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

Spring 2017 SA Election Calendar Δ (Revised: Friday, 3 March 2017)

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

III. Positions Available

• College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Representative
  • Two Positions
  • Requires 75 Petition Signatures
• College of Architecture, Art and Planning Representative
  • One Position
  • Requires 100 Petition Signatures
• College of Arts and Sciences Representative
  • Three Positions
  • Requires 49 Petition Signatures
• College of Engineering Representative
  • One Position
  • Requires 75 Petition Signatures
• School of Hotel Administration Representative
  • One Position
  • Requires 75 Petition Signatures
• College of Human Ecology Representative
  • One Position
  • Requires 75 Petition Signatures
• School of Industrial and Labor Relations Representative
  • One Position
  • Requires 75 Petition Signatures
• Undesignated Representative At-Large
  • Four Positions
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures
• LGBTQ+ Liaison At-Large
  • One Position
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures
• International Students Liaison At-Large
  • One Position
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures
• Minority Students Liaison At-Large
  • Two Positions
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures
• First Generation Representative At-Large
  • One Position
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures
• Women’s Issues Liaison At-Large
  • One Position
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures
• President
  • One Position
  • Requires 300 Petition Signatures
• Executive Vice President
  • One Position
  • Requires 300 Petition Signatures
• Undergraduate Representative to the University Assembly
  • Two Positions
  • Requires 150 Petition Signatures

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 March 13, 2017 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 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 *Spring 2017 SA Election Rules Δ. 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.
  • 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 $35 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 Δ.

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.

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 (Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 10:00pm). 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 (Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 10:00pm). The online application system can be found at: Student Assembly Committee Application

Mandatory Campaign Meeting

All candidates are required to attend the mandatory campaign meeting. The meeting will be Monday, March 13, 2017 from 5:00pm until 6:30pm in 165 McGraw Hall. You must receive explicit written permission from the Director of Elections to waive this requirement if you have extenuating circumstances. Campaigning officially beings at 11:59pm on Monday, March 13, 2017.

Candidate Forum and Executive Debate

All candidates are strongly encouraged (not required) to attend the candidate forum. All President and Executive Vice President candidates are strongly encouraged to attend the Executive Debate. At both events, 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 (Sunday, March 26, 2017 at 10:00pm):

• 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 Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 4:00pm, 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 $35 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 in person to the Office of the Assemblies (109 Day Hall). All challenges must be received before Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 4:00pm.

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

Additional requirements for all candidates include:

• File a candidate expense/reimbursement report, even if you have no expenses by Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 4:00pm. Reports must be submitted in person (by the person being reimbursed) 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 Tuesday, March 28, 2017 at 4:00pm.

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 Δ
• Example Promotional Poster Δ

VIII. Appendix B: Forms Documents

• Spring 2017 Online Registration Form
• Spring 2017 SA Election Rules Δ
  • Postering policy
  • Rules for Campaigning in Dormitories
  • Campus Code of Conduct
• Spring 2017 SA Election Calendar Δ
• Spring 2017 SA Petition Form Δ
• Spring 2017 SA Challenge Form Δ
• Spring 2017 SA Expense Report Δ”

Contact Information

Student Assembly

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

Student Assembly Elections Committee

• sa-elections@cornell.edu
• Contact 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.