ASG president nominations begin

Amid continued criticism of the UNC system’s student government organization, three students have expressed interest in leading the group next year.

Nominations open this weekend for the 2013-14 president of the UNC-system Association of Student Governments.

Juniors Robert Nunnery of UNC-Pembroke, Ron Hinton of East Carolina University, and John Secrest of Appalachian State University have already announced their candidacies.

The association’s mission is to advocate for student interests and ensure access and affordability at the state’s public universities. It is funded by a $1 annual fee from each UNC-system student.

In the past, the organization has been criticized for inefficient advocacy.

Last September, it was revealed that ASG failed to distribute checks that had been approved for four campus programs.

Hinton said ASG has often struggled to show how it serves students.

“I don’t think we gave the dollars back to the students this year,” Hinton said.

But Nunnery said current president Cameron Carswell has provided a positive platform for the future of the group.

“Carswell turned the ASG meetings into an event where each delegate was happy being there,” he said.

Nunnery said he would work with individual campuses and their delegates to achieve tangible results.

“One campus might need school spirit or better housing,” he said. “ASG will work with them to help develop their ideas.”

Secrest, the association’s current vice president of student affairs, said he would scrutinize all of the association’s programs, conduct reviews and assess their effectiveness.

“Transparency, innovation and responsiveness need to be the watchwords of the day,” he said.

UNC student body president-elect Christy Lambden said the association needs to think about how it serves individual institutions.

“It needs to move toward a proportional representation base,” he said.

ASG’s former chief information officer, Kevin Kimball, said the three presidential nominees were evenly matched.

“It’ll be an interesting race,” he said. “There’s a higher level of interest compared to last year.”

Contact the desk editor at state@dailytarheel.com.