KU Student Senate

Become a Senator

Information for Freshman Senator Candidates

Five freshmen every fall are elected into Student Senate during a special Freshman Election. Either a check of $20 or 50 signatures from other freshmen are required for your name to be put on the ballot. Please download and print the following forms:

Election Rules
Declaration of Candidacy
Freshman Senator Petition (2 or 3 copies recommended).

The deadline for filing as a candidate for Student Senator is TBA, August TBA, 2010, at 5 p.m. in the Student Senate Office, 410 Kansas Union.  No late applications will be accepted. More information, and pre-printed copies of these forms, are available in the Student Senate Office as well.

Candidates are highly encouraged to attend the first committee meetings of the school year, on TBA. More information on committees can be found here, as well as the room locations. Elections take place on TBA, with results being announced on the TBA as well.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Information for Replacement Senator Candidates

Whenever a regularly elected Student Senator vacates his/her seat, students can apply to replace their seat.

Replacement Student Senator Application
Replacement Senator Petition (2 or 3 copies recommended).

The deadline for filing as a candidate for Replacement Student Senator is located on the Student Senate homepage when seats are available.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you want to become a Student Senator, the first step is to join a committee, attend regularly, and start getting to know other people who are there.  Being a committee member helps you become a Student Senator in two ways.  First throughout the year Senators tend to decide that for whatever reason they can no longer participate in Student Senate and resign their seat.  When this happens, a replacement committee is formed.  This committee interviews applicants who wish to start serving in the recently vacated seat and decides which of the applicants will get it.  By becoming a committee member you will have already shown real interest and initiative and this will make you a stronger applicant to the replacement committee.  (If you wish to be notified when a seat opens up, send an e-mail to ianjames12@gmail.com and he will let you know when that happens.)

The second way that becoming a committee member will help you become a student senator is that it will introduce you to other people who are student senators and will be involved in coalitions that will form to run in the spring elections.  Coalitions are large groups of students (60+) that come together under a common name to help themselves get elected.  Although you can run independent it is incredibly hard to get elected doing so.  If you are serious about getting elected to a senator position by running in the spring elections, it would be wise to at the very least check out the coalitions that will be running in the spring.  Because even within coalitions people are not always guaranteed a spot on their ticket, joining a committee will help you get to know people who will be in the coalitions which will help you more quickly integrate yourself into the group.  Conversely, joining a committee will give you a feel for who is in each coalition and what that coalition is trying to accomplish within senate, so that you can make a more informed decision when deciding which one to join in the spring.

There is a third way that you can become a student senator.  Certain student groups that act on the behalf of a specific demographic of KU students are able to elect one person from within their group to be in student senate.  These groups are: Able Hawks, Association of University Residence Halls, Asian American Student Union, All Scholarship Hall Council, Black Student Union, First Nations Student Association, HALO (Hispanic American Leadership Organization), National Association Latino Fraternal Organization, National Pan-Hellenic Council, International Students Association, Inter Fraternity Council, Queers & Allies and Pan-Hellenic.  If you are a member of one of these groups, you may contact your president to discuss being appointed a senator for that group.

Related resources