What does the ASG do?  How do we elect our representatives, or do we?  How can we get involved?  These are questions that many new and existing students may have.

According to the preamble of the ASG constitution, there are several goals that the student body through the ASG set out to accomplish, including “suitable representation, exercising of free speech, participate in educational decisions at SFCC, better college-community relations and provide varied opportunities for students.”

SFCC no longer has direct student body elections of any of the positions for ASG. While club liaisons are directly elected by the student body, the liaisons then select two of their number to fill the club representative positions on the ASG. This is much different then when SFCC was founded in 1967 and has only been the practice for the past several years.  Today’s ASG is not directly elected by the student body.   

Currently all the positions in student government, from president to special events programmer, are current students selected by committees, made up of previous and current members of the ASG.

Heather McKenzie WaitE, the director of student funded programs, provided several insights into how the ASG functions, how it is organized, what they do and how students can participate. 

McKenzie WaitE is a 13-year veteran of Spokane Falls Community College and while technically not a member of the ASG, as the director of student funded programs she is the staff adviser who helps guide the students as they perform their duties. 

McKenzie WaitE was on the SFCC campus staff several years ago, when direct elections took place.

“Students would put all the candidates in the newspaper prior to election day and students would do little write-ups on the candidates … But the reason we moved away from elections, is there was no competition between positions. It was like, one person for president, one person for vice president,” McKenzie WaitE said.

“Almost never would they have multiple people running for the same position,” McKenzie WaitE said. “And some we had vacancies completely, like no one ran at all for the position.”

According to McKenzie WaitE, these challenges led the student government to reinvent the ASG.

“The students decided that they needed to try a new process,” she said. “And so they did some work to do that.  They had to make some constitutional changes to do that.”

“The president, and two vice presidents are hired by the previous year’s hiring committee, which is made up the previous year’s president, two vice presidents and the two club reps from the ASG,”  McKenzie WaitE said. “So, they are all ASG members they are hired from.  They are not campus staff.”

Director of Marketing Emily Rowe is a returning student to SFCC, with a background in graphic design.

“I got hired in May,” she said. ”I was introduced by actually one of the club liaisons because she was in my program. The position of director of marketing was open … it’s preferred that somebody that has experience with graphic design fills the position.” 

“I actually got 50 signatures,” she said. “I had to have a high enough GPA, I also had the experience of the programs we use to make posters.”

ASG is a job, and all the positions are paid positions.  To succeed in ASG requires persistence and a lot of work.  Word of mouth, seeing a flyer or poster, or stopping by the ASG office is only the first step. You must fill out the application, go through the interview process, be a good fit for the position and be selected by the hiring committee.

For those wondering if it is worth it, even the process of applying is a learning opportunity.  Every person who applies, will get an interview and feedback.

The president, academic vice president and activities vice president are selected by the outgoing hiring committee, which is composed of the outgoing president and the two vice presidents, along with the two club representatives who are themselves elected by and from the ranks of the previous year’s club liaisons, McKenzie WaitE said.

After the new president and VPs have been selected, they along with the two elected club representatives select the rest of the ASG staff. 

Elections are held in the first weeks of spring quarter with the new officers filling their positions in the fall.

Associated Student Government is a rewarding opportunity to those who can put in the effort, an opportunity well worth a stopping in at the ASG office in Student Union building.