University Park, Pa. -- A campus-wide election for officers and representatives in the newly formed University Park Undergraduate Association (UPUA) will take place Wednesday (Oct. 11). Undergraduate students at Penn State's University Park campus may cast their ballot between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. at http://www.vote.psu.edu online.
Last spring, students at Penn State's University Park campus voted on two referendum questions. An overwhelming majority of voting students (82 percent) cast votes indicating that they did not believe the Undergraduate Student Government provided effective representation for students. A second referendum ballot yielded nearly 61 percent of student voters in support of the proposed UPUA representative structure. After the referendum, a proposal to recognize a new form of student governance was first submitted to Vicky L. Triponey, vice president for student affairs, for review and assessment. University President Graham B. Spanier then made the decision to recognize the UPUA as the voice of students at University Park.
"The election results have demonstrated a student mandate for UPUA to replace the Undergraduate Student Government as the officially sanctioned representative of undergraduate students," wrote Spanier in a letter acknowledging the status of UPUA.
During their successful election campaigns to lead the USG in spring 2003 and spring 2004, former USG president Galen Foulke and former USG vice president Luke Adams included in their platform a plan to create a process to simplify the structure of the student government at the University Park campus to promote a more effective voice for students.
Over the summer of 2004, Foulke and Adams convened an independent commission to engage students in developing a proposal for a new form of student government. Jeffrey Corbets, former College of Engineering Student Faculty Senator, and Christopher Bise, past Chair of the University Faculty Senate, chaired the commission. No current members of USG were included as members, but their views and opinions -- as well as the opinions of all Penn State students -- were welcomed and collected through various meetings and an open town hall forum. The eight members of the commission were chosen from various academic units, and represented various levels of leadership within the student body and faculty/administration. Many other student voices were heard and represented in the proposal and draft constitution which resulted from the work of the commission.
Following the referendum, student organizers formed a UPUA transition team, an election commission was appointed and the constitution has been refined. Campaigning for the Oct. 11 election began on Sept. 27.
Further information on UPUA is available at http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/upua online.
The new UPUA organization is expected to be in place and functioning on behalf of Penn State undergraduate students no later than Oct. 15, 2006.