As journalists, we obviously hold deadlines in high regard.

So, when the Oakland University Student Congress announced they had failed to advertise the deadline for OU students to declare candidacy in the upcoming elections, we were chagrined.

Student Body President Benjamin Eveslage sent The Oakland Post an e-mail Jan. 25 explaining they “didn’t realize” the deadline for students to submit their declarations of candidacy was nearing for legislators, the vice president and president.

Buried within this notification was the fact the deadline to apply was on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. — a mere five days away.

The OUSC bylaws clearly state that candidates for the election must submit their names for the ballot eight weeks prior to the election date in March.

Yeah, as journalists, we should have been playing watchdog and caught the fact that the deadline date was approaching.

Even so, it is OUSC’s ultimate responsibility as the student governing body to inform students of what is going on and to give everyone an equal chance to run.

OUSC is having no problem with forgetting to spend student money this year, however.

They receive $86,301 in Student Activity Fees, which they spend on events, causes and their payroll.

That money is also supposed to be used for advertising.

Advertising for things like elections, that is.

After OUSC announced the nearly missed deadline, they voted to extend the period an entire week to Feb. 6 at 5 p.m.

Because, in a week, all 19,379 students at Oakland will have been well-informed of the election and some may even decide to run.

Last year, four teams of student candidates took the plunge into presidential candidacy, along with 29 legislator hopefuls.

With all of the sloppiness of the current administration and lack of notice, we don’t think everyone has been given a fair opportunity in this year’s election.

Eveslage said he believes one week will be enough time for students (because they are now advertising on social media like Facebook and Twitter), but if there is a lack of applications for candidacy this year, we have to wonder if lack of advertising was to blame.

What’s worse is they missed the deadline for something as important as the next student governing body — the next group of individuals to represent the voice of the students.

How can they forget something that important?

We’re not advocating for continuous election coverage like we see on the national level, but we do think students deserve more than a few days to make that kind of decision.

Especially after last year’s campaign drama, we don’t think it’s a good idea to rush into elections this time around.

Hopefully next year’s administration doesn’t make the same mistake.

We won’t next time.

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The staff editorial is written weekly by members of The Oakland Post’s editorial board.