Nominations now open for FSU Executives, President

It's that time of the year again as Fanshawe students are going to have the chance to choose their student union representatives for the upcoming year.

Presidential and vice presidential nominations open on Monday, January 28, and students don't necessarily need experience to get involved.

“Any student can run for any vice presidential position,” explained Travis Mazereeuw, the Fanshawe Student Union president. “For entertainment you don't have to be in Music Industry Arts or involved in any entertainment programs; for athletic you don't have to be involved in any sports teams - they're open for all students.”

There are five vice president positions available including athletics, internal affairs, finance, external affairs and entertainment, all of which are open to returning full-time Fanshawe students. But despite what most people think about the election, and the positions themselves, aren't just about popularity.

“If you're just running to be popular - don't bother because you're just wasting the students time,” Mazereeuw stressed. “What it all comes down to is working as a team, sometimes a team may have weaknesses and strengths in different areas.”

“I think it's more of thinking of yourself as a brand,” said Jonathan Hillis, the current VP of athletics. “You're trying to market yourself as a brand. You want everyone to know who you are but it's not whether they think you're cool or not. If you have a great platform and want to do real good for the students you're going to get elected.”

“It's really important to have a positive attitude, to respect what you do,” Mazereeuw continued. “You have to be dedicated, open-minded, be able to see things from all angles, and be able to come up with a decision as a group, not necessarily by yourself.”

But the positions aren't merely figureheads, the VP's have specific duties that need to be addressed depending on the position along with weekly hours that need to be met.

“It's a minimum of 12 hours a week of office work,” Hillis said. “Then there's attending events like pubs, award nights so it goes above and beyond 12 hours. It depends on a students course load but it's all about what you put into it- that's what you'll get out of it.”

The president position is much more involved and time consuming than those of the five VP's and has a different set of requirements from prospective candidates.

“Because president is a full-time job, you can't be a student while you're doing it,” explained Mazereeuw.

“It's definitely a team, and if that team falls apart, the student union falls apart and you can't do your job.”

The nomination period ends on Wednesday, February 20 before which time students who are interested in any of the positions are asked to get a nomination sheet signed by 25 Fanshawe students and return it to the FSU office. Campaigning will run for a week between March 3-10. Voting will run between March 10 and 13, and can be done both online or at various voting kiosks throughout campus.