I. Election Overview

The Student Assembly is the undergraduate student government of Cornell University.

The Student Assembly deals with quality of life issues for students, making sure that student issues are heard and addressed. The assembly has legislative authority over the policies of the Office of the Dean of Students and the Department of Campus and Community Engagement, and establishes the undergraduate Student Activity Fee and guidelines for its distribution. Every Cornell student has the opportunity to voice concerns during the open microphone period held at the beginning of each meeting.

The Student Assembly holds regularly scheduled elections twice a year, once in September and once in March. The September elections are to elect the Freshman and Transfer representatives, while also serving as an opportunity to fill any vacancies on the Assembly.

All current registered undergraduate students are eligible to run for a position on the Student Assembly. Certain positions are reserved for members of a particular group: the Freshman representatives must be freshman students, the Transfer representative must be a new transfer student, and college/school-specific positions must be held by someone enrolled in that particular college or school.

The Student Assembly meets every Thursday from 4:45pm until 6:30pm during the academic year. All elected representatives are expected to be present at every meeting, with a few exceptions for certain excused absences. All elected representatives are also required to be active members on at least one Student Assembly committee. The Student Assembly President, Jordan Berger, explained, “You will really get out of the Student Assembly what you are willing to put into it. Some representatives will only do the basic requirements but you should be willing to do whatever it takes to adequately represent your constituency.

II. Election Calendar

Fall 2016 SA Election Calendar (Revised: Monday, 12 September 2016)

Calendar is subject to change. Updates will be posted here.

III. Positions Available

Freshmen Representatives

• Overview: Each fall the incoming class of undergraduate students elects four representatives to the Student Assembly. This position represents the interests of freshman students to the Assembly and serve a key role in ensuring institutional memory from year-to-year.
• Eligibility: Only incoming freshmen students are eligible to run for this position. Only incoming freshmen students will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 75 (signatures must be from incoming freshmen students)

Transfer Representative

• Overview: Each fall the incoming class of transfer students elects one representative to the Student Assembly. This position represents the interests of transfer students to the Assembly.
• Eligibility: Only incoming transfer students are eligible to run for this position. Only incoming transfer students will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 25 (signatures must be from incoming transfer students)

College of Arts and Sciences Representative

• Overview: There are three representatives on the Student Assembly that are elected by the undergraduate students in the College of Arts and Sciences. There is currently one vacancy.
• Eligibility: All students currently enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences are eligible to run for this position (including freshmen and transfer students). The elected representative must remain enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences for the duration of their term. Only undergraduate Students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 100 (signatures must be from undergraduate students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences)

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Representative

• Overview: There are two representatives on the Student Assembly that are elected by the undergraduate students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. There is currently one vacancy.
• Eligibility: All students currently enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences are eligible to run for this position (including freshmen and transfer students). The elected representative must remain enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences for the duration of their term. Only undergraduate students enrolled in College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 75 (signatures must be from students enrolled in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences)

School of Hotel Administration Representative

• Overview: This position represents all Hotel School students.
• Eligibility: All students currently enrolled in the School of Hotel Administration are eligible to run for this position (including freshmen and transfer students). The elected representative must remain enrolled in the School of Hotel Administration for the duration of their term. Only undergraduate students enrolled in School of Hotel Administration will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 75 (signatures must be from students enrolled in the School of Hotel Administration)

Undesignated Undergraduate At-Large

• Overview: There are four representatives on the Student Assembly that are elected by the undergraduate student body at-large. There is currently one vacancy.
• Eligibility: Any undergraduate student (including freshmen and transfer students) is eligible to run for this position. All undergraduate students will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 150

First Generation Liaison At-Large

• Overview: This position was created during the Spring 2016 semester. The inaugural holder of this position represents the unique interest and needs of the First Generation Undergraduate College Student community at Cornell.
• Eligibility: All undergraduate students (including freshmen and transfer students) are eligible to run for this position. All undergraduate students will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 150 (signatures can be from any undergraduate student)

Undergraduate Representative to the University Assembly

• Overview: The University Assembly is one of the four assemblies at Cornell. It deals primarily with policy issues that affect the entire campus. The voting membership of the University Assembly consists of undergraduate students, graduate and professional students, staff members, and faculty members. There are five undergraduate students on the University Assembly: two are elected by the undergraduate student body at large and two are internally elected by elected Student Assembly members. The fifth is the President of the Student Assembly. This election is for one of the two undergraduate positions on the University Assembly that is elected by the undergraduate student body at large.
• Eligibility: All undergraduate students (including freshman and transfer students) are eligible to run for this position. All undergraduate students will vote in this election.
• Petition Signatures Required: 75 (signatures can be from any undergraduate student)

IV. Candidate Requirements Prior to the Registration Deadline

The following section explains the requirements for becoming a candidate that must be completed prior to the registration deadline. As noted on the Election Calendar in Section II, the registration deadline for this election is September 16, 2016 at 12:00pm (noon).

