American Student Government Association Director's Blog

A Facelift for ASGA

2012-01-11T10:11:00.002-05:00

The ASGA team spent most of December updating and enhancing the "look" of the home pages for each of our 10 conference web sites. Just finished the National Student Government Summit yesterday.

The new designs are unique to each conference, using typefaces, colors, and images that represent each city.

We're in the midst of updating all of the rest of the pages at each conference web site, which probably will take close to another month.

Design changes are mentally tiring and time-consuming. But our sites haven't been visually updated since 2005. So we're way past due for a new look!

New focus on research

2011-11-28T09:04:00.002-05:00

ASGA is about to announce a brand-new section of our resources at www.asgaonline.com. The new section will be "Research."

We've always done research for our members when asked. If they need help looking into trends on an issue nationwide, we have helped out by surveying similar schools by e-mail, phone, and fax.

Now, it's an official part of our resources. There will be a form that lets members make a research request. And there will be links to past research ASGA has conducted, such as on voting turnout totals nationwide, smoking policies, student discount cards, and student activity fees.

ASGA helps our members most by saving them time. This is just another way ASGA accomplishes that goal.

Two down, two to go

2011-10-31T09:48:00.002-04:00

We're halfway through the fall ASGA conference schedule. DC and Chicago are done, with Dallas and Los Angeles coming up.

So far, our attendance numbers for all events are up over last year, which was our best year ever.

It's obvious that ASGA's reputation is growing and the "word-of-mouth" is spreading.

It's an exciting time for ASGA, as we're nearing 1,100 member institutions.

As executive director, my ultimate goal for membership has been 1,500. I predict that we'll pass that in two more years!

600 & Counting!

2011-09-22T15:59:00.001-04:00

With seven days to go, ASGA just passed 600 registrants for the National Student Government Summit next Thursday through Sunday in Washington, D.C.

Last year's record turnout was 628 and that is definitely attainable with a week to go.

The National Student Government Summit is the largest and most helpful student government training conference in the nation. Students and advisors from all types and sizes of institutions attend-- about one third are private schools, one third community colleges, and another third public institutions. More than 110 institutions are registered, which is a record.

ASGA Invited to Campus Police National Summit

2011-08-19T19:59:00.002-04:00

The John Hopkins University Division of Public Safety Leadership is working in a cooperative agreement with the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) to explore the feasibility of developing a certification program for campus public safety officers.

JHU is holding a summit on September 26-28, 2011 with the project advisory panel and key educational officials to gain a broader perspective and insight on the feasibility of establishing a certification program for campus public safety officers.

Michael Johnson, Senate Speaker at Marist College, will be representing ASGA at the summit. Johnson is studying criminal justice and paralegal studies and has served as Chair of the Safety and Security Committee for the past year and one-half.

ASGA represented at Reagan Awards

2011-07-27T10:55:00.002-04:00

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and GE invited ASGA to send a representative to the 2011 GE-Reagan Foundation Scholarship Program awards ceremony and dinner on Saturday, July 30 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, Calif...ornia.

The Program honors students who exemplify the foremost characteristics modeled by our nation’s 40th President: leadership, drive, integrity, and citizenship.

ASGA selected SGA President Chris Harris of Southern Arkansas University to represent us this weekend. Thanks to all of those who applied to be ASGA's representative.

We get invitations like this fairly frequently and will continue to pass along those opportunities to student leaders.

A New Coat of Paint

2011-06-17T09:07:00.003-04:00

I've been doing a lot of painting around the ASGA office lately. A fresh, new coat of paint really makes things look great. All of the old blemishes are covered and everything looks unified when it's colored the same.

All of the touchup made me think of the tarnished images of many student governments around the country. Perhaps yours is one of them. Students think you're a joke and administrators don't take you seriously.

By putting a new coat of paint on your "image" you can start changing how students and administrators see you. ASGA has a ton of resources on how to use public relations techniques to improve your image and ability to reach out to your constituents.

If you're not a member institution, join now at www.asgaonline.com.

ASGA in the news

2011-05-06T13:02:00.002-04:00

ASGA was contacted by the Los Angeles Times to get student leaders' reaction to the death of Osama bin Laden. ASGA reached out to our members and instantly the Times reporter got calls from 15 students leaders. He interviewed nine of them for his article, which was published. See http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bin-laden-generation-20110504,0,1617733.story

ASGA is frequently called on by members of the press nationwide. If you're interested in being contacted by the press, please let ASGA know by writing info@asgaonline.com.

What is the average turnout in SG elections?

2011-04-14T12:58:00.003-04:00

For years, ASGA has referred to a figure of 2 percent nationwide in Student Government elections. This accounts for all types of institutions, but is lower because so many community and technical colleges either don't have elections or have very poor turnout. However, we have been seeing evidence that turnout has been increasing. So we recently surveyed the nation to see what the current figure is. We've received nearly 400 completed surveys and are aiming for 500. This would be 10 percent of the institutions participating. So far, the turnout is much higher than 2%. About 43% of the respondents have turnout under 10 percent and 70 percent have turnout under 20 percent. The survey so far has higher participation among private institutions and lower participation among community colleges. We're concerned that those with higher turnout are more likely to participate as well. ASGA also gathers data from our own internal research. So in the next few months, we're going to reviewing all of this and producing a report on what the turnout is now nationwide among all types of institutions.

How many women are serving in college student governments?

2011-03-15T10:14:00.002-04:00

The Washington Post recently asked ASGA about the percentage of women serving in student governments across the nation. So our team pulled data from our research since we founded ASGA in 2003.

Please note that our data gets deeper and more accurate and thorough each
year. We have hired full-time researchers each year to help us augment the
data. We now have five full-time researchers who spend 13,000 hours a year
gathering data on collegiate student governments.

Here is what we can tell you:

2003

SGA President
women-- 39.43%

Vice President
women-- 53.36%

Secretary
women-- 82.45%

Senator/Representative
women--50.97%

Overall
women-- 51.86%

2007

SGA President
women-- 40.59%

Vice President
women-- 54.72%

Secretary
women-- 77.60%

Senator/Representative
women--54.61%

Overall
women-- 54.15%

2010

SGA President
women-- 39.04%

Vice President
women-- 50.50%

Secretary
women-- 75.24%

Senator/Representative
women--52.01%

Overall
women-- 51.32%

RHA vs. SGA

2011-03-11T10:28:00.001-05:00

An ASGA member asked us to research the relationship between the Residence Hall Association and Student Government across the country. Of the roughly 2,000 residential institutions nationwide, 350 returned the ASGA survey. This may be the deepest research in history on this subject.

ASGA now offers this research to all members in our SG Database at www.asgaonline.com.

Mr. Research Here

2011-02-01T16:04:00.002-05:00

I feel like my name ought to be Mr. Research. I just completed a project for one of our ASGA members in Pennsylvania. It was more than 30 hours interviewing 34 students, administrators, and staff, plus another 30 researching, writing, and editing a 17,000 word Consultant Report.

It's a whale of a lot of work and time invested. But I'm confident that the Report will give this ASGA member the Action Plan it needs to completely revamp its Student Government Association and make improvements that will last for years.

