Student government at the University of Oregon isn’t rocket science, but sometimes keeping track of all the ASUO’s myriad functions can prove daunting.
Let’s break it down.
The Associated Students of the University of Oregon, or ASUO, is composed of three main bodies: Senate, Executive and Constitution Court.
The ASUO’s most important responsibility is to allocate student fee money to student groups and campus programs.
The Senate is a 20-member  organization that meets weekly to allocate funds from student incidental fees and hear student issues.
Ten members of the Senate are elected to both a seat in the Senate and a major role in a finance committee.
The remaining 10 are elected to represent an academic group in the larger University.
Academic seats include seven for the various academic concentrations, two seats for graduate and law students and a seat for undeclared students.
The majority of student money spent is decided by the finance committees. However, specific student groups can appeal for part of the ASUO’s surplus money at the end of the year.
During winter term, the Departments Finance Committee (DFC), Programs Finance Committee (PFC), Athletics and Contracts Finance Committee (ACFC) and the EMU Board of Directors meet to discuss their area of the budget and eventually make recommendations to the Senate at large.
The remaining members of the DFC, PFC and ACFC are either elected by the general student body or appointed by the ASUO President.
The ASUO Finance Coordinator, an appointed member of the Executive staff, sits as a non-voting member on the DFC and ACFC.
Additionally, the Programs Recognition Review Committee (PRRC) works with the Senate and Executive to help various programs get recognized as part of the budget.
If a program gets money from either the ASUO Senate or the Executive and is recognized by the PRRC, they are officially a student-funded group.
As leader of the ASUO Executive, the president’s main job is hearing student concerns and responding to them. To this end, the Executive appoints advocates for special interest groups on-campus.
He or she also appoints a vice president who assists the president in completing tasks and a chief of staff who acts as a manager of the other members of staff.
The Constitution Court is a five-member body that acts as the ASUO’s judicial branch.
The court hears student concerns and appeals, which may result in changes for members of the Senate or Executive. Like the federal Supreme Court, there is one chief justice and other associate justices.