ASI recently announced the upcoming candidates for the 2025-2026 school year. During the ASI Meet the Candidates event hosted on March 12, the Chronicle was able to interview some of the candidates running in the upcoming election. For the full list of candidates, click here.
ASI President Candidate
Elaine Pollard is a third-year Human Development major with a minor in Business Administration. She is currently ASI’s Vice President of Student and University Affairs (VPSUA). When asked about her experience as ASI’s VPSUA, Pollard shared:
“It’s definitely been a process of working with a lot of the student organizations, a lot of students on advocacy, and figuring out how we can build bridges with students that weren’t there before because there’s been a lot of student organizations and students who feel like ASI hasn’t been there for them in the past, and so it’s super important to me. We have started to correct that this year.”
Elaine is passionate about keeping students informed on relevant issues, advocating for students at the administrative level, and ensuring students can focus on getting a quality education. For any questions or concerns, you can email her at [email protected].
Vice President of Finance & Operations Candidate
Ashleigh Skarshaug is a second-year double majoring in Criminology and Political Science. She is currently the ASI Sustainability Representative where she promotes environmentally conscious efforts and actively votes on key campus committees to represent student interests. A committee and her have overseen a budget of $10,000 to allocate to student-led initiatives. Some things that have come out of that were the hydration stations and the ethnobotany garden. Skarshaug shared why she is running:
“I want to financially give back to the students, running for the finance department. I understand the economy is not where we all want it to be right now, and it’s affecting many of our students. For the past two years, I’ve had two jobs, so I understand working full-time, being in ASI full-time, and being in school full-time and having to balance that lifestyle. I would oversee the ASI emergency fund in allocating funding if it’s affecting their education, and for me, that has three cores: mental health, physical health, and financial health. I will allocate as much as I can to those students, whether it’s like, I broke my laptop, or I ripped my last pair of pants.”
Skarshaug’s goal is to hold workshops to help students learn how to apply for external and internal scholarships and how to budget.
Vice President of Student & University Affairs (VPSUA) Candidate
Cameron Munn is a second-year student majoring in Political Science. He currently serves as one of two Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Representatives for the ASI Board of Directors. Here is why Cameron is running for VPSUA:
“I’m running a platform to give resources back to students. Students pay way too much money and pay a $75 ASI fee every semester, and rarely do they get their recoup of that investment and benefit. I want to increase transparency between admin and students. I want to make sure there’s more information available to students about how their money is being spent. I’m going to try to advocate not having tuition increases…Students need to know what’s going on campus, there need to be fewer barriers being able to get involved. Such as eliminating things like only having things going on during U-hour, for students who may not have class on Tuesdays or Thursdays…I want to make sure that our campus is a safe environment for all students, regardless of their background, affiliation, or political view. I want to make sure that there are a lot of conversations about why the Time, Place and Manner Policy exists, it could be infringing on students’ rights and censoring students, and what we can do to give students more support. Also, educating students, a lot of students don’t know what ASI is or what we do.”
Munn is prioritizing student needs, increased accessibility for student involvement, fiscal responsibility, transparency, a sense of belonging, the end of performative pictures, and a campus that redefines higher education. He has previous experience filing a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights against the Trump administration and the school board where he went to high school in Texas, gaining publicity from Good Morning America, ABC, and more. Advocating for students is a huge part of Munn’s campaign, wanting to make our campus a safe environment for all students.
College of Humanities, Arts, Behavioral, and Social Sciences (CHABSS) Representative Candidate
Joceleen Oxley is a second-year student who majors in Environmental Studies, who is running to be a CHABSS Representative. Here are some of the reasons why Oxley is running:
“For me, I think the biggest part of being a part of this school is being involved with the students and the school itself. In my freshman year, I didn’t know anything about it. I was simply just commuting…Students must know what we have to offer, help with financial issues or food security, or other things. Another reason why I wanted to become a representative is because I’m very sociable, so being able to talk to people is something that I’m okay with…I know not all students can do that themselves, so talking one-on-one with another student is something that people find more comfortable than talking to maybe an executive or someone at the top. I want students to feel that they belong here and know they have a voice in what they want to see and what they want on their campus.”
College of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (CSTEM) Representative Candidate
Haley Burch is a second-year biochemistry major and currently one of the CSTEM representatives running for the same position in the 25/26 academic year. She hopes to continue advocating for students, especially in faculty-dominated meetings. She shared:
“I don’t think students realize how much goes on behind the scenes, I’m in so many meetings weekly. I hope to continue having a space in those meetings and continue having a voice in those meetings, I should say, most of the conversation has been surrounding the first-year seminar. We’ve been talking a lot about faculty and student opinion as GEL transitions out of holding a space for our GE requirement, we’re talking a lot about why students don’t feel like the class has a purpose. I’ve held a chat-bot campaign that we held a couple of weeks ago, where we surveyed students who did take GEL. It was a powerful meeting and a powerful opportunity to get student opinion.”
In her time serving as a CSTEM representative she wishes to continue collaboration in the CSTEM college, she mentioned that “we would be a stronger college if we continue to collaborate, especially with this new building coming up in the next few years.” Oxley referred to the Integrated Sciences & Engineering Building (IS&E) which is currently in progress. Burch wants to continue connections, advocating for students, student engagement, especially understanding that CSUSM is a commuter university, being a commuter herself, that many of them want to go home at the end of the day but she says, “The whole purpose of college education is to take advantage of it and I would love to get to the root of the problem and make sure students are taking advantage, especially if we’re paying for it.”
Voting will take place from Monday, March 24 at 7:00 am to Wednesday, March 26 at 5:00 pm. On March 24, you will receive an email directing you to your ballot. This will be sent to your email listed as your primary email in your MyCSUSM. All eligible voters can vote for ASI Executive Officers and Student at Large Representatives.
For frequently asked questions, click here.
ASI will announce the winners at 12:00 pm at the Forum Plaza, in front of USU, on Thursday, March 27.
Good luck 2025-2026 ASI candidates!