The Associated Students of the University of Oregon (ASUO) is the student government at the University of Oregon (UO). It is a non-profit organization funded by the university. Its purpose is to promote the social, cultural, educational and physical development of its members, and to advance both individual and collective interests within and without the university. Membership consists of all students at the UO who have paid the current term or semester student incidental fee.[1]
The ASUO is composed of three branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial.
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According to the ASUO website[1], the ASUO Executive is elected by the student body each year and strives to provide representation for all students on campus. It oversees the multiple appointed members (which are appointed by the ASUO President) on the ASUO staff ranging from advocates to interns and make sure the office, as well as campus operations, runs smoothly. The Executive Staff works closely with all programs, departments and committees on campus, including the UO administration to represent the voice of the students.
The current ASUO President is Ben Eckstein, elected in April 2011. Eckstein will hold his post until May 24, 2012. According to the ASUO website[2], the ASUO President is the chief executive officer of the Associated Students of the University of Oregon. The President is responsible for the administration of ASUO programs, nominates members for the student-faculty committees to the President of the University, appoints members to executive, administrative and ASUO student committees, and acts as the official spokesperson for students as a whole, within the University and in the larger community.
The Vice President of the ASUO is Katie Taylor. According to the ASUO website[2], the ASUO Vice President shall assume all duties pertaining to the office of the President in the President's absence and all other duties as delegated by the President. The ASUO Vice President serves as an ex-officio member of the ASUO Student Senate.
To a certain extent, the ASUO President can create any position he or she may deem appropriate for the Executive Staff. The following are positions of the 2011-2012 Executive Staff:
The Executive Branch is located in the Erb Memorial Union, Suite 4.[17]
The 'ASUO Student Senate is an 20-member elected body, ten of which are finance senators and ten of which are academic senators. The Senate is responsible for the allocation of the Student Incidental Fee, a mandatory fee that every student must pay. This fee is assessed through a year long budget process and must be approved by the Senate, the ASUO Executive and the University President.[3]
The Senate leadership is composed of the Senate President, Senate Vice President, Senate Ombudsperson and Senate Treasurer.
Currently, Senator Lamar Wise serves as the Senate President, Senator Harlan Mechling as the Senate Vice President, Senator Katherine DuPont as the Senate Ombudsperson, and Senator Laura Hinman as the Senate Treasurer.
All senators hold posts that represent different ASUO finance committees or University of Oregon academic departments. ASUO finance committees represented on the Senate include the Programs Finance Committee (PFC), EMU Board of Directors, Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee (ACFC) and Departments Finance Committee (DFC). The University of Oregon academic departments represented include majors that fall under Architecture and Allied Arts (AAA), Business, Social Science, Science, Graduate/Law, Journalism and Education.
The following is a list of all 2011-2013 ASUO Senate seats[4]:
Seats 1 and 4 are one-year seats. Seats 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 20 are elected in even-numbered years. Seats 3, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, and 19 are elected in odd-numbered years. If a vacancy occurs in the first year of any two-year seats, an election takes place the following Spring to fill the remainder of the two-year term.
The ASUO Senate is located in the Erb Memorial Union, Suite 4. Senate convenes every Wednesday at 7 pm in the EMU. [18]
The Constitution Court, appointed by the ASUO President and confirmed by the Student Senate, serves as the Court of Appeals for the ASUO. All rules, regulations and policies established by the ASUO Executive, the EMU Board and the Student Senate must be reviewed and approved by the Court as complying with the ASUO Constitution.[5]
The five-member Court has the authority to rule on any question arising under the ASUO Constitution or any rule promulgated under it.[19] This review power covers almost any action by ASUO government bodies, programs, and in special cases such as elections, actions by individual students within programs. The Court has broad powers to impose sanctions in order to compel compliance with its rulings. Court appointees serve as long as they remain students at the University of Oregon.[5]
The current Chief Justice is Andrae Washington. The Associate Justices of the Court include Nick Schultz, Jerad Nicholson, Jerrett Glass, and Megan Benevento.
The Erb Memorial Union Board of Directors is responsible for making general policy decisions and long-range plans for the operation of the EMU. The board allocates the EMU's multi-million dollar budget, assigns space for student groups and advises staff in the management of the EMU.
The sixteen-member Board consists of twelve students (seven elected in a campus-wide election and five direct appointments from either EMU programs or the ASUO), three faculty members appointed by the University of Oregon President and one EMU staff member elected by their peers.[6]
According to the EMU marketing directors, being a member of the EMU Board of Directors provides students with the opportunity to work intimately with UO faculty and staff on a diverse set of issues, such as policy-making, budgeting and program development.[6]
The EMU Board leadership is composed of the Board Chairman, Board Vice Chair, EMU Budget Committee Chair and EMU House Committee Chair.
Student Incidental Fees are paid by most student attending the University of Oregon. The fee is roughly $540 per year per student and has been increased by the Senate most years in recent history. Incidental fees are used to pay for student organizations, various departments, services, and contracts.