This year, the position of the ASUW director of organizational relations has two candidates: freshman Rachel Hollcraft, part of the “Our Campus” ticket, and freshman Kim Chung, a write-in candidate.

This office is a position on the ASUW Board of Directors and deals with entities such as the Bike Shop, RainyDawg radio, the Experimental College and Off-Campus Housing Affairs.

Initially, Hollcraft was running uncontested for the position. Prior to her official announcement to run, however, she said she had not considered herself experienced enough to seriously consider a bid for director of organizational relations.

“I was asked to be on the ‘Our Campus’ team for my skills and enthusiasm,” she said. “I have a strong passion for marketing, and I worked with Tyler Dockins on the Publicity and Programming Committee.”

Hollcraft, who is endorsed by the Black Student Union and the United Greek Council, was also the president of her high school’s Dynamic Educational Clubs Alliance (DECA).

After she was asked to join the “Our Campus” ticket, Hollcraft quickly began formulating a platform in which she hopes to improve awareness of the Experimental College, help Rainydawg radio acquire a High-Definition radio station and work with the Bike Shop to get covered bike racks around campus.

“Getting covered bike racks will be difficult, but they are badly needed,” she said. “Sitting down with the Bike Shop, the director of [the] physical plant and even the School of Architecture to help design covered bike racks will be necessary.”

Hollcraft hopes to get students involved.

“We are granola bars up here, and it is not right to expect students to bike to school without having adequate facilities,” she said. “We are thinking of making it a contest similar to the Husky Tee contest we have.”

As for her overall plan as director of organizational relations, student involvement is an important issue for Hollcraft.

“My agenda is to be here for the students and the campus,” she said. “I really want to help others get involved because I know how it feels to not know [about the ASUW].”

Freshman Kim Chung, a member of the Personnel Committee and the finance and budget senate liaison, considering running for director of organizational relations for quite some time but second-guessed herself.

“I originally intended to run, but in the end I decided not to go for it because I thought I was too inexperienced,” she said. “But, the more I thought about it, that mentality is bad. It is your campus, and you have every right to be involved.”

She went to last week’s panel forum at the Ethnic Cultural Center and afterward decided that she should in fact run.

“It is appalling that with 40,000 students; there were still six uncontested positions. That is not right, and it takes away from the legitimacy of the position,” she said. “I was disappointed in the lack of student involvement, so I felt I should give students a choice. I have a passion to see what is wrong and critique it, but also a passion to get up and do something about it.”

Though mustering enough confidence to run was her first hurdle, being a write-in candidate poses a potentially greater challenge.

“It is not a matter of stirring things up nor being the ‘overanxious, inexperienced freshman’ either,” she said. “It is definitely a disadvantage — thankfully my name is easy to remember.”

As director of organizational relations, Chung would hope to expand RainyDawg hours to increase student involvement, meet with each entity at least once a week and form an advertising committee.

“My goal is to help [UW entities] grow, not to make them grow,” she said.

Reach reporter Garrett Troy at news@thedaily.washington.edu.