1,000 Members!

2011-01-18T11:31:00.002-05:00

ASGA now has 1,001 member institutions! We passed the 1,000 "barrier" on Friday afternoon. Our Lady of the Holy Cross College in Louisiana was member #1000!

When ASGA was founded in 2001, we always had a goal of recruiting 1,000 member institutions. The more members ASGA has, the more resources we have to conduct research, support our members, and serve Student Governments everywhere.

Our eventual goal is to reach 1,500 member institutions. We're averaging about 125 new members a year, we'll reach 1,500 in about four more years.

It's exciting time at ASGA!

We're thankful!

2010-12-28T12:10:00.003-05:00

ASGA is thankful to all of our 995 member institutions and the 2,000 students and advisors who attend our conferences each year.

We are thankful for your participation and willingness to let us serve and support you. It is truly an honor and privilege to have earned your trust.

I can assure you that ASGA will do everything possible to continue improving and growing so that we can better serve you in 2011.

May this year be one of success and happiness for each and every one of you!

Research City

2010-11-21T13:36:00.002-05:00

Of ASGA's nearly 1,000 member schools nationwide, a great many send representatives to one of our 10 training conferences.

But not nearly as many members take advantage of one of ASGA's biggest member benefits: free research!

ASGA will conduct research on any topic for our members at no charge. We're in the midst of projects for 10 different institutions on subjects ranging from SG mottos to book lending libraries to student activity fees.

All our members have to do is write us with a list of up to 10 questions they want answered, a list of the schools they want us to contact, and some contact information. Then we'll get to work.

The best part is when we're done, we include all of the research in our SG Database so any member can benefit!

Thankful for ASGA's growth

2010-10-20T16:03:00.002-04:00

Wow. The last few weeks have been a wonderfully rewarding time for ASGA's team. First, we just published our largest-ever conference in DC, with 628 registrants from 110 in 35 states. Second, our upcoming Chicago conference is approaching its highest turnout ever. And third, ASGA's total membership is nearing 1,000 schools (now at 986).

In just six years, ASGA has become by far the largest-ever professional association for student governments. Attendance at all 10 of our conferences is higher than ever before. We're doing more private consulting and research for our members than ever.

It's really exciting to see that student leaders and administrators are taking advantage of ASGA's wealth of resources and services. All of our thousands and thousands of hours of work are paying off in our service to our members, cutting-edge research, and practicial training and knowledge we share at our conferences.

Eight days until ASGA's 50th conference!

2010-09-22T16:20:00.002-04:00

Just eight days remain until ASGA produces our National Student Government Summit in Washington, D.C. We've already surpassed last year's total attendance and are now over 600.

We fully expect 650 students and advisors to be there next Thursday.

This is a special conference, not just because it will be our largest attendance ever (and maybe the largest student government conference in American history-- not sure on that, though).
It will be very special because it will be ASGA's 50th Student Government training conference since we started the conference series in 2005.

ASGA now produces 10 conferences a year that are attended by thousands of students and advisors.

Our objective and mission remains helping student governments grow and improve. And our 10 training conferences are one of the key ways we teach and train our student government officers, members, and advisors across the nation.

Growing and Growing

2010-08-01T20:22:00.002-04:00

August 1 marks the start of our fall schedule, as we start getting ready in earnest for our National Student Government Summit and the other fall ASGA conferences.

We have more registrants already signed up than ever before. Every one of our 10 conferences is growing in numbers.

We're also continuing to improve the content, bring in new speakers, and add new workshops.

ASGA's conferences are getting better and better. And attendance numbers are growing and growing.

Pushing One Thousand

2010-06-25T16:56:00.002-04:00

ASGA is closing in on 1,000 member institutions. With 945 currently, we certainly will pass 1,000 by the time of the national conference in DC in October.

ASGA is already, by far, the largest-ever organization specifically serving and supporting collegiate student governments. But when we founded ASGA, we thought that we would need 1,200 member institutions to have the resources financially to conduct research at a level that would make us the unquestioned premier organization for student governments. 1,200 remains our eventual goal for members (most of the largest higher-education organizations hover about 1,200-1,500 member institutions out of the universe of nearly 5,000 colleges and universities).

ASGA continues to grow and improve literally daily. Our database gets deeper and more accurate. Our reputation is spreading. It's an exciting time for ASGA's team!

12,000 People Hours Yearly

2010-05-17T12:47:00.003-04:00

That's what ASGA invests in updating the information we store on every student government in the nation. We now employ five full-time researchers who are totally devoted to making sure our information is the most-current possible.

It's a major undertaking to keep accurate records on all 5,000 colleges and universities. It's a never-ending challenge. But our team can update about 35 schools per day. We go to their web site, college newspapers, SG web sites, and put on our Sherlock Holmes hats to find anything we can about every student government.

We then store it in the SG Database at http://www.asgaonline.com/. Our members can search the SG Database to learn about trends, see research, get ideas and solutions to problems, and more.

I calculated that five full-time workers spend 2,080 hours annually working on the SG Database. Two others, including me, pitch in regularly as well, which is where the 12,000 "people-power" hours come from. No other organization in the world devotes both the time and people resources to gathering information about student governments. That is part of what separates ASGA from any other higher-education organization.

And the SG Database and our depth and breadth of information stored only gets better and better by the day!

Nearing the end...

2010-04-30T13:28:00.003-04:00

Whew! It has been a whirlwind month for me and ASGA. Tomorrow is our annual Orlando New Officers Training Conference. This is an easy one for me, as I can drive from my home near Gainesville.

The last two weeks, we've had ASGA conferences in New York and in Philadelphia. That's three in a row. We've never done so many ASGA conferences so close together.

I'm admittedly pretty tired, as are our speakers. The travel is the worst part. Last week, my flight from New York was the roughest I've ever been on. There was a time, for about 10 seconds, that I thought the plane would crash. I misunderstood the flight attendant, who in a garbled voice over the public address system, said "unless you're having a real emergency, we won't be getting up." I thought she said we're having a real emergency. My stomach sank and my heart started racing! Wow. For a few seconds, I thought this was the end.

For this spring's ASGA conferences, we are at the end. Whew!

1, 2, 3 Go!

2010-04-12T18:05:00.002-04:00

ASGA produces 10 training conferences for student governments nationwide. But we've never produced three conferences in three weeks.

Because our February New York City conference got postponed because of a blizzard, we'll now be producing Philadelphia on April 17, New York on April 24, and then Orlando on May 1. Whew!

Getting ready to do a lot of traveling in the next three weekends.

Ready for anything?

2010-03-02T10:55:00.005-05:00

Last weekend served as a wake-up call that no matter how much you plan and how hard you work, sometimes circumstances can derail your best efforts.

Last Saturday was supposed to be ASGA's New York City Student Government Training Conference. It was going to be the largest conference we've ever done outside of our national conference in DC.

My daughter and I fly to New York on Thursday night, trying to stay ahead of the blizzard blasting the Big Apple. But by Friday morning, the conditions were terrible-- blowing snow and drifts of several feet. Our taxi spun out trying to turn and its tires were constantly slipping on the icy roads.

