From among the student ranks, one person will be selected in November to represent the political agenda of the University of Idaho during the 2013 legislative session in the state capitol.
Every year, ASUI goes through the process of hiring a student to be the voice of the university as a registered lobbyist. ASUI President Hannah Davis said it’s an important position because it gives the state legislature a face for the university.
“We are a public institution and we depend on the funding from the state,” Davis said. “So I think it’s very important that they understand when they talk about higher education funding, they are affecting students.”
Although the position is open to any university student, Davis said it is important that the candidate be interested in state and national politics as well as university policies.
“(We want) someone who is passionate about the university and higher education,” Davis said. “And someone who is passionate to focus on students because students are the most important part of higher education, so they need to be willing to work for that.”
ASUI Director of Policy Bruno Bennett held the lobbyist position during the 2012 legislative session. He said being assertive is an important quality for the position.
“You are going to be talking to a lot of people in prestigious positions and that can be very intimidating,” Bennett said. “So the main goal of this is just to be assertive not to be afraid to voice the opinion of the students.”
Bennett said what the university lobbies for varies from year to year, and he was primarily focused on ensuring raises for faculty and staff as well as generally getting more money for the university.
“Any amount of money that UI receives from our state means we can take away less money from other areas such as tuition,” Bennett said.
Although Davis said they are still deciding what issues they want the lobbyist to pursue in the upcoming legislative year, she said they will probably include facility updates as well as university employee compensation.
The ASUI lobbyist is a paid position that receives $80 every two weeks during the fall semester and $800 every two weeks during the spring semester, according to the ASUI rules and regulations. Along with the salary, $1200 is allocated to the student appointed to be used for living and travel expenses as well as ASUI business-related expenses.
Davis said they will begin taking applications sometime in October, with the final hiring decision being made before Thanksgiving break. Application deadlines have not yet been set.
Kaitlin Moroney can be reached at [email protected]