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Political Candidates and Campus Engagement

Navigating Political Activity On-Campus or Virtually

The Office of Government Relations (OGR) serves as the central point of contact between the university and our elected officials for the purposes of advocacy, information sharing, and effective partnering. Core to the mission of the OGR is to serve as a resource for the entire CSUSM community to effectively advocate for the University.  

As a public institution of higher education, the University is governed by a number of policies and regulations around political activity. These include laws and regulations at the state and federal level, as well as policies set by the University and the CSU Board of Trustees. To ensure we are in compliance with all of the policies and regulations governing political activity, University policy requires reporting and coordination with the OGR for all legislative and lobbying activity with elected officials and candidates (including invitations to campus ).  

If you have questions about political activity on campus, or are interested in engaging with elected officials and candidates, please contact the Office of Government Relations at governmentrelations@csusm.edu.

Legislative and Lobby Activities On-Campus

The CSU Elections Handbook was created by the Office of General Counsel for the California State University as a comprehensive guide for all 23 campuses around elections and campaign activity.  

Specifically, legislative and lobby activities are defined as:

  • Legislative activity is defined as communications and actions between elected officials at the local (e.g. City, County), state (Assembly, Senate) and federal (U.S. House, Senate) level and the campus community. Lobbying activity is defined as contacts and efforts in support of such contacts, specially made to formulate, modify, or adopt legislation, agency rules or regulations, executive orders, or negotiation, awarding, or administering a federal contract. Legislative and lobbying activity is promoted, coordinated, and reported through the Office of Government Relations by delegation from the University President. This policy includes both incumbents and campaigns.