Despite the low turnout of student participation among candidates and voters in the Associated Students Inc. election last year, the start of the school year may introduce a shift in trend.

Not only did the majority of candidates run unopposed last year, but the positions for director of Education and director of Undeclared were never filled. Aside from these two positions, two more have opened up this year.

The positions for director of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and graduate director are vacant once again due to the ineligibility of sophomore chemistry major Ramon Yepez and graduate student Aaron, as determined by the office of Student Affairs. Yepez and Pina were elected during last year’s election, but were unable to begin their term with ASI.

ASI Director of Arts and Letters Felix Barba said he is confident the shift in ASI members will be a smooth transition under the leadership of ASI President and senior English major Christina Romero.

“I put trust in the president that she’ll choose qualified candidates,” Barba said.

There are four vacant board of director positions waiting to be filled; however, this time around, there are four hopeful people waiting to step into these roles.

After she was informed of the vacant positions, Romero began accepting applications from potential candidates. The application process is now closed and there are four individuals waiting to be voted on as official board members-graduate student Jensen Kyle for graduate director, sophomore Shadi Karajeh for director of Undeclared, senior Jessica Dooley for director of Education and sophomore Fely Sita-Makaba for director of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

“We are looking for passionate teammates. We came to run, because we are passionate about service and we want to maintain our high level of commitment to the student body,” Romero said.

It is the ASI president’s job to interview potential candidates and determine who is best suited for the position. Once a candidate has been deemed as qualified, the president recommends the applicant to the ASI board of directors. There must be a 2/3 majority vote from the board before the candidate is officially a board member.

The ASI board of directors will vote on the candidates to fill the vacant positions on Wed., Sept. 19, in the University Union’s Foothill Suite at 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Students are invited to attend for public comment and seats will be provided.

Amber Kantner can be reached at [email protected]