Interested In Being An SGA Leader? Apply By April 9
Are you interested in becoming a Student Government Association (SGA) leader in the 2021-22 school year?
Applications are open at all eight Miami Dade College campuses until April 9.
Students can run for the following positions: president, vice president, treasurer and secretary.
“I want to see [the] next generation of leadership,” said Homestead Campus SGA President Angelo Douillon. “Students with passion who want to help their campuses and serve their students.”
Student Government represents the interests and concerns of students at MDC. The responsibilities of officers include participating in leadership training, voting on college legislative issues, organizing community service initiatives, and more.
Unlike in previous years, applicants across MDC’s eight campuses must fill out the same election packet. They must be turned in to their respective campus’ Student Life Department through email by the deadline.
The election packet includes a declaration of candidacy, election and campaigning procedures, qualifications for candidacy, election timeline, sign and poster rules, and a candidate expense sheet.
Position descriptions and responsibilities can be found in the SGA constitution. They are posted on the organization’s SharkNet pages.
“[SGA] looks for student[s] who [have] leadership skills, communication skills and work coherently in a team environment,” said Jenny Gomez, who serves as adviser to the Kendall Campus SGA.
To be eligible to participate in the elections, students must be enrolled in at least six credit hours at the campus they are applying for during the fall and the spring semesters. They must be in clear academic and conduct standing, have a high school diploma or equivalent, and have at least a 2.5 GPA.
Candidates will be notified if their name will appear on the ballot by April 13 via email.
Campaigning will take place from April 14-25. Social media marketing is allowed as long as it’s appropriate and not paid for. Because MDC remains under Phase 2 of their Pandemic Recovery Plan, students may only campaign virtually through their own social media accounts.
Voting will take place between April 19-25 through MDC’s elections website: elections.mymdc.net. Students must log in to the site using their myMDC account and password.
Last year’s election had a low voter turnout—it tallied only 942 votes in comparison to the 3,532 votes in 2019. However, Kendall Campus SGA President Anthony Valenzuela says his team has partnered with the campuses’ media services to push for a bigger turnout this year. They plan to send weekly email reminders regarding the election and create informational articles about the process on SharkNet.
“It’s about educating students on what these roles do and what they mean,” Valenzuela said. “I hope every student takes this election seriously because it’s going to be a challenging year between virtual and physical environments. We need good leadership at the top.”
Results will be announced on April 26 on SharkNet and via email.
“My advice to [the applicants] would be that you are your only competition and you hold the pen to write your own story,” Valenzuela said. “So, what are you going to make of it in this new position?”
