On Oct. 6, the first information meeting for the 2027 BYUSA elections took place. The student association has made a few changes to the process students must go through to become eligible to run for office.
Logan Mann is the assistant director in the Student Connection and Leadership Center — the university department that supports the BYU Student Association.
“BYUSA is to provide Christ-centered leadership opportunities and to create meaningful student experiences,” Mann said.
The new changes to the application process aim to fulfill these goals. The two biggest changes are an open-book test and a policy regarding candidates’ use of social media.
Students interested in becoming candidates for the 2027 election must now earn a perfect score on a test covering content within the Guide to BYUSA and the Elections Handbook.
“The change to an open-book test format for these two documents is to ensure attention is drawn to key points of information, and to highlight changes in the Elections process,” Mann said.
The tests for each document consist of 17 questions each, and can be accessed through the Elections Handbook.
Along with the open book test, students must also submit their résumé and a letter of intent with their running partner regarding why they want to run for office.
The change for candidates’ use of social media for their campaigns is a result of recent revisions made to the BYU social media policy.
The official policy states, “All Social Media Accounts must be approved by the University Strategic Communications Committee (SCC)."
They later said that each candidate interested in using social media would need to participate in an annual Social Media training from the SCC.
Candidates will now be highlighted on already existing BYUSA social media accounts, but the association is pushing candidates to seek face-to-face interactions with students.
Jayne Jonas, a senior in the advertising program, is the current vice president of BYUSA.
“BYUSA has been such a meaningful part of my BYU experience over the past four years. It has introduced me to some of the most incredible people and has been one of the biggest ways I’ve felt Christ’s love on campus,” Jonas said.
Students can find more information about becoming a candidate and the updated election process on the BYUSA website, or at the association’s office in Room 3400 of the Wilkinson Student Center.