IUSA officers answer questions about student government

What is IUSA?

Essentially, IUSA is a campus government organization powered by students — students that sit in lecture halls, go to basketball games and sleep far too little, just like the rest of campus.

Made up of students, the organization also answers to students, all 40,000 plus of them. 

IUSA’s specific initiatives change each year, as different administrations choose to campaign on and, if elected, tackle different projects. Nonetheless, the constant aim of IUSA is to “protect student rights, enrich student life, and improve Indiana University,” as per its constitution.

Why do I pay IUSA dues?

Each and every student on campus, as part of tuition, financially supports IUSA as part of the activity fee through the Office of the Bursar. 

Students will contribute $4.75 to IUSA in the 2011-12 academic year, a portion of the total $89.62 activity fee. The IUSA General Fund, which supports IUSA platforms, receives $1.29 per student, and the IUSA readership program (which provides USA TODAY and the New York Times on campus) receives $1.25 per student.

A final charge of $2.21 per student is applied toward the IUSA Student Organization Support Fund, which supports Funding Board, the organization that gives money to registered student organizations.

How can I get involved?

For freshmen: A revived freshman internship program was launched this summer. The last successful freshman internship program ran during the ’08-’09 school year, with interns shadowing executives and actively participating in student government.

The current administration is aiming to do the same this year, having reached out to freshmen earlier this summer during freshman orientation to inform students about IUSA from the get-go, Nick Johnson, co-chief of the freshman outreach, said.

The program has approximately 50 applicants, which will be whittled down to 30 or 35 by the end of the week after an interview process.

“We were very impressed by the quality of applicants we got,” Johnson said. “They all look good on paper, so we’re hoping the interviews help distinguish them.”

Those selected will be paired with a member of the executive branch. Chiefs of initiatives will most likely be assigned one intern, while main executives will choose two to three interns. All interns will shadow an IUSA member, go to meetings and assist on any projects during the course of first semester. Transitioning into second semester, the interns will be able to pursue their own projects and possibly receive IUSA funds to complete those pursuits.

Students can visit iusa.indiana.edu for executive contact information and news regarding IUSA, as well as follow @IUSA on Twitter.