Senators and ASUA executive officers struggle year after year to stick to their campaign promises.
Now an ASUA senator and the elections commissioner say they hope to reverse that trend. But with primaries only one month away, ASUA officials have yet to form any specific plans on how they will ensure candidates are more educated than they have been in the past.
Sara Birnbaum, an ASUA senator, said she, elections commissioner Dan Suh and other officials have made it their goal to educate candidates on how to develop feasible campaign promises so ASUA can become a more credible organization.
In order to accomplish this, Suh encouraged potential candidates during the candidate meeting last semester to visit with ASUA officials and research the positions they are running for.
He said he has tried to drive the point home that students need to know the feasibility of their platforms.
"It's a little bit more well-known, and they will probably be asking more questions about platforms this year," Suh said.
Although he has been encouraging candidates to do more research, he said he will not make anything mandatory.
"It is hard to force things on people," Suh said.
Birnbaum said she wants to host a workshop on how to develop campaign proposals.
No specific plans for a workshop have been developed yet. Birnbaum said she first wants to see the candidate list so she can recruit senators to host the workshop who are not running for another position.
Even if there is a workshop, Birnbaum said candidate attendance will not be required because candidates should care enough about running to attend a workshop for their benefit.
But students said they think ASUA should require students to do research; otherwise nothing will change.
Marty Cisneroz, a molecular and cellular biology junior, said candidates should be forced to write essays on what they plan to do.
Amanda Worcester, an interdisciplinary students senior, said candidates should be required to attend workshops.
"ASUA should educate candidates and make it mandatory for them to attend a class or session," she said.
J.P. Benedict, ASUA president, said although it is good to have applicants informed about the positions, it is not necessary to make it mandatory.
He said if a candidate is not knowledgeable, then debates and interviews would illustrate that. Audiences will know who is not informed.
Also, candidates should want to educate themselves for their own benefit, not because it is required to run, Birnbaum said.
Birnbaum added that she has seen some potential candidates who have taken Suh's advice to talk to ASUA officials.
"I've helped a lot of people," she said. "I've talked to a lot of people so they know what they are getting into before they run."
Candidate packets are due Friday in the ASUA offices. The list of candidates will be available Tuesday.