Position Selection and Eligibility

The first step to becoming a candidate in the Student Assembly Election is to decide what position you are pursuing. Candidates may only register for one election.

In addition to the eligibility requirements listed in Section III for each position, all candidates must:

• Be a full-time, matriculated undergraduate student enrolled in a degree-granting unit of the Ithaca campus of the University.
• Be eligible to vote in the election for the seat [they are running for] and plan to remain seated so for the full term for which they are seeking election. Candidates should not plan to pursue study abroad programs or internships that would require them to leave the Ithaca campus for any semester during their tenure.
• Not already hold a directly elected voting position on the SA and/or UA for the term which they are seeking election.
• Have not resigned or been removed from the SA or from a directly elected UA seat in the academic year prior to the academic year of the term for the seat being elected.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding your eligibility for candidacy, please email the Office of the Assemblies at assembly@cornell.edu.

Election Rules

It is important to be familiar with the rules that govern Student Assembly elections. These rules ensure the fairness of the election for all candidates and layout the procedure for the election. Click to download the *Fall 2016 SA Election Rules. In addition, please familiarize yourself with:

• Campus Code of Conduct
• Campus Housing House Rules
• University Posturing Policy

Please note that it is your responsibility to be familiar with the election rules. Not knowing a rule existed is not an excuse and, in the past, candidates have been disqualified for violating rules they were unaware of.

Online Registration Form

Once you have selected the position you are running for, verified your election eligibility, and reviewed the election rules, the next step is to complete the online registration form. You can access the form here:

Online Registration Form

The online registration form will ask for the following information:

• A candidate statement of no more than 1250 characters, including spaces. The statement must be in plaintext. No formatting, including hyperlinks, will be allowed. The statement is displayed on the election website and on the online voting platform.
• A photo of you that meets the following requirements:
  • The photo should be similar to a U.S. passport photo. For example:
  • You must be the only person who appears in the photo.�
  • You must not be wearing anything that significantly obscures you as the subject of the photo.
  • The photo should be in color.
  • The photo must be in JPG format. No other formats will be accepted.
  • No dimension of the photo should be less than 500px. The image should be of a resolution of at least 72 dpi.�

If you are unsure if your photo meets these requirements, please email it to assembly@cornell.edu ahead of the election registration deadline. We will reply promptly with a decision. If you do not have a picture that meets these requirements, you can alternatively have your photo taken by the Office of the Assemblies. Proceed through the online registration form without uploading a photo when prompted.

• As a candidate in the election, you are permitted to receive either 300 free copies of posters and/or quarter cards or a reimbursement of up to $20 in approved campaign expenses. The online registration form will ask you to decide which you would like. For those that choose the free promotional copies, the form will prompt you to allocate your 300 copies, select what color paper your copies should be on, and upload the PDFs of the files to be printed.

Petitions

In order to become a candidate in an election, you must collect signatures from students eligible to vote in the election you are seeking candidacy. For example, if you wish to run for the Freshman Representative position, you must collect the signatures of at least 75 freshman students using the official petition form.

We strongly recommend that you collect at least 25 more signatures than what is required. The Student Assembly Election Committee validates the petitions you submit. If the Committee is unable to verify enough signatures, then you will be disqualified. There is no limit to the number of signatures that you are permitted to collect.

All signatures must be collected using the official Petition Form, which is included in this information packet. In addition, you can find a PDF of just the Petition form on the election website. The petition form asks for a student’s 7-digit Cornell ID number, not their NetID.

As a reminder, the minimum signatures required for each position in this election are:

• Freshman Representative: 75
• Transfer Representative: 25
• Undergraduate Representative to the University Assembly: 75
• College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Representative: 75
• College of Arts and Sciences Representative: 100
• Undesignated Undergraduate at Large: 150
• First Generation Student Representative at Large: 150

Petitions must be submitted in-person to the Office of the Assemblies, which is located in 109 Day Hall by the registration deadline. We recommend submitting your petitions early so that we can notify you of any problems before the registration deadline.

Please note that it is a violation of the election rule to:

• Announce your candidacy on social media platforms in order to collect signatures.
• Announce your candidacy in front of a classroom during class hours in order to collect signatures.
• Circulate unattended petitions.
• Campaign before the official start of campaigning. See Article I, Section C, Part 1 of the election rules for more information on this.

