Associated Students (A.S.) election season has arrived at San José State and the candidates for the new Associated Students Board of Directors are making themselves known through a Meet the Candidates event.
A.S. is a non-profit organization at SJSU that advocates for student voices, offers services and hosts events for the student body, according to the Associated Students webpage.
Geoffrey Agustin, a third-year computer engineering student and the A.S candidate for vice president, shared why he believes it’s important to know who's running for these positions.
“(Candidates) will be representing you, at the highest levels, not just within San José State but they go to the CSU level and also talk to administrators and people in Washington, D.C. and in Sacramento,” Agustin said.
The event was held on Tuesday at the Student Union Meeting Room 4, events like candidate videos and candidate debates will be released later in the month, according to the same A.S webpage.
Rys Gonzalez, an accounting student, says there is a process for online voting for students who are unable to go to the voting booths.
“It will be a QR code that is already on the Students’ Elections Commission page,” Gonzalez said. “The voting isn't open just yet but right now you can see the events, all the candidates, their endorsements. Once voting begins students can click on the QR code at the very top of our website and it will be like a form.”
Voting is set to commence on April 17 at 7 p.m. and concludes on April 23 at 11:59 p.m., according to the 2025 Voter Information Guide.
Voting booths will be located in front of Student Wellness Center and housing quad from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., but online voting will also be available, according to the same guide.
Currently, Agustin serves as A.S Director of Communication, where he was able to understand the underlying responsibility for all roles part of A.S board of Directors.
“I've gained a thorough understanding of bylaws, the budget policies and the procedure of meetings and how to share them. So I feel like those skills could be directly translated to this role,” Agustin said.
Part of Agustin’s goal if elected as A.S vice president is implementing a mentorship program to increase student involvement. Currently, there are around 84% of students living off campus, according to a U.S News webpage.
“We can allow the board of directors to not only be student representatives and leaders, but mentor other individuals that are developer leaders,” Agustin said.
A big goal of A.S is to ensure students feel supported and represented and overall enhance SJSU student’s education, according to an A.S. Mission Statement.
Laura Charles, a first-year public health student running for A.S Director of Internal Affairs says she wants to implement a system for students to encourage communication about the happenings on campus.
“I want to have more transparent communication between students and university officials,” Charles, “Maybe having a sort of hotline could be helpful. I don’t want students to be in a position where they are scared to say something and don’t share their concerns”.
During the event, students were encouraged to mingle and interact with candidates.
Yhanira Medina, a fourth-year biomedical engineering student, attended the event to be informed.
“I really decided to come out to just get to know the candidates and see what they stand for and see if it aligns with what they have mentioned online,” Medina said.
To help facilitate election events and voting, the Student’s Election Commission had worked on promoting and creating events and activities, according to Associated Students.
As mentioned, there is a series of events and programs to boost knowledge on the candidates such as candidate videos and candidate debates.
Gonzalez says that the following program will be a series of candidate videos.
“It will be a 60-second Instagram reel where candidates talk about themselves on our Instagram and what their goals are," Gonzalez said. “Showcasing as to why they have decided to run and what they hope to achieve with the positions.”
Candidate videos will be available to view on SJSU A.S’s Instagram on April 10, according to their Instagram page.