Over the past five years, ASGA has produced nearly 60 conferences and we've never had to postpone one because of weather. I didn't want to cancel, but the host college was closed and thousands of flights were cancelled. On the Wheather Channel, the only bad travel area on the U.S. map was New York City!

I just couldn't in good conscience produce the conference knowing how dangerous travel conditions were going to be for anyone brave enough to drive. After conferring with the host college, we just made the "call" and quickly wrote all attendees Friday morning.

This was frustrating, as our team was ready to produce the conference. All of our materials had arrived and we were ready to set up. It looked like all of our speakers would be able to make it in time.

If we had produced the conference, I predict half of the attendees would have had to cancel. Their colleges and universities would have stopped them from attending.

Postponing the conference was the right decision. It was a wise decision to help protect the safety of our attendees.

It just shows me that no matter how much you do to be prepared for anything, there is something that will come up in your path that you have never encountered before. We're always learning and coping!

Times are a changin'

2010-02-01T12:21:00.000-05:00

Times are a changin', and that definitely includes college student governments.

Much more is asked, and expected, of Student Governments than was typical 25 years ago.. Modern Student Governments are often asked to provide services and programming, such as intramurals and speakers, and to pay for other services that used to be the administration's responsibility.

In the early 80s, we mainly made statements to administrators and lobbied at the state level. We didn't provide as many student services as many SGs do now. UCLA's student government has a budget of more than $40 million, while the University of Colorado distributes more than $30 million in student activity fees.

Granted, most SG budgets pale in comparison. But they often have hundreds of thousands of dollars to control and disburse. Student Governments now provide shuttles, video rental services, discount cards, telephone wake-up services, and even escort services (not that kind!). There are hundreds of "signature programs" that ASGA tracks around the nation. Student Governments now use their programs to grab the attention of super-busy fellow students. The signature programs hopefully make SG relevant to the average student, which will lead to greater participation and voter turnout.

When I was involved in Student Government at a community college and major state university in the early 80s, we barely knew what was going on with OUR student government. We knew little to nothing about the progress, problems, and issues of even our arch rivals.

Now, through the American Student Government Association, SGs have instant access to vast resources, databases, examples of best practices, solutions to problems. Nearly 1,000 institutions have joined ASGA since its inception in 2003. Technological advances then allowed content management systems software to be affordable to small organizations, which led to the birth of ASGA.

Unfortunately, Student Governments haven't kept up with the technological changes that have made it much easier and quicker to communicate nationwide. While most have a web presence, their sites are usually horribly outdated and bereft of content to make students want to visit. Many SGs have embraced social networking, but don't Facebook, twitter, and others to their fullest extent. They don't understand basic concepts of marketing.

In the early 80s, Student Governments reached out to their peers through personal contact, advertising in the college newspaper, and fliers plastered across campus. Many current SGs have abandoned personal contact and instead now rely on Facebook alerts. Many have discontinued the time-honored "postering" tool to promote events and programs. But there is no replacement for personal contact with individual students, speaking to fellow students in classes and during club meetings, and using posters placed strategically to get students' attention.

In the past 25 years, budgets for many SGs have increased, their roles on collegewide committees has grown, and their role in helping to run the institution has improved. The catch phrase is "shared governance." It's even the law in some states, such as Florida and California, that students have representation on the boards of trustees that govern institutions.

Students getting involved in Student Government now has the potential to have real influence on the direction of their colleges and universities. They usually has significant budgets to work with. They usually have an official student voice on most collegewide committees.

But they struggle with many of the same challenges that faced SG leaders two decades ago: getting the student body to take them seriously, to vote in their elections, to run for office, to improve their image with administrators and faculty, and to get the word out about their programs, services, and issues

Spring Cleaning...

2010-01-27T15:14:00.002-05:00

It's still cold just about everywhere, even in Florida where ASGA is based (we had 13 straight days of freezing temperatures at night this month!). But it's not too early to start thinking of "spring cleaning."

What I mean is "cleaning" up your Student Governments in a couple of ways:
1. reviewing your goals and accomplishments and focusing on what you realistically can accomplish the rest of your term of office
2. aggressively recruiting candidates for this spring's elections, making sure that you'll have contested races which will mean higher voter turnout.
3. getting ready to train the new officers and members so they can become competent as quickly as possible.

Spring cleaning should be about getting your organization in good shape for your successors. It should be about making sure you leave your SG in better condition than when you arrived.

Thank you!

2009-12-30T17:28:00.003-05:00

Just a short note to thank all of our ASGA members across the world. I'm thankful for the privilege of serving you, and hopefully, helping you to create a more effective Student Government for your campus.

I can tell you that the whole ASGA team, everyone from me to our data-entry specialists, believes that you are our nation's future. What you're learning now will later translate to you being an effective, ethical leader in the future. This is why what ASGA does is so important.

It it an honor to be entrusted to teach and train the future leaders of this nation. We take this responsbility seriously and do everything in our power to make sure ASGA's resources are as accurate, current, and thorough as possible.

Here's to a great 2010, and thank YOU again for 2009, ASGA's best year yet!

Just because...

2009-11-03T19:02:00.004-05:00

It's pretty common for new student leaders to want change. They come into their positions and have lots of ideas about how to improve their organizations.

Unfortunately, a lot of time the "change" is just for the heck of it. They just want to make their mark without doing any research to prove the change is wanted or needed.

An example: I just saw that the SGA at St. Cloud State University is not only changing its constitution (I'm guessing that at least half of SGs across America change their constitutions each year), but they're actually changing their name.

If their name were "student parliament" or "Student Council" (which brings up memories of high school), I could understand. But they're changing from the very-clear name "Student Government Association" to "Student Association."

My experience is that now they'll have to explain that Student Association is the student government for SCSU. Changing from SGA, which is clear to everyone who sees Student Government Association, to Student Association will muddy the waters for this organization. They'll have to spend time explaining to students, administrators, faculty, and staff that they are the student government.

In the newspaper article I read about this upcoming change, I saw no evidence whatsoever that the SGA there made any effort to determine if fellow students were having trouble understanding their name or their role. I saw no proof that they surveyed anyone, had a marketing class conduct research or focus groups, or anything beyond "let's change because..."

They're making a major, major change (your name is about as major a change as you can make) without any research to prove that it is either needed or warranted.

Making a change "just because" is just not good leadership.

The evolution of ASGA

2009-10-07T14:35:00.003-04:00

ASGA will be six years old this March 2010.

Until now, most of my focus as executive director has been in creating the organization, developing services, and creating policy. It has been more than a full-time job, to say the least.

But my work with ASGA is evolving. Now, I spend much less time on "creating" and "marketing" the organization. ASGA has become the recognized "standard," the only national organization serving and supporting collegiate student governments. We have earned credibility and respect from much of the higher education community.

This respect is reflected in our constantly growing membership. We now have 900 member institutions, which is four-times larger than USSA or ASACC, which are primarily lobbying organizations. We produce 10 conferences, which is more than all of the other student government conferences combined.

Our credibility is also reflected in our very high renewal rates for member institutions. Just a handful of institutions don't renew their ASGA memberships, and this is usually because they're experiencing severe budget limitations. They usually want to be ASGA members, but just can't financially.

