ASUI is seeking a student lobbyist to represent the political agenda of University of Idaho students during the 2015 legislative session at the state capitol in Boise.
ASUI President Nate Fisher said he is poised to select a student who is interested in public policy and higher education, and hopes students apply for the position because it could catapult into a career in politics.
“We are really hoping to make a bigger push to receive more applicants who are qualified and who will represent the university well,” Fisher said.
Any UI undergraduate student that pays the ASUI and student activity fees is eligible to apply for the position. ASUI is reopening the application process and hopes to fill the position by the end of September.
According to the ASUI Rules and Regulations, the lobbyist position pays $800 every two weeks in addition to a $1200 living stipend.
Students can apply for the lobbyist position by going to the ASUI office on the third floor of the Commons.
Each year, ASUI selects a lobbyist to live in Boise throughout the legislative session to interact with legislators for the sole purpose of being the voice of UI students. ASUI Director of Policy Tanner Beymer said the position is essential in communicating UI students’ perspectives on key policy issues.
“The lobbyist will respond directly to President Fisher, while all of us formulate which issues to present and prioritize and how we will communicate those lobby points in Boise,” Beymer said.
Fisher said the lobbyist is important to the ASUI executive board and the student body at large.
“Few people even realize that we have a lobbyist or they don’t understand what exactly our lobbyist does,” Fisher said. “Essentially, our lobbyist is there to advocate for our 9,000 undergrad students and what they feel.”
He said more student involvement and activism comes with effective leadership — especially concerning the ASUI lobbyist during the legislative session.
“We are more than happy to communicate with students,” Fisher said. “If we have a strong student voice about issues, then we are able to make better and more informed decisions.”
Beymer said, for example, students have expressed opinions concerning the recent law passed by the Idaho legislature that allows guns on the UI campus.
“We haven’t yet finalized the lobby points for this legislative session, but we are interested in prioritizing those issues that are relevant and important to the student body,” he said.
Fisher encourages students to speak up about the issues that are important to them, and let ASUI know so it can form a lobbying agenda accordingly. He said transparency between ASUI and students will be encouraged throughout the school year and legislative session, but is often easier said than done.
Fisher said he plans to send a weekly email to the student body mentioning the overall efforts of ASUI, and how the lobbyist is doing in Boise.
He said there would also be various open forums and question-and-answer sessions with the ASUI Executive Board and regular office hours for people to stop by and talk to ASUI officials.
“We definitely want to be as open and responsive to students as we can,” Fisher said. “Throughout this process of hiring and having a lobbyist, we want to be able to prioritize and really push the issues that are impactful and important to students.”
Cara Pantone can be reached at [email protected]