USF SG opens applications for general elections

Ava Moreno, Student Government’s (SG) Tampa governor, said her position has allowed her to “give back” to her community.
As SG gears up for its general election in March, applications for student leadership positions at USF have opened. Some of the roles are student body president and vice president as well as campus governors and lieutenant governors.
Campus council and SG Senate seats are also available. While the student body president and vice president will represent all three USF campuses, the other positions are campus specific.
Applications opened on Jan. 20 and are due by 11:59 p.m. Friday.
Related: USF SG leaders signed contract to switch positions
As campus governor, Moreno said she has taken on “more of a leadership role” and compared her position to that of a “liaison” between different student organizations and departments.
“We have people from all over the world, and whether they’re going to stay here or go somewhere else, the skills that they will learn here are just benefitting society in general,” Moreno said.
Moreno has served in SG for the last three years, starting with the Campus Council where she served as its chair. There, Moreno had a seat on the Campus Allocation Funding Committee (CAFC) and worked to distribute student organization budgets.
Moreno said each position has introduced her to new opportunities, such as talking about university funding and management of different student organizations and departments. She had meetings with Jennifer Condon, the Chief Financial Officer of the university, and USF Provost Prasant Mohapatra.
Related: USF student orgs, departments might see budget cuts
Dora Rodriguez, the Election Rules Commission’s supervisor of elections, said students running for office will host their campaigns from Feb. 17 until March 6, the last day of voting.
Emma Goodwin, SG’s Tampa lieutenant governor, said her experience at SG has benefitted her personally and academically.
Goodwin said her position has helped her put things into perspective about USF “as a whole” rather than just as a student.
She has served in different positions in SG, including with CAFC. Both of her current and former roles work with funding, with CAFC preparing the annual budgets for student organizations.
As lieutenant governor, Goodwin said the position also helped her with time management and leadership skills.
“It’s definitely like a full-time job,” Goodwin said. “But I have also learned so much in this position that I never would have learned just from school.”
SG will be hosting presidential and gubernatorial debates in the Marshall Student Center’s (MSC) Oval Theater at 5 p.m. on Feb. 17 and Feb. 19, respectively.
This will give voters more perspective and information on each candidate’s platform before voting opens on March 3, Rodriguez said.
USF students who want to vote for SG tickets can do so online or in person from March 3 through March 6 on the SG elections page or at on-campus polling booths.
There will be two polling booths per day when elections open, said Madisyn McReynolds, a deputy supervisor of elections.
The following locations will be open for voting in person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.:
- March 3: MSC Atrium and Cooper Hall
- March 4: The Hub and Cooper Hall
- March 5: Bulls Market and Cooper Hall
- March 6: MSC Patio and Cooper Hall