy election is being held. Please contact Mahitha Chaturvedula (senate-operations@andrew.cmu.edu) if you absolutely cannot.
    • At the vacancy election, petitions are checked to ensure all signatures come from the candidate's home school.
    • All candidates can give a short (1 minute) speech describing their platform (i.e. goals if elected, new initiative ideas, committee preferences...).
    • After all candidates have had the opportunity to speak, current members of Senate discuss the candidates, and proceed with a vote on who to elect to fill the vacancy (or vacancies).