Students at Missouri Southern will go to the polls soon to see who spends their activity fees.

Petitions to run for Student Senate are now available in the Student Activities office in Room 210 of the Billingsly Student Center.

“We elect nine senators from each class,” said Doug Carnahan, dean of students.

He also said that they don’t always have elections when there aren’t enough participating students.

“Student Senate appropriates over $20,000 a year to student organizations,” according to a handout on Student Senate. The Senate also has the opportunity to send student representatives to several Faculty Senate committees and acts a liaison between the student body and the administration.

To qualify to fill out a petition, candidates must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 hours, and upperclassmen must have a 2.0 grade point average, according to an election flyer.

Petitions are due Sept. 3, and voting for the elections will take place Sept. 8-9. According to Carnahan, elections take place twice a year. The election to vote for officers is in the spring.

“I think it’s important to get students involved in everything,” said Carnahan as to why students should participate in elections.

“Students from the senate sit on all the major committees of the University,” he said.

Senators also have the opportunity to write resolutions to the University about what they’d like to see changed. The new Beimdiek Recreation Center is an example Carnahan used of a written resolution that came to fruition.

For students who are elected, the first meeting will be Sept. 16 and will involve distribution of the Student Senate constitutions, as well as the opening picnic. The first formal business meeting will be Sept. 23.

For more information, students may contact Student Services or Student Activities.