Summary

In order to become a candidate in this election, you must complete the following before the registration deadline:

• Decide which position you are running for.
• Verify you are eligible to run for that position.
• Review the election rules.
• Fill out the online registration forms.
• Gather enough signatures from students eligible to vote in the election you are a candidate in using the official petition form. Submit these petition forms in-person to the Office of the Assemblies before the registration deadline.

V. Candidate Requirements Prior to the Start of Voting

Meeting Requirement

All candidates are required to attend at least one full meeting of the Student Assembly before the start of voting (September 26, 2016 at 12:01am). You must register your attendance with the Director of Elections. The Student Assembly meetings every Thursday from 4:45pm until 6:30pm, usually in the Willard Straight Hall Memorial Room.

Committee Requirement

All candidates are required to apply to serve on at least one committee of the Student Assembly before the start of voting (September 26, 2016 at 12:01am). The online application system can be found at:

Mandatory Campaign Meeting

All candidates are required to attend the mandatory campaign meeting. The meeting will be September 19, 2016 from 5:00pm until 6:00pm in Klarman Auditorium. You must receive explicit written permission from the Director of Elections to waive this requirement if you have extenuating circumstances. Campaigning officially begins the next morning, September 20, 2016 at 7:00am.

Candidate Forum

All candidates are strongly encouraged (not required) to attend the candidate forum. At this event, voters will have an opportunity to hear from candidates about their experience and platforms. Candidates are also encouraged to use the forum as an opportunity to specifically discuss why they are more qualified than their opponents.

Summary

All candidates must do the following prior to the start of voting (September 27, 2016 at 12:01am):

• Attend at least one full meeting of the Student Assembly and register attendance with the Director of Elections.
• Apply to at least one committee of the Student Assembly using the online system.
• Attend the Mandatory Campaign Meeting.
• Strongly Encouraged: Attend the candidate forum.

VI. Candidate Requirements After Voting

Candidate Expense Report

All candidates are required to file an expense report by September 27, 2016 at 5:00pm, even if you had no expenses. The report must be submitted in person to the Office of the Assemblies (109 Day Hall). If you had expenses, you must include the original receipt. The official candidate expense report is included in this guide and can also be found on the election website.

If you chose the $20 reimbursement for approved election expenses, the Office of the Assemblies will use this report to process your reimbursement. Approved election expenses include:

• Web Hosting
• Domain Names
• Online Advertising
• Chalk
• Printed Materials

All other expenses must be pre-approved by the Director of Elections and the Office of the Assemblies in order to be reimbursed.

Challenges

If you believe another candidate has violated the election rules and, as a result, compromised the fairness of the election, you may file a challenge against them. The challenge requires a typewritten account of what rule(s) were violated and how that affected the fairness of the election. To file a challenge, submit your typewritten account and the official challenge form — which can be found in this election guide and on the election website — in person to the Office of the Assemblies (109 Day Hall). All challenges must be received before September 27, 2016 at 5:00pm.

Likewise, it is possible that you may be the subject of a challenge. If this is the case, you will receive an email from the Director of Elections with details of the challenge. More information about the challenge process can be found in the Student Assembly Election Rules.

Election Results

Election results will first be communicated to candidates via an email from the Director of Elections. All challenges must first be resolved before election results can be released. As a result, it may be several days before election results are available.

Summary

Addition requirements for all candidates include:

• File a candidate expense report, even if you have no expenses by September 27, 2016 at 5:00pm. Reports must be submitted in person to the Office of the Assemblies (109 Day Hall).
• If you believe another candidate has violated the election rules and, as a result, compromised the fairness of the election, submit a challenge against them. Challenges must be filed before September 27, 2016 at 5:00pm.

VII. Appendix A: Sample Promotional Materials

For candidates that choose to receive 300 free copies of promotional materials, it is important to properly format your documents before submitting them to us via the online registration form. Please review the following two documents and ensure your promotional materials conform to the specified guidelines.

• Example Promotional Quarter Card
• Example Promotional Poster

VIII. Appendix B: Forms Documents

• Student Assembly Fall 2016 Election Information Packet.
• Fall 2016 SA Election Rules
  • Postering policy
  • Rules for Campaigning in Dormitories
  • Campus Code of Conduct
• Fall 2016 SA Election Calendar
• Fall 2016 SA Petition Form
• Fall 2016 SA Challenge Form
• Fall 2016 SA Expense Report”

Contact Information

Student Assembly

• studentassembly@cornell.edu
• Contact the Student Assembly with general questions about being involved with campus governance.

Student Assembly Director of Elections

• Maha Ghandour ‘17
• sa-elections@cornell.edu
• Contact Maha and the Elections Committee with questions about the rules or the election in general.

Office of the Assemblies

• 109 Day Hall
• 607–255–3715
• assembly@cornell.edu
• Contact the Office of the Assemblies for technical support, questions about the election registration process, or any other concern not covered above.