Now, my role is more about serving those members through consulting, research, answering questions, and helping them solve problems. This is what I always envisioned it would be like as ASGA evolved.

Within another year, I predict that 80 percent of my time will be spent on answering member questions and helping them with research instead of coming up with recruiting and marketing strategies to spread the word about ASGA. This is exciting! This is why I do what I do!

The needs of the one...

2009-10-01T11:38:00.004-04:00

Just got back from ASGA's National Student Government Summit in DC. It was the largest training conference we've ever produced, with 555 registrants from 101 institutions in 35 states. The entire ASGA staff and nearly all of our speakers participated. We think it was the best conference we've ever produced.

With this said, we did encounter a new situation there. One student told me that she was very uncomfortable being photographed. We always have a professional photographer and videographer capturing "moments" that we can then post at the conference web site. Potential future attendees then can learn what it's really like to come to the conference.

I personally don't think it's a "big deal" to be photographed, and initially thought this student was overreacting. "Just deal with it," I was thinking to myself.

But then I reconsidered. Maybe she had something happen in her past that caused her to feel this way about photos. ASGA and I certainly need to be considerate of all of our attendees' concerns and opinions. We need to be listening and trying to serve them better.

When an SGA registers for one of our conferences, they agree on the form that all photos and video taken are ASGA's property and may be used for promotional purposes. But individual students rarely see this form, as an advisor or one officer signs up for the entire group.

I don't want to make the registration process take longer and be more complex. But I'm thinking that in the future, we may allow students who don't want to have their photo taken to put a red "sticker" on their conference name tags. This would alert our photographers that these students are "off limits" for photos.

ASGA's conferences serve thousands of students and advisors each year. We've now produced nearly 60 conferences in the past five years. While we've never had a complaint before about photos, we are taking this one student's concerns seriously. And we may change and improve policy because of it.

ASGA does serve the "masses," but we're also conscious about the needs of the one.

Doing more with less

2009-09-02T14:47:00.005-04:00

I've been noticing the past few days that several Student Governments are lauding themselves for saving money on their "retreats" and "training" for new officers. Schools like the University of South Alabama are proud of saving money by having their "retreat" on campus. Georgia State University's SGA says it saved 93% on what it spent in 2008 for its annual retreat.

This is great news for their constituents. It's proving that the SGAs are serious about saving money and using it to serve fellow students, even in a "down economy."

Most student government budgets are somewhat protected, as they usually get their funds from activity fees which are tied to enrollment. In a recession, people typically go back to college, which means more activity fees to disburse. This usually is restricted, however, to public universities and colleges, and less often to community colleges and private institutions.

Still, with many universities making cuts to faculty positions, reducing their budgets because of less revenue coming from the state or donors, and cutting back programs, Student Governments should follow that example and also be extra careful in the use of their limited budgets.

Student Government retreats are CRITICAL for the health and effectiveness of any student government. These retreats are typically done in August/September and often are at an off-campus location, so that members can be immersed in SG issues, plans, and goals without the distractions they have on campus.

But a helpful and useful retreat can easily be done on campus-- I just worked with two institutions (one in Illinois and one in Boston), where their trainings were done right on campus before the start of school. Where the retreat is housed is not as important as when. If it's after the start of school, there are myriad of distractions, so SG members and officers are less focused and can give less of their attention.

In a down economy, it's wise for SGs to be cost-conscious on their training and planning retreats. Having it at an off-campus retret locale may sound great, but you can save a lot of money for your constituents by getting your training right there on campus.

On the run

2009-08-05T16:22:00.003-04:00

Every weekend this month, plus at least one other trip mid-week, I'll be either speaking at an ASGA conference or training/consulting with an ASGA member institution. August is typically my busiest travel month for serving ASGA members.

While I don't look forward to the airport waits and delays, I do look forward to the work itself. It's rewarding and satisfying knowing that I can help less-experienced student leaders and advisors.

Fortunately, I'm only gone for two days at a time, so I'm not away too long from my wife and children. That's the hardest part of travel for business: being away from the family.

But when I come home, we always take a family day to do something fun. Yesterday it was bowling (my first time in 31 years). The kids loved it. Next week when I get back from Boston, I'm thinking of taking them to the Tampa zoo.

Travel nowadays, let me tell you, is hardly romantic. Just because I go to cities like Boston, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles doesn't mean that I sight-see and spend time enjoying cool drinks, music, and checking out the landmarks. I usually see the inside of a hotel room, meeting rooms, and the airport.

It's also hard work to travel. All of the preparation takes a ton of time. I'm my own travel agent, so that adds to the complexity. I'm also the "roadie" at our conferences and handle set-up before the event and take-down after. Sweaty work, particularly at this time of year.

But again, I focus on the work and what it is accomplishing and who it is helping. That knowledge that ASGA and I are doing important work that matters helps me make it through the flight delays, jam-packed planes, and over-priced airport meals.

Ready. Set. Fall...

2009-07-21T15:48:00.004-04:00

Where did the summer go? There was a time when summer in higher education meant rest, time to plan, and even some time at the beach. Now, most colleges and universities offer summer terms and student affairs administrators and staff usally have to stick around for much of it.

This increased summer action mainly relates to institutions trying to use their facilities more efficiently and to students wanting to complete their degrees sooner than later (to save time and money).

Still, let's admit it: who else, behinds those in academia, get weeks off at a time and every federal holiday, not even counting normal vacation days, sick leave, and "comp" time.

At ASGA, we take Fridays off from May to August. So everyone works extra hard the rest of the week to keep up with our workloads. I admit that it's great to have an extra weekend day to rest, spend time with the family, and to travel/visit with family and friends. Fall is coming, and that means lots of travel for me to ASGA's conferences, not to mention consulting trips to several member institutions.

It's still stinking hot in Florida (actually we just started the heat of summer), but it's beginning to look a lot like fall around the office as we get ready for the fall semester rush.

No more "status quo"

2009-06-07T13:07:00.004-04:00

Most of us keeping doing what you've been doing. Why? It's easier than innovating, creating, taking risks to create something new. Trying new things involves the potential, maybe even likelihood, of it not succeeding exactly as we envision.

But we grow as leaders and our organizations improve when we strive to be better.

For example, ASGA discovered a new way to gather information that we store in our SG Database which include information on every student government in America. Our team literally researches information on every college and university in the nation, one at a time. It's time-consuming, exhaustive work. In the past, each of our data-entry team members might, on a good day, be able to complete research on five institutions.

However, in the last month, we experimented with a new system. This new system has led to us tripling our production. Each of now can complete 15 schools on a good day. This mean updating as many as 75 institutions a day. With 5,000 colleges and universities in the nation, we ideally need to be updating data on every institution twice a year. we were barely getting through once a year using the old ways. Now it's more realistic to get through the nation twice a year. That's exciting. We're better able to serve our members with better data on student governments everywhere.

Changing our methods was risky and potentially could have caused problems. But the risk paid off. ASGA is much deeper and more accurate now as a result.

All of us in Student Government must be willing to take risks when the reward and result could better serve our constituents. We can't be content with the status quo.

