This year only three students
applied for the three open council
positions. Though the numbers
are low for applicants, it is an improvement
over the 2014 Associated
Students of Central Oregon
Community College where no
students originally applied during
the first application cycle.
In addition to the low numbers
of applicants, only 91 students
participated in voting for the candidates
through the BlackBoard
site. That means that only 0.5 percent
of the student body elected
next years student leaders.
Last year, 210 total votes were
cast after applicants were found,
according to Gordon Price, Director
of Student Life.
“The participation level both
of candidates and voters is a concern.
A concern we have been
dealing with for years,” Price
said.
This year, Student Life increased
promotional material to
attempt to encourage student involvement
in both applying and
voting, according to Price.
“We tried to expand the message
to students, but to no avail,”
Price said. “I do think it is a reflection
of the overall campus culture,
not just in regard to ASCOCC. It
is also the nature, I think, of community
college in general and
specifically our students. They are
here mostly for classes, the majority
are not interested or don’t have
the time to participate in extracurricular
activities.”
Election results
Connor Westover was elected
as president, Jorilynn Messner
was elected as Vice President of
Legislative Affairs and Lee Heckman
was elected as Vice President
of Student Affairs.
One of the main challenges for
the incoming council is getting
used to the system, procedures
and processes, according to Price.
“Each year we have a new
council and it takes some time to
get new students up to speed and
the working of ASCOCC.” Price
said. “Other challenges are deciding
how to spend the funds they
are entrusted with, establishing
the focus for the year and determining
the best way to serve the
students.”
The appointed positions will
be decided on by an appointment
committee who plans to meet and
conduct interviews over the next
few weeks, according to Price.
For complete election results
visit thebroadsidonline.com and
pick up our next issue.

Molly Svendsen | The Broadside
(Contact: [email protected])