Students interested in running for a position in Oakland University Student Congress should be aware that the deadline to submit applications is this Monday, Jan. 30 at 5 p.m.

Elections are being held for all positions including president and vice president as well as the legislature.

Following the elections, the president and vice president select a separate executive board.

All positions require a one-year commitment on the part of the students.

Legislators interested in getting on the ballot must collect at least 50 signatures from OU students. Legislators are required to attend all meetings and serve one office hour a week.

Candidates for president and vice president are required to run as a joint ticket and the student body president is expected to serve as a spokesperson for students.

The president also has the right to veto acts of legislation and serves as a tie-breaker vote.

Jean Ann Miller, director of the Center for Student Activities, discussed the importance of student governance.

“The student government serves as a voice of the student body,” Miller said.

She emphasized the role Student Congress plays in getting problems solved.

“There are such issues as tuition, parking, facilities,” Miller said.  “If there are problems that students are expressing, who do they express them to? They express them to their student body that represents them, and that government then has the ear of the administration.”

For more information and to begin the application process, students can visit OUSC’s election site at http://www.oakland.edu/ousc/elections