Sweet Home Alabama

2009-05-28T14:27:00.004-04:00

Leaving in the morning for a consulting/training trip to Auburn University's Montgomery campus. I'm facilitating their SGA training retreat at a 4H camp. Looking forward to helping this member institution.

It's a privilege to serve Student Governments and be trusted to provide them with information, advice, and training. I don't take this responsibility lightly.

In preparation for going, I spoke with two administrators and the SGA president in some depth, to learn about their problems and issues and specifically want they must want to learn, and what they most need to learn.

They asked me to do some "leadership" training, but my specialty is student government and that's what they're getting when they bring me to work with them. I'm Mr. Student Government and that means everything I talk with them about is on how they can improve their Student Government this year.

If everything goes as planned, I'll be home Sunday early morning (1 or 2 a.m.). I plan to drive straight through. It's seven hours there and back. But I've learned that if it would take eight hours to drive, you're better off driving than flying, particularly in my case. There is no cost-efficient airport within minutes of my home, so I have to drive two hours to Orlando, Jacksonville, or Tampa to get more palatable fares. So when I think how long it will take to drive, and wonder if I could save time by flying, I have to build in four hours of driving to any airport, plus another hour or more of "waiting" time. My rule is I drive when it is under 8 hours.

Research, research, research

2009-05-05T14:52:00.004-04:00

One of the most-rewarding and interesting aspects of serving Student Governments is helping them with research.

This research can be on everything from student activity fees to student government budgets to elections.

Our members frequently ask ASGA to help them save time, money, and energy on getting information they need. It's a privilege for us to help out.

When we get a request, our team writes, calls, e-mails, and faxes schools nationwide to get answers to specific questions.

Once we get the answers, we add this information to our SG Database. So the research not only benefits the member school that originally asked for it, but all other ASGA members.

Every time we research a subject, we're also adding to the knowledge-base that ASGA stores. This continues to grow and grow and improve.

One thing about ASGA is that we are always growing and improving.

Planning Ahead Saves Money

2009-04-08T13:04:00.002-04:00

Particularly now, in light of budget issues at most colleges and universities across America, it has never been more important for student governments to plan ahead.

Planning ahead saves time, energy, and money. Waiting until the "last minute" can cost money, create problems, and cause errors.

For example, ASGA offers "early-bird" discounts for institutions that are planning to attend our National Student Government Summit in September. By registering now, our members save $50 per person.

The cost goes up progressively over the summer. Waiting until September to register will cost a member $200 per person. This could have gone toward programming or services for their fellow students.

Registering now also will save our members on their travel expenses, as airfare is super-low right now. It might not be later this summer.

Planning ahead for this one ASGA conference alone could save our members thousands of dollars.

Of course, there are many other areas in which planning can save Student Governments time, money, and energy. In tough economic times, it is particularly important to think ahead and try to save, be more efficient, and save your students' money.

Happy Anniversary ASGA!

2009-03-13T10:24:00.002-04:00

March 17 is the fifth anniversary of the founding of the American Student Government Association. I can't believe it has already been five years.

I remember back in 2001 when our team was considering the idea of starting ASGA, what it would entail, what services it would offer, what work would need to be done.

It has been a LOT of work to create this resource. It has taken thousands and thousands of hours of research and we've dealt with hundreds of problems with the web site and technical aspects.

But what I envisioned in 2001 is now a reality. I envisioned a "knowledge base" for student governments, a single resource that would give any student government the tools, ideas, and help necessary to become more effective. That's what ASGA has become.

Our resources literally get better and deeper every day. Seriously. Our data team is constantly improving the information we store on student governments everywhere. We add more officers, more advisors, more administrators, campus media, elections information, compensation, goals, accomplishments, documents, programs, services, and more. It really is an amazing resource.

My original goal was to have 1,000 member institutions in five years. We're not quite there, but do have 821 member schools. That's out of about 5,000 student governments in the nation.

There has never been an organization for student governments that serves so many member institutions. A big reason for ASGA's growth is that we focus on helping student governments improve, not on lobbying. We try to help our members get better there on their local campuses so that they can be more effective advocates for their fellow students. We believe that more effective local student governments leads to more effective lobbying and representation on bigger issues.

It has been quite a "ride" starting and running ASGA for the past five years. As we continue to grow and improve, I'm excited about what lies ahead. It's a great unknown, as no one has ever run an organization for students quite like ASGA.

The show must go on...

2009-03-02T21:56:00.004-05:00

I'm as sick as a dog. Not sure why we say that-- I've never seen a sick mutt. But I am sick with a fever, stopped up head, and laryngitis. Normally, that's enough to knock me out for a few days and keep me home resting in bed. This time I couldn't. ASGA's New York City Student Government Training Conference was last Saturday.

Instead of nursing my fever, I was boarding a plane in Orlando to JFK airport. Instead of sipping soothing chicken soup, I was setting up ASGA's registration area for the conference at Pace University. Instead of sleeping in, I was watching the clock for my 6:30 a.m. wake up to get to the campus Saturday morning.

I kept thinking to myself-- just a few more hours. Just a few more hours. Then you can rest.

I had four workshops to present, as well as being the host, registering attendees, and setting up/tearing down the ASGA materials that we lug to and from every conference. Normally, this alone is exhausting work. But combined with the cold, it was a killer. I've never been so tired after a conference. My voice was shot-- is shot. My feet were swollen and blistered (new shoes, big mistake).

But I dug in and coaxed a few hours out of my sick vocal chords and weakened body. In fact, no one would have known I was sick if my voice weren't so raspy.

It's difficult to be your best when you're sick, tired, cranky, depressed, disappointed, or discouraged. But one of the many signs of a great leader is being a professional when it's not "convenient." This is what I'm trying to model. And this trip, that was hard.

In fact, we've produced close to 50 conferences now and this past weekend's was the hardest and most taxing I've ever done. It was hard to be a professional this time.

Connecting Around the World

2009-02-20T16:40:00.004-05:00

This morning, I keynoted a Student Government conference in Italy while casually dressed in my shorts here in sunny Florida.

Student leaders at John Cabot University in Rome asked ASGA to keynote their second-annual Student Government conference for English-speaking institutions in the region.

Last night, about 2:00 a.m., I tested the Skype video and phone system with the host school, and then this morning about 11:30, spoke for 30 minutes on the role of Student Government here in American colleges and universities.

I dressed in my nice shirt, tie, and suit coat, but had on shorts and sandals from the waist down. Why this ridiculous outfit? I was only seen on the small Logitech computer video camera set up on my screen. They could see and hear me over Skype, and they showed the image on a big screen at the college.

I could hear my voice a second later in the background because of the time lag going across the big pond.

This conference today is so unlike ASGA's 10 events, like the one in New Orleans last weekend. I have to drive or fly, prepare for weeks in advance, ship dozens of boxes of materials ahead of time. It's a lot of work.

This conference was such a breeze comparatively because of the use of technology. It tells me that perhaps ASGA could be leading international conferences for Student Governments in the future?

Tomorrow, I lead another workshop on elections and transitioning at 10:00 EST. Rome is six hours ahead, so it will be the end of the day there.

It was a wild experience doing this Italy conference this morning. I enjoyed it and I think the audience appreciated it as well.

