Campaign signs of all different sizes and colors are planted around the University of Nevada, Reno, campus once again, meaning one thing: the ASUN election season is officially underway.

The Associated Students of the University of Nevada represents all undergraduate students at UNR through an official group of elected students.

Modeled after the United States government, ASUN is made up of three separate branches: The Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch and the Judicial Branch. Each spring, the Association prepares to welcome new elected officials including one to three representatives from each college.

ASUN elections are more important than some students may realize. The Association is in charge of a budget of nearly $3 million, derived from student fees and profit from the Wolf Shop. The newly elected president will be in charge of developing a new budget to be approved by the ASUN senate. This budget determines how funds will be distributed throughout the year including funding for programming efforts, clubs, publications, services and scholarships.

The students elected will soon be in charge of making decisions that affect every individual on campus. ASUN Officers become engaged locally as well as nationally and are actively involved in different aspects of the university including meeting with administrators, system officials and legislators on a regular basis, improving UNR’s campus and discussing student-related concerns and initiatives.

This is News You Can Use with a guide to the ASUN election season.

Campaigning

The election season began with the official start of campaigning on Feb. 7. At 8 a.m. candidates officially announced their desire to run for office, expressing their campaign promises and goals for the new school year.

After attending filing and campaigning workshops and completing the 2018 candidate packet, students running for officer positions use the campaign period for outreach. Along with the hand-painted signs scattered across campus, social media and special campaign events are hosted so students have the chance to meet their potential officers.

If you want to find out more about the students running for positions, a full list can be found on the ASUN website.

Debates

Candidate debates are an important part of any election, including ASUN’s. Commencing on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m. in the Joe Crowley Student Union Ballroom B, the debates are open to all students and are the best way to get to know candidates, their goals and their ability to defend them.

The first set of debaters on Feb. 22 are the candidates for CABNR, the College of Education, and the College of Business Administration. On Monday, Feb. 26 at the same time and location, candidates hoping to fill seats in the Division of Health Services, and the Colleges of Liberal Arts and Engineering will debate.

Students running for seats in Interdisciplinary Programs, the College of Science, and the Reynolds School of Journalism will be the last to debate on Feb. 27 before the general elections debate on Tuesday, March 13 where the candidates for president and vice president will debate and answer questions about their campaign and goals.

Elections

The voting period officially begins at 8:00 a.m. on Wednesday, March 14 both online via WebCT and in the Blue Fishbowl on the second floor of the Joe from 8:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. A free barbecue at 11:00 a.m. the same day will take place in front of the student union and help kick off the voting period. Voting closes the next day at 5:00 p.m.

Emily Fisher can be reached at efisher@sagebrush.unr.edu and on Twitter @NevadaSagebrush.