By Amelia Orwick

Plans for next school year are being perfected and put into place, and the 2011 Student Government Election is one of the final pieces of the puzzle.

Students have been working for nearly a month, gathering signatures of support in order to secure their spot on the ballot.

The qualifying candidates were announced Friday and can be located on Student Government’s website, uksga.org. After a candidate’s meeting on Monday evening in the Student Center, the ballot will become official.

Positions to be filled include President, Vice President, 15 Senators at Large and a Senator from each college.

No applications were received from The Graduate School or College of Fine Arts. The application deadline for these students has been extended to Wednesday, March 9 at 2 p.m.

The campaign process will be less competitive for some, as many candidates are running unopposed. Micah Fielden and Nikki Hurt, both junior Agricultural Biotechnology majors, are the sole candidates for President and Vice President.

“Currently Student Government has a lot of great programs such as Tally Cats and Cat Cruisers,” Hurt said. “We want to keep and enhance these programs, and also focus on advocacy.”

Business Management major Emily Willett, who served as Freshman Senator this year, is excited about the possibility of extending her service through Student Government for another term.

“It’s really exciting,” Willett said. “I’m looking forward to making changes next year after I’m used to the process and have gotten more comfortable.”

Candidates are encouraging students to become educated about student issues and to vote in the election, which will take place March 30 and 31.

“Voting takes 30 seconds,” Willett said. “You can do it online or at a convenient location that you’d probably be going to anyways. Take the time to read the platform statements and vote, because people have put a lot of time, effort and money into the process.”