Seth Root/The Broadside

Have you ever thought about running for office? Well if you have, now is your chance to be part of Central Oregon Community College’s student government.

The Student Life Office is now accepting candidate applications for president, director of student affairs and director of legislative affairs, according to an email release to all Bobcat students on April 30.

To be considered as a candidate for each of these positions, a student must apply for the position online at jobs.cocc.edu, have a 2.0 GPA and must maintain at least six COCC credits throughout each term to serve as a council member. They must also turn in all the necessary forms by May 11.

Once all forms have been submitted and the Student Life Office has looked everything over, the candidates can start campaigning for their respective office. There will be a candidate forum on May 13 for those that will like to hear what the candidates plan to do once they have been elected to office.

When asked if COVID-19 changes anything in how the elections are conducted, Gordon Price, the Student Activities Coordinator and the one spearheading the ASCOCC elections, said in an email to The Broadside, “It is actually not that much of a change. Each year the elections are held online through Blackboard. So that process is already set up and ready to go. Candidates already apply online through the COCC Jobs page, as well. The major difference is not being on campus. So, candidates information and campaigning will be limited to only online format. We will host all candidate information on the ASCOCC Blackboard page as usual and we will push out more information on the ASCOCC Facebook pages. Candidates will have to be very creative in how they approach this election.”

Gordon Price also reported in his email to The Broadside that a few Bobcat students have expressed interested to him about running for office and one student has already completed their application.

So, if you like to apply, its not too late. As Gordon Price wrote to us about why we should care about the election and about why Bobcat students should run, “The council members are your representatives to the college administration. They serve on college committees that make policy decisions that affect students and they represent COCC student interests statewide. If you care about the student experience at COCC you should care about ASCOCC and who is representing you and spending your student fees.”