UCSU or CUSG?

Members of UCSU are talking about overhauling their current structure in order to increase student awareness of the services and breadth of the student government.

These changes entail restructuring the executive office, altering the election process and rebranding UCSU as CUSG.

Currently, the UCSU executive branch is comprised of three executives with 16 staff members. The proposed plan lays out a different structure altogether. The new structure will result in a more traditional president and vice-president system.

“It is a much more known structure to the student body,” said UCSU Election Commissioner Alexander Schnell, a 22-year-old political science and economy major.

Right now many students are unaware of what UCSU is and what the government does with student fees, a fact UCSU is well aware of.

“No, I do not know what UCSU is,” said Shane Marandi, a 19-year-old sophomore finance major.

Marandi is not alone, as many of his peers are also unacquainted with the current student government. The current restructuring is aimed at making UCSU more accessible to the CU population.

“Basically we’re hoping to become more responsive to the 30,000 students,” Schnell said.

He said that the election changes were also an attempt to involve students more. Included in these changes is a reduction in the amount of student signatures needed to run for an office.

“People will be able to get less signatures,” Schnell said. “The goal is to make [the student government] more accessible to our student body.”

Lastly, UCSU is petitioning to change their name to CUSG, which stands for the Colorado University Student Government.

A name change would involve rebranding all of UCSU’s cost centers, stationary and other branded items.

Some students said they believe a name change is an irresponsible use of UCSU’s funding.

“I am concerned,” Marandi said. “That money could be going toward other things.”

Other students said they think that a name change could be exactly what UCSU needs.

“I think that [a name change] would make sense, although I don’t really understand what power [UCSU] has,” said Mikaela Madalinski, a 19-year-old sophomore environmental studies and pre-education major.

When asked about the projected cost of the rebranding campaign, UCSU members say they are currently uncertain about how much it would cost.

“I couldn’t give you an estimate on it,” said Jimmy Peng, a 22-year-old accounting major and UCSU director of finances. “It’s not something we’re overly concerned with.”

The money for the rebranding of UCSU to CUSG is likely coming out of the already-established public relations budget, Peng and Ramos said.

Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Sherveen Shingu at [email protected].