Though the Student Leadership Council elections are coming up, student leaders say students are not readily involved in campus issues.

Stephanie Torres, student body president and former student trustee, has experienced her fair share of lack of student engagement in campus issues.

“It is a recurring issue,” Torres said. “If we knew how to solve that problem, it would be solved.”

Despite College of DuPage’s nearly 30,000 students, getting even 5 percent of students involved in elections proves to be a problem. Last year, less than 1,000 students voted in the student elections.

In an attempt to promote student voting, the office of student life has tried several different methods, including moving from paper to online ballots.

Stephanie Quirk, student life coordinator who oversees student elections, explained moving the ballot online has made voting easier for students.

“We knew all of our students couldn’t get to campus to vote,” Quirk said. “We wanted this to be something that could be open to all students to vote at their convenience.”

This year, in another attempt to boost participation in student elections, the office of student life has decided to move elections to the new online student portal, ChapLife.

“The software is primarily for student clubs and organizations,” Quirk said. “There is a module specifically designed to do student elections.”

According to Quirk, ChapLife is not yet readily accessible to most students.

“It has not been rolled out to all students yet, just student clubs,” Quirk said. “ It is a bit of a secret,” Quirk said.

Quirk explained that every COD student has received a message in their student email account with instructions on how to vote through ChapLife.

After the elections, Quirk hopes ChapLife can become a place where student clubs and organizations can get their word out about events.

“There is no middle man, and we want students to connect to students,” Quirk said.

SLC feels that student clubs are the key to getting students involved. Torres believes that this is more powerful than other forms of advertising.

“We are creating a better community,” Torres said. “Communication by word of mouth works better than ads.”

Torres says talking to students on why they should care about campus issues is extremely pivotal to student involvement in elections.

“If you can answer that question, then you have created a bond that can be strengthened,” Torres said.

To create this bond, SLC members frequently speak to members of their classes about student issues and table to meet the students that they are trying to serve.

SLC still employs other forms of advertising such as placing posters in busy places and posting information on their Facebook page.

“I want students to feel bombarded,” Torres said.

Michelle Gallardo, student body vice president, admits though she wishes more students paid attention to key issues, she acknowledges the reasons behind their lack of interest.

“This is a two-year school,” Gallardo commented. “People are very busy.”

Torres is quick to note that COD is not alone in its battle for higher student engagement.

“Whenever we go to other schools, they tell us they have the same issues,” Torres said.