Election time is nearing for positions on the Student Government Association. Candidates will be able to campaign between Feb. 26 and March 4, before elections on March 5.

This year, the organization is strongly urging candidates to campaign for students’ concerns on campus.

“Not only does SGA shape you as a leader, but it is a family of people all fighting for what the students want,” said Melissa Dudra, current president of SGA.

“We are looking for students to represent their student body and be a voice in meeting students’ needs.”

This year, SGA delved into larger student issues. The organization has worked to encourage Bobcat pride and awareness, create a proposal for a more expansive Student Center and develop a pleasant student environment on campus.

Dudra, along with other members of SGA, want people to know that anyone running for a position on SGA should represent the voice of the students on campus and be able to help bring any concern to meetings in hopes of making student life better.

“This campaign needs to be about building student power at this university,” said Tom Hyde, junior class representative. “We have an obligation to the student body to voice their opinions clearly and articulately.”

There will be some main issues of focus during elections this year, according to members of SGA At past meetings, members of SGA have discussed splitting the Student Programming Board away from SGA. They have also worked to develop plans for a shuttle bus system and better parking on campus.

In order to campaign, candidates need to know some basics. In order to accomplish the task of issuing all the needed information to prospective candidates, SGA will hold information sessions designed to help candidates learn about the election process. At these information sessions, students can learn about collecting signatures for supporters, fair ways to campaign and information regarding election policy.

“If you’re interested in running for any position, show up to an information session,” said Dan Looney, the current vice president of student concerns for SGA.

Currently, the available positions on SGA for the next sophomore class are: president, vice president and eight class representatives.

Available positions for the next junior class are: president, vice president and six class representatives.

For the next senior class, there are vacancies for: president, vice president and six class representatives.

In addition, any of the executive board positions is available to undergraduates, who have served on SGA for no less than one year or for any standing committee of SGA for two or more years.

The executive board positions available are: President, Vice President of Programming, Vice President of Student Concerns, Vice President of Finance and Vice President of Public Relations.

The board has committees, which meet to discuss different issues.

The Student Awareness committee handles concerns of students and works with the V.P. of Programming to guarantee programming from S.P.B. from week to week. The Finance Committee works on allocating money to different organizations on campus and the Public Relations Committee works on events such as the May Weekend Semiformal.

Serving in a leadership capacity has been enjoyable for students such as Justin Barksdale, the current junior class president, who as been in the organization for two years.

“SGA has not only made me grow as a person, but it also makes me feel as if I am doing my best to serve the Quinnipiac University community every day,” said Barksdale.

SGA is headed by four advisers.