Smooth transitions

2009-01-26T16:59:00.003-05:00

Watching last week's presidential inauguration reminded me how important "transitions" are for Student Governments. Very few SGs transition well, and this means that new officers come into office knowing very little of what their jobs entail or what has been tried or done before them. They spend a lot of needless time "reinventing the wheel" as a result.

Love him or hate him, it appears that former President Bush and his team did an admirable job of making the transition to President Obama and his team go as smoothly as possible. I haven't read of any juvenile actions that haunted the Clinton administration when they handed over the White House to W. There were stories that implied that some members of the outgoing team made it harder for the new workers.

I hope as your term of office nears, you'll be getting materials, information, and records ready to help your successor, even if you think that person is a know-nothing jerk. Keep notes on all that you do, the progress you've made, the work you've accomplished. Keep notes of who lilkes youo and who hates you on campus. Who has helped you wade through the school bureaucracy?

All of this information will help your successor take on her role with the knowledge needed to be successful. You'll leave the position better off than when you began. That should be one of your top goals as your term of office draws to a close.

From 80 degrees to an ice storm

2009-01-09T13:33:00.003-05:00

Being a Florida native, I sometimes get sick of the heat and humidity here in the Sunshine State. But when I travel for ASGA, I'm reminded of how nice it is at this time of year.

Just got back from Saint Francis University outside of Pittsburgh. While there, I drove through an ice storm, walked gingerly on slick walkways and stairs, and drove slow through snow and sleet. For this Florida boy, that was a blizzard.

Yesterday, my children were shirtless and in swimsuits, barefooted of course, outside playing and riding bikes. Back on the mountain at Saint Francis, only the bravest souls were outside in biting 20 degree weather and blowing icy rain.

Travel for ASGA is part of my normal routine now. This trip was to help train new senators and also do an assessment of the major changes that the SGA at SFU has been making over the past year. Very impressive. I'm looking forward to continuing my research and producing a document in the coming weeks to help this institution understand the progress they've made and what potential it has to continue improving.

800 members strong!

2008-12-18T13:30:00.006-05:00

Today, ASGA reached and surpassed 800 member institutions. We now have 806.

This is an amazing number, as ASGA was only launched in March 2004. We're adding more new member institutions annually, and the number is growing each year (166 so far in 2008, 164 in 2007, 158 in 2006). I predict that we could have 1,200 members by 2011.

Most higher education professional associations hover around 1,200 member schools. This seems to be the "magic number." But I think the sky is the limit for ASGA. We could have 1,500 to 2,000 member institutions.

Why is this important? The more members ASGA has, the more accurate our databases will be, as our members help us keep information on new officers and advisors curent.

More members mean more attendees at our conferences. More training of SG officers means better student governments nationwide. More members and attendees at ASGA conferences also means more resources for ASGA to improve our services for members, conduct more research, and help more colleges and universities.

It's an exciting time at ASGA, as we continue to grow and improve every day.

Holiday Break

2008-12-11T12:53:00.003-05:00

Like many people in higher education, I'm looking forward to spending time with my wife and children over the Christmas break. The time between Christmas and New Year's is about the slowest time of the year for ASGA. Most of our members are home with their families and are enjoying a break from college and from their jobs in education. The number of e-mails, calls, and live chats slows to a trickle during this period. It's very quiet at our offices in Florida.

However, just like during the summer months, most colleges and universities remain open and some administrators and staff continue to work. While mid-December to mid-January is an "off" time for most student leaders and student affairs administrators, your institution usually remains open and continues to work on projects and programs.

Student Governments should be aware of this and make sure that they're in the loop on any decisions that are being made over the holidays and summer break. It's part of staying in touch so that you can better serve your constituents.

There's little worse than coming back from a restful holiday and finding that construction has started on a new building you knew nothing about!

Working Electronically

2008-12-02T10:41:00.003-05:00

At least two days a week, I work from my home. I take and make calls, send e-mails, answer questions from members all from my laptop in the living room at my house. My children are playing and working in the background the whole day.

Not only does working at home save money and time in traveling to the office (I live about 35 minutes away), I get to spend more time with my family! Sometimes, it gets pretty loud around here, but that's OK.

This new mode of work made me think how this could apply to student governments. So many institutions already offer on-line courses. Some, like Washington State, have a completely distance-oriented degree program. Their student government operates totally online, as their members never set foot on the campus in Pullman but are spread out across the nation. They hold their meetings online, take votes, present resolutions, do research, connect with their peers, and more, all from their computers.

Can your student government be more efficient in using technology? Perhaps some of your meetings could be replaced by online meetings. Perhaps some of your committee work could be replaced electronic reports.

I know for me, the option of working at home has been a blessing. As I write this, I'm at home listening to my children and wife work on Christmas cards and birthday cards for Gramma. I'm a part of the family, not apart.

Giving private help and support...

2008-11-18T22:28:00.003-05:00

With just one more ASGA conference in 2008, our Southern California event for community colleges, I'm already turning to consulting and training at individual colleges and universities. In the past few days, ASGA has confirmed that we'll be training new officers, members, and advisors at Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania, South Carolina State University, and Red Rocks Community College, all in the next few weeks. Also, we'll be helping Wesley College, Ohio Dominican University, and Lorain County Community College amend and enhance their constitutions.

December and January have become ASGA's time to serve our members individually, on their campuses. It's our chance to deal with members one-on-one and really immerse ourselves in their unique issues and challenges.

While it's a lot of travel and definitely a lot of work and brain power expended, it is also very rewarding. I look forward to the chance to serve our members.

Back from Big D

2008-11-14T15:59:00.004-05:00

Spent last weekend in Dallas at ASGA's annual Southwest Student Government Training Conference at Northwood University. It's the fourth year in a row at that same beautiful suburban location.

We brought in a new speaker, Chris Irving, for this event and his reviews were strong. It was great to catch up with Andre Koen from Minnesota (he was at last year's Dallas conference and also emceed our New Officers event in Orlando). Susan Leahy, of course, was also there.

At dinner after the conference was over, we had the deepest, most enjoyable conversation I think I've had at an ASGA conference in years. We spoke about our beliefs and faith, or lack thereof, and really delved into some sensitive areas that are normally taboo in most social conversations. I enjoyed it very much.

ASGA has been considering a "faith-based conference," knowing how many Christian-related colleges and universities there are in the nation (2,000). We have been surveying students and administrators and so far had strong positive feedback. Adding this conference would mean ASGA produces 11 events a year. With us also taking on consulting and training at individual colleges and universities throughout the year, we're on the go a lot.

But it's all worth it! I have figured out a balance between work and home, usually working at my home now instead of at my office 30 minutes away. I'm able to spend time with my wife and children while also working on ASGA business, helping our members and answering questions.

Now up to 778 member institutions! We're on pace to crack 800 members by year's end!

ASGA keeps growing and growing...

2008-11-03T09:15:00.005-05:00

In four years, ASGA has grown from an idea to by far the largest student leadership organization in the nation.

ASGA now has 774 member institutions, plus we store information in our searchable database on every Student Government in America. Our ASGA team adds new and updated information every day.

