There have been a total of 16 candidates officially submitted for the upcoming elections from March 24-27, and Elizabeth Peisner, Bakersfield College interim director of student life said, “For our first redo, I’m pleased. It is a culture shift, they don’t happen over night, but I’m very, very pleased with the level of engagement.”
Raising and maintaining student engagements is Peisner’s main focus during these elections.
“I’ll be walking around, taking pictures, and encouraging students,” she said.
Students can vote online or in the tents being set up on campus somewhere in the cafeteria center starting Monday. The tents will have new laptops specially supplied by the Student Government Association for voting. There will also be popcorn and pom-poms handed out to amp students up for the event.
The goal, as Peisner mentioned, is, “Getting people fired up about voting!” and as far as the online voting goes she said, “I have a vision for the new InsideBC.
“We have attracted a great deal more when [we] engaged students.” Students will also be able to vote for the final amendments recently made to the SGA constitution. The new positions for the upcoming term follow the new constitution’s guidelines.
Most candidates are running for the executive council, and each one of the seats has an entry, which leaves only six of the candidates for Senators. Two of those senator candidates are coming from the Delano Campus, which may mean empty seats for BC’s campus as of now.
The interim director of student life had predicted ending up with a total of approximately 16 to 18 candidates.
The final count of the runners may change after she reviews their applications and eligibility.
She said, “It has been a great challenge. It reminds me of how important and influential my time in student leadership was when I was in college. My impression is that this student body is rife with talent.”
Peisner is very excited as far as both the short and long-term future of SGA. She explained that the theme for her has been “the Renegade rises,” coming out of the former SGA shadow. She is proud of her current staff as they continued forward and strived to do better, and has been impressed with the students who have walked up to her – being a new face, and all – and have talked to her about running.
“I am hopeful, hopeful for the outcome – this is a tipping point,” continued Peisner, “And I am hopeful that we can restore the faith and confidence of the students in what SGA can do for them.