Students looking to get more in touch with the happenings on campus need look no further than student government to become involved in nearly every facet of university life.
For undergraduate students, the Associated Students of the University of Arizona serves as the student government. ASUA offers programs, clubs and services to cover the many needs of those on campus.
“”Everything that you can think of that happens at the U of A, ASUA as the student government is involved in it, working to improve it and making sure that students’ lives are continuing to get better,”” said ASUA President Tommy Bruce.
ASUA is composed of the Undergraduate Senate, which has 10 student senators, a president, an administrative vice president and an executive vice president, all of whom are elected into their positions by the student body.
Within all of the entities of ASUA, a student serves as the director, and other students work as chairpersons and staff members.
ASUA is responsible for the nearly 500 clubs and organizations on campus, providing students with the essentials to get through college life.
Some of the programs offered by ASUA include: SafeRide, which offers students a free ride home at night; the Sustainability Program, consisting of a committee working to make the campus more environmentally conscious and sustainable in the long term; Legal Services, which offers free legal advice for students by an attorney; the Zona Zoo program, a student athletics events section; and the Special Events Program, which is in charge of organizing many events on campus, including Battle of the Bands and homecoming events. ASUA also organizes Spring Fling, the largest student-run carnival in the country, every year.
“”We started SafeRide. We started the Zona Zoo program, which is the largest, best, most spirited and most affordable student section program in the country; we have the Special Events Program which does all the large scale events on campus,”” Bruce said. “”Last year, we brought Plain White T’s and the Kanye West show, just to speak of a few.””
This year, ASUA is focused on letting students know what ASUA is and what it does for students, Bruce said.
“”The only reason we’re on campus is to work to improve their lives; we’re out every single day trying to find new programs and services, more opportunities to advocate and lobby and speak on behalf of students, and it’s important that students know that,”” Bruce said.
While ASUA only serves the undergraduate population of the UA, the Graduate and Professional Student Council is on campus to serve as the UA’s graduate student government.
GPSC is a representative body composed of 32 representatives, a president and a vice president, who are elected by graduate and professional students.
“”We basically try to deal with all sorts of issues concerning life issues – any graduate or professional student concern that arises, we represent that,”” said Stephen Bieda, GPSC President and a graduate associate in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences.
GPSC addresses graduate student issues including health insurance, tuition, raising the status of female graduate students and looking into the concerns of graduate students, teaching assistants and research assistants.
Students who would like to get involved in either ASUA or GPSC should check out their Web sites for volunteer opportunities and election information.
