AUS students elect new Student Council

After three days of intense online campaigning, students at American University of Sharjah (AUS) recently elected their new student council members for the 2020-2021 academic year. Held online for the first time due to the challenges posed by COVID-19, the election saw more students cast their votes this year than in previous elections.

Thirty-seven students, including individual and team nominees, competed for the 14 positions on the student council.  Nominees carried out virtual campaigns for three days on social media. This involved videos, photos, ideas and initiatives compiled by the candidates.

Organized by the AUS Office of Student Affairs, the platform for the virtual elections was set up with help of the Office of Institutional Research and Analysis. The voting took place on May 6 with Marwan Alahmed emerging as the new president.

The newly elected members of the AUS Student Council are:

Executive Board

President: Marwan Alahmed

Vice President: Mariam Faour

Vice President for Public Relations: Tala Al Otaibi

Executive Secretary and Office Director: Zain Hussein

Treasurer: Nour Elhouda Nouar

Community Outrach Committee

Events and Activities Coordinator: Noora Alhadi

Athletics and Sports Coordinator: Lina Saeed

Communications and Media Coordinator: Sahar Bokhary

Student Organizations and Campus Services Coordinator: Khaled Elkersh

Board of Colleges, Schools and Academic Programs Representatives

College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Representative: Roa Daher

College of Architecture, Art and Design (CAAD) Representative: Noor Hamdan

School of Business Administration (SBA) Representative: Haya Alshamsi

College of Engineering (CEN) Representative: Layla Khanfar

Achievement Academy Representative: Noor Alawadi

Talking about the elections, Alahmed, president-elect and a mechanical engineering major, said:

“Although we were not physically present at the university to experience the excitement and thrill of the elections due to COVID-19, AUS did an excellent job in adapting to the circumstances and providing us with a brilliant alternative. This year, the campaigning methods were all through social media. Online campaigning inspired creativity and fairness as it eliminated the cost factor, which encouraged more students to run individually. We missed, of course, the physical presence and face-to-face interactions with the students.”

He added:

“It was an honor having Dr. Lisa Moscaritolo, Vice Provost of Student Life, reveal the results through Instagram Live. This added suspense and excitement and compensated for the lack of physical presence. I believe that much can be learned from this experience and implemented in future elections.”

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Lisa Moscaritolo, Vice Provost for Student Life, said:

“During this unusual time, we have developed various methods that are in line with the university’s and the UAE government’s guidelines in implementing student activities. For the first time ever, the Student Council election was conducted virtually. We are pleased to see that this new method of virtual elections boosted student participation more than ever. Compared to last year, there was a significant increase in voting, with almost 50 percent of the student body casting its votes. As we adapt to these challenging times, we are working hard to keep our students engaged in extracurricular activities. It is our aim to continue to offer uninterrupted student services and activities that are in harmony with and complement our students’ remote learning experience. Congratulations to our newly elected team and I wish them a productive year ahead.”

ENDS