ELECTIONS
MEMBERS
ELECTIONS
Each academic year the CSSA Board of Directors elect executive and special officers to represent the CSU student voice. Officers have both general and position-specific responsibilities. These responsibilities are generally listed in the CSSA Constitution. Candidates are encouraged to reach out to current officers and staff for more information.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Students who meet the minimum requirements and are passionate about advocating for CSU students are highly encouraged to learn more and run for a CSSA Executive Officer position.
Executive officers have both general and position-specific responsibilities. These responsibilities are generally listed in the CSSA Constitution and on the CSSA Executive Officer Position Descriptions. Candidates are encouraged to reach out to current CSSA Executive Officers and/or staff for more information. Contact information for current officers and staff is available on the ‘About’ page of the CSSA website.
Yes, as long as you meet all the minimum requirements, you are eligible to apply for and serve as a CSSA Executive Officer. This also includes students who are in credential, graduate and other post baccalaureate, and doctoral programs.
No, your academics are a priority and central to your service as a CSSA Executive Officer. If elected to serve as an Executive Officer, you should work to create a schedule that will allow you to minimize the impact on your academics. Any academic accommodation must be made between you and your faculty members. It is not an expectation that any faculty member would make accommodations for CSSA responsibilities, nor will CSSA make requests to faculty for academic exceptions.
CSSA Executive Officers have traditionally travelled for internal and external meetings and conferences. Should there be a necessity to travel, all pre-approved travel and related expenses will be covered by CSSA.
Executive officers do not get paid. CSSA provides Executive Officer scholarships, which are intended to ease the cost of attendance while serving in their role. Each officer receives a non-qualified (taxable) scholarship to pay for tuition, fees, books, supplies, equipment required for coursework, and living expenses, divided between fall and spring terms and dispersed at the beginning of each term the student is eligible.
The scholarship is sent directly to the campus and applied to the Executive Officers’ student account. Scholarships are based on the “Campus Costs of Attendance determined by the California State University,” published annually, not the actual cost a student may incur. Variables include a student’s living arrangements (with parent/on-campus/off-campus), resident/non-resident tuition, and academic program type (undergraduate/credential/graduate and other post bacc/doctoral).
The scholarship award amounts shall be allocated as follows:
- President & Chair: The full cost of attendance at their campus
- Vice Presidents of Finance, Systemwide Affairs, and Legislative Affairs: 50% of the cost of attendance at their campus
No, hardcopies of application materials will not be accepted. Only complete filings submitted via the ‘2024/2025 CSSA Executive Officer Candidate Filing Forms’ by the filing deadline will be accepted. Materials sent via fax, email, or any other means will not be considered.
Yes, you may contact members of the Board of Directors but they are not required to speak with candidates. You should not use resources associated with another role to campaign. For example, you may not use email accounts, office hours, listservs, etc. that have been made available to you via CSSA or any other organization.
I’ve submitted my filing form but now am unable/unwilling to serve as a candidate; What should I do?
If you are unable or unwilling to serve as a candidate after you’ve submitted your filing form, contact Joe Nino (jnino@calstate.edu) and state that you would like to withdraw your candidacy for the CSSA Executive Officer position. Your candidate information and materials will be removed as soon as possible.
No, candidates are not required to attend the Election meeting when elections are held. Although the elections will be hosted on Zoom, there is no requirement for a candidate to attend and participate, but it is highly encouraged. During the elections meeting, candidates will have the opportunity to provide brief remarks to the Board of Directors and answer any questions they may have. If a candidate is unable or unwilling to attend, those opportunities will not be provided to them at another time. For the most current meeting information, visit the CSSA website.
We will be utilizing Zoom Webinar, an application similar to Zoom Meetings. To learn more about using Zoom Webinar, see the ‘CSSA Zoom Webinar Panelist Guide.’ If you have any questions, accessible requests, or assistance, please contact Joe Nino (jnino@calstate.edu) no later than the filing deadline.
Yes, if you currently serve on the CSSA Board of Directors, you may serve as the voting member for your campus. You may not participate in the Board Deliberation portion for the position for which you are a candidate.
Yes, another Governing Member from your campus may serve as the voting member for the entirety of the Board of Directors elections meeting. Members may not step in and out of the voting member role during a meeting. Whoever is identified at roll call, is the only member that can participate and vote for the entirety of the meeting. Once the meeting is adjourned and another meeting of the Board of Directors is called, even on the same day, you may once again serve as the voting member of the Board of Directors.
If you have any questions, please email Joe Nino (jnino@calstate.edu), CSSA Executive Director.
For general questions about CSSA or one of the Executive Officer positions, you’re welcome to contact any CSSA Executive Officer and/or staff.
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
CSSA’s five Executive Officers provide leadership to support the organization. Officers are elected for a twelve-month term from June to May of the following year. In addition to general leadership, each officer has unique roles and responsibilities outlined in the Cal State Student Association Constitution. Applications open in March.