We now produce 10 Student Government training conferences, which frankly are the most helpful and practical in the nation. Our conferences always get better, as we bring in new speakers and new and more interactive workshops and roundtables.

ASGA is the only organization that I know of that gets visibly better ever day. We literally impove every day. We add more knowledge every day. We help solve our members' problems. Everything we do improves our resources and makes ASGA more valuable to all of our members who take avantage of our support.

There is no sign that ASGA is slowing down! We're averaging 170 new member schools each year (probably closer to 200 this year). Every one of our conferences this year has attracted more attendees than the previous year. We're doing more consulting, helping members improve their constitutions and train their members.

It's an exciting time for ASGA and our members. We love serving Student Governments and helping students and administrators!

No matter how much you plan, something usually goes wrong...

2008-10-28T23:10:00.006-04:00

Just got back from our Midwest conference in Chicago. Overall, a great experience. Largest crowd we've had there. The venue was the most convenient and most attractive yet. Set up was relatively easy. The students were attentive and willing to listen and learn.

Despite these positives, there were some negatives. My flight from Florida was delayed by weather, meaning I didn't get done setting up Friday night until well after midnight. Then the food-service provider didn't provide enough food for either the continental breakfast or the lunch for attendees. We had some hungry and, as a result, unhappy campers, so to speak, and justifiably so.

Despite all of our planning and advance work, there was nothing I could do about the delayed flight. I just sat and waited, trying to catch up on e-mail and phone calls.And on the food front, both ASGA and our host had provided the correct numbers to the caterer. They just didn't deliver on their end.

Of course, the food issue could have led to a black-eye for the conference. But I took responsibility and offered all 240 attendees a $10 off discount toward a future ASGA conference, as an apology. I think, in the end, it was OK.

What this teaches me and reminds me is that so much of our work is outside our control and influence. No matter what we do, no matter how many times we check up, and no matter how much advance planning there is, something usually goes wrong that is outside of our influence. We have no control over the catering, and certainly have no power to change air-traffic control decisions on flights leaving the southeast.

I took both issues pretty much in stride. In the past, I might have blown up and caused a scene. Either I've mellowed as I get older and more experience or I have learned to maintain more of a level head, especially over matters I don't have the power to change.

Off to Chicago!

2008-10-23T22:04:00.003-04:00

I leave tomorrow for ASGA's Midwest conference in Chicago. It's our largest-ever "regional" conference. It will be a long weekend, but a productive one.

These conferences are where ASGA really can help our members learn and improve. It's our chance to talk with members face-to-face, get to know them, and answer their questions and help solve their problems.

While I dislike the travel part (it's a business trip, not a pleasure cruise), I do enjoy spending time with my colleagues and fellow speakers. We can catch up on each others' lives.

The best part of a conference like Chicago is seeing the evaluations at the end. How did we do? How much did they learn? What can we improve on?

I'll be back Sunday in time to spend the afternoon with my wife and children. Then it will be time to get ready for our Dallas event in early November.

Serving is on my mind...

2008-10-13T12:19:00.005-04:00

Being a parent of five children and also a man of "faith," service is always in the forefront of my life.

Teaching and training my children means being more self-less-- giving up most of the things I did before I was married and had children. Being a good parent is about giving up time as well. It's all about serving.

My "faith" also demands that I be a servant and have a mentality of helping others all the time.

This philosophy of focusing on helping and serving others translates well to be a public servant, such as a leader in Student Government.

Student leaders often are self-serving, using their positions for personal gain as their priority over helping to improve the institution for their constituents, their fellow students. Our nation's elected "leaders" most assuredly usually base decisions on what will get them elected the next term and what will help them get more attention personally or make more money.

ASGA is trying our best to teach the importance of service to others. I attended a White House ceremony recently during which President Bush encouraged Americans to give of themselves, to volunteer 4,000 hours to their communities during their lifetimes. I endorse and support this initiative. Being a leader should be all about service.

We're back...

2008-10-01T11:54:00.005-04:00

Back to work today after giving it my all at ASGA's National Student Government Summit this past weekend. It was the largest event we've ever produced-- nearly 600 students and advisors from 100 colleges and universities in 38 states. It might have been the largest Student Government conference ever!

Admittedly, it is a whale of a lot of work to produce an event of this size and complexity. We had eight concurrent workshops going on, nearly 50 roundtables, two keynote speakers, and nearly two dozen talented and knowledgable speakers in attendance. What a great experience for everyone.

After we got done Sunday afternoon, and I had my final consulting appointment, we headed for the airport in plenty of time to catch our 7:35 p.m. flight. But we arrived at the gate to find out that weather had delayed our plane and we wouldn't be leaving until 10:30. I didn't get home until 2:20 a.m. Monday morning, missing the traditional frenzied "greeting" from my wife and children. The other ASGA team members didn't get home until nearly 4:00 a.m.!

Also, on the flight up to DC, I was one of the last to board my flight, based on "zones." There were no overhead bins left, so the flight attendant made me check my bag-- I thought they would bring it to me at the end of the flight, but it turns out they "checked" it like normal baggage. But it wasn't there when we arrived-- this was a mission critical bag and had our nametags, petty cash, reports, and several signs. The bag turned up a day later at the conference hotel about 30 minutes before we started our official registration!

Two problems that happened at the beginning and at the end were really the bulk of the challenges we had at this conference, despite its complexity and size. And both problems were outside of our control.

This shows me that despite all of your pre-planning, all of your work ahead to make sure everything goes well, there are things outside of our control. We can't do anything about it.

We just have to do our best and make the event or project happen despite the problems. How we react to those unexpected problems shows what we really are like as leaders.

I'm glad to be home and am spending time with my wife and children. Soon we'll be getting ready for our Chicago and Dallas conferences.

A week to go...

2008-09-19T11:25:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, our team shipped the rest of the materials that we'll be using at our upcoming National Student Government Summit in Washington, D.C. It's the largest Student Government conference in the nation.

It takes months of planning and hard work to produce an event of this magnitude. Nearly all of ASGA's "headquarters" staff is coming to pitch in. Compared to our regional conferences, we have more than four times the number of speakers, workshops, and even days (this is a four-day conference, while our regionals are one-day events).

It was exciting yesterday to see the last of the boxes head out.

Last night, when I was with the family doing a little shopping, I noticed the time-- 7:03 p.m. I told everyone that one week from now, our conference video introduction would be playing and we would be starting the conference!

The National Student Government Summit is by far ASGA's biggest and most exciting event. And as it grows (all four years it has grown in number of participants, speakers, and workshops), it becomes more of a challenge to manage. But our team works hard and we get better at planning. We're learning all the time, just like our "constituents," Student Government leaders and advisors.

We're an organization that continually tries to grow and improve.

For those of you who are coming to DC next week, thanks. You're in for a great time and will learn a lot. See you in DC!

Transitioning well is key

2008-09-15T11:49:00.005-04:00

Just got back from a weekend in South Carolina working with an ASGA member institution. The SGA there has a history of ineffectiveness and tons of turnover. Only five officers/members return from last year and the rest have no SGA experience.

If you're at a school like this, where SGA is basically reinvented every year, it should be a priority this year for you to work hard on "transitioning." What does this mean?

