American River College’s Associated Student Body and Club and Events Board are holding elections for next year’s representatives April 20-21. Students will be able to vote through E-Services. 

ASB Advisor Brett Sawyer says they are seeking student candidates for the upcoming CAEB and ASB elections. This year ASB hopes to see an even bigger turnout than previous elections due to the online community of students participating at a much higher rate. In April, Sawyer will post a list of important dates to follow for the upcoming election.

April 13,14, and 15 are the forum dates for each college starting with ARC then Cosumnes River College and lastly the Sacramento City College forum. April 19 is the date for the Folsom Lake College forum. Student elections are April 20-21 from 5 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Both of these student body organizations require a commitment of time and responsibility even though there are many positions to be filled this upcoming year, as many ASB board members will be transferring and graduating, according to Sawyer.

Sawyer says the student senate president and CAEB president have a lot of responsibilities for ARC, as they chair every Senate/CAEB meeting, and serve on advisory boards with ARC Administration.They are the point of contact for staff, faculty and administration when looking to fill student positions on hiring committees, shared governance committees and district committees. The senate president also serves on the Student Advisory Council at the district, which is chaired by the student trustee. 

Remote learning has impacted the turnout rate of votes for these student organizations. In ASB’s and CAEB’s case it has been a positive outcome, despite the ongoing pandemic. 

“Surprisingly last year’s voter turnout was a bit higher than when we are on campus in years past,” Sawyer said. “I can only speculate but we had a few positions that had multiple people run for, so it may have driven students to vote for their preferred candidate. We are hopeful for not only more candidates, but even more voters this year in April.”   

For more information on ASB and CAEB, visit the ARC student organization website.