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.
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).