NIU students used to applying for executive positions at the Campus Activities Board will be forced to run for the position in an election if new legislation is passed by the Student Association Senate.

The bill would force recognized student-run organizations and SA-recognized organizations who receive more than 10 percent of allocated student activity fees per fiscal year to elect their president, vice president and treasurer via a campus-wide election. The election would coincide with the SA spring election that occurs every March.

The SA and CAB are the only two student-run organizations that fall under the requirements of the proposed bill.

“This is something we ought to do,” said Andrew Nelms, SA Senate speaker and author of the bill. He said a similar bill went up against the senate two years ago, but failed to pass.

If an organization has control of 10 percent of student fees, then students should have input in the form of an election, Nelms said.

CAB currently has an application process for its executives that runs in mid-February and early March. The process is open to all undergraduates and graduate students.

As it stands, the president, vice president of programming and vice president of finances are picked by the current executives of CAB, as outlined in their constitution, said Jennifer Suerth, president of CAB.

On average, CAB receives 10 to 15 applications for president and 20 applications for the other two positions, Suerth said.

Suerth questioned the point of holding a campus-wide election for positions that do not have platforms to run on.

“For CAB, there is no platform,” Suerth said.

Suerth said the positions are there to serve as facilitators and overseers.

More organizations could grow to the size of the SA and CAB and fall under the bill, Nelms said.

A number of other SA-funded organizations, including Student Legal Services, the Office of Campus Recreation and Campus Child Care, collect more than 10 percent of student fees. However, none of these organizations are student-run.

CAB is a student-run organization that plans activities and events for the campus.

The SA allocates roughly $1.4 million in student fees to recognized student organizations; CAB received $424,981 in student fees for the current fiscal year.

The bill is up for vote at the senate meeting at 6 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Holmes Student Center’s Clara Sperling Skyroom.