Carnegie Mellon University
Student Government  ›  Undergrad Student Senate  ›  Get Involved

Join the Undergraduate Senate...

as a Senator:

  • There are a fixed number of seats available for each college, depending on the size of that college.
  • Senator terms expire at the end of every academic year.
  • Senators have the power to vote for or against motions in Senate.
  • Senators debate motions, sit on Committees, and communicate with school officials to address the needs of the student body.
  • Senators can be elected through the Spring Elections, which are generally held in late February to March, or through vacancy elections, which may be held throughout the year so long as there are vacant senate seats available.

as a Member-at-Large:

  • There is no limit on how many MALs each college can have.
  • MALs can participate in Senate in the same way as Senators, but do not have the power to vote on motions.
  • MALs are confirmed at vacancy elections, which may be held throughout the year.
  • MALs can be elected after attending 3 Senate General Body Meetings and then being nominated by a senator from their home college.

Current Vacancies, as of May 22, 2024

  • College of Fine Arts: 6
  • Dietrich College of H&SS: 2
  • College of Engineering: 2
  • Mellon College of Science: 0
  • School of Computer Science: 0
  • Tepper School of Business: 0
  • SHS/BXA: 1

Spring Elections

  • Held by the Elections Board as part of the Student Government Election, usually in early April.
  • All Senator seats are up for reelection in the Spring Elections.
  • For details, see the Official Elections Site, which is updated for every election cycle usually by March.

Vacancy Elections

Please come with your filled-out paper petition to our next General Body Meeting (GBM), which take place Thursdays from 5:20 to 6:30 pm in the UC Danforth Conference Room.

Please send an email, copying both Francesca Cain (senate-president@andrew.cmu.edu) and Sanjeev Naiek (senate-operations@andrew.cmu.edu), if you are interested in running for a vacant seat and/or have any questions.

  • Held at the discretion of the President during a General Body Meeting, usually at the beginning of each semester, but may take place throughout the year as vacant seats are still available.
  • Candidates (for Senator only, not Member-at-Large) must fill out a paper petition and receive at least 25 signatures from undegraduate students within their home college to be eligible.
  • Candidates are expected to attend the GBM within which the vacancy election is being held. Please send an email, copying both Francesca Cain (senate-president@andrew.cmu.edu) and Sanjeev Naiek (senate-operation@andrew.cmu.edu) if you absolutely cannot.
  • At the vacancy election, petitions are checked to ensure all signatures come undergraduates from the candidate's home school.
  • All candidates are expected to give a short (1 minute) speech describing their platform (i.e. goals if elected, new initiative ideas, committee preferences...).
  • After all candidates have had the opportunity to speak, current members of Senate discuss the candidates, and proceed with a vote on who to elect to fill the vacancy (or vacancies).