Everything you do in your position should be "captured." You should write down the time you spend on a project, the contacts you make, the difficulties you encounter, the progress you have, the enemies you make, the friends who help you, and more. Basically, you're getting a snapshot of what your job really entails and what your time committment really looks like. This will help your successor get up to speed more more quickly. He/she won't be fumbling around trying to learn what to do. You will have outlined their responsibilities and expectations already.

I see this "transition" material being stored electronically so that if you lose a notebook, all of this work won't be gone forever. Ideally, you would store this at your SGA web site, assuming you have one (if you don't have one, it's time to make that happen!). Or you could store this in your profile at the ASGA web site. ASGA stores vast data on every student government in the nation.

Remember how you felt when you came into office and didn't have a clue about what you're supposed to do next? You can make it so much easier for your successor by keeping track of all that you say, do, and work on during your term of office.

Transitioning is key to having an effective student government.

Back from the White House

2008-09-09T10:30:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I spent the day in DC, mainly to attend President Bush's remarks on volunteerism. I have been to the White House before to see speeches (went to the Rose Garden in the mid-80s to see President Reagan and also got to interview the first George Bush). But it has been a few years.

It definitely wasn't as glamorous that you might think. First, I stood in line to get through security for nearly an hour in the blazing hot sun. I'm from Florida, so I'm used to heat, but not when I'm wearing a suit and tie. It was brutal. The sweat was just rolling. Everyone was overdressed for the occasion, knowing that it was at least 90 at noon.

This time, I saw this function from the a different perspective, that of someone who produces many events each year and knows the work that goes in behind the scenes to make an event work and seem seamless to attendees.

The White House staff was crawling everywhere getting things done (lots of fresh-faced recent grads or interns with Blackberries). But there were glitches that probably few others noticed (the CD of patriotic music skipped several times, for example).

I even noticed flaws in the White House itself. You might think its perfect, but it's got issues with paint, cracks, etc. The facade is perfection, but it's really not.

The president spoke about the importance of everyone giving 4,000 hours to service to others. It's' a worthy issue and one that deserves attention. That's why I went-- it wasn't because I wanted to rub elbows with politicans or say "I've been to the White House" or show off. It was to support the cause of service.

Stretching and growing...

2008-09-03T09:45:00.003-04:00

Even though I've been working on student government business for close to 26 years, never a day goes by that I don't learn something new. I'm not content to stay where I am-- I want to continue growing and improving and learning.

I make sure to subscribe to Google alerts, so I can be in touch with news about student governments. I get dozens of campus newspapers sent to me electronically. I monitor student leader web sites daily. I do searches on the web for student government and other related terms. I e-mail and call dozens of students and advisors every week.

We can't afford to be isolated and content. We have to be willing to consider new ideas, take on new projects, and take risks.

All of this helps stretch me. And this makes ASGA a better resource for all of our members.

Expecting a storm...

2008-08-25T18:09:00.004-04:00

The ASGA offices are located in usually sunny Florida. But this past weekend, our headquarters was right smack dab in the path of slow-moving Tropical Storm Fay. While the storm didn't have hurricane-force winds, it did pack a punch. It dumped inches and inches of rain on our area, waterlogging everyone and everything. One of my relatives had 30 inches of rain! We're drying out now, thankfully.

As the storm churned toward us, the ASGA team all made plans for our homes and families. We turned off equipment at our offices. We cleaned gutters and picked up anything that could get thrown by the winds into windows. We filled gas tanks for the generator and stocked up on canned goods and water.

It was a reminder to me about the value of preparation. In Student Governments, there are times that we take on an issue or problem and we can predict there will be a storm ahead-- a storm of protests or negative reaction or criticism.

Just like preparing for a natural disaster is wise, it's wisdom to think ahead and play devil's advocate and be ready for what may come as a campus leader. By doing so, you are preparing for the storm ahead. Hopefully, like Tropical Storm Fay, it will pass you by relatively unscathed.

What's really important

2008-08-23T21:23:00.003-04:00

Family. Friends. My faith. These are what are REALLY important to me. Student Governments and helping them improve comes in a strong fourth. But all of us need to set our priorities on what is really important in our lives.

I just spent the day with my wife, children, and parents, who came to our house to celebrate the second birthday of my youngest son, Luke. We had a great family day with lots of laughter, good food, funny stories, and reminiscing about old times when I was a boy. The children love to hear about what Daddy was like as a little boy.

It was a relaxing and enjoyable time, and this day reminded me of why I work so hard on ASGA and our conferences. I provide for my family, of course, and also I want to show them that our lives should be about service and giving and doing for others. Not about boosting our own egos or making millions or getting recognition. This day reminded me of the importance of service.

It was a perfect family day.

Getting ready

2008-08-18T12:54:00.003-04:00

The whole ASGA team is starting to get into our "national conference" mode. With ASGA's National Student Government Summit about five weeks away, we're already planning, getting materials ready, working on handouts and presentations, and confirming speakers. It might be the largest Student Government conference in the history of the nation.

It's a ton of work and planning to create an event that "looks" well-organized. There is so much planning and work that goes into creating an event that is enjoyable to attendees.

We also want to make it better for returning attendees. We always are incorporating new workshops and new ideas to make the experience better for everyone. ASGA is an organization that is constantly working to improve, with the goal of better-serving our members.

Hope you can make it to this year's national conference. It's not too late to register, although our hotel block is nearly sold out again (we have already added to the block three times). Register at www.asgaonline.com/conferences/national.

Travelin' man

2008-08-14T23:13:00.004-04:00

Just got back from back-to-back trips to Boston and Salt Lake City, both trips for ASGA. The Boston event was last Saturday-- our first-ever Boston Student Government Training Conference at the University of Massachusetts/Boston. Rain meant flight delays in Tampa and in Charlotte. Got to Boston late Friday night, then set up on campus before the conference on Saturday. We had a great showing-- 148 registrants from 32 schools nationwide-- even though ASGA just announced this conference about three months ago.

After flying back home to be with the fam on Sunday and Monday morning, I headed to Tampa for a flight to Salt Lake City to consult/train one of ASGA's founding member, Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Worked with them all day on Tuesday, then caught a red-eye flight back home, arriving at 11:00 a.m. on Wednesday.

I was so beat that I took a four-hour nap on Wednesday afternoon. Only now am I feeling rested. I really don't know how politicans speak day after day after day. I do know, actually. They have staff members that plan their flights, do their advance work, get them ready for trips, etc. I'm the "advance" team for ASGA's conferences, and we're still a growing organization and don't have the resources to have a full-time meeting planner on staff yet.

Traveling by plane now is a painful exercise, let me tell you. It's no fun sitting in a space about 18 inches across, squeezed in with two other seat-mates, for four or five hours. Making matters worse this latest trip was my computer battery failing. I spilled coffee on the computer a few weeks ago, and while the machine is still working fine, I think the battery is kaput. Ebay here I come!

All this travel is part of being a servant leader. It's part of my role to be on the road working with and serving SG leaders and advisors across the nation. The Weber State trip was a "no-fee" trip-- they won a free "training" at the last National Student Government Summit. So I made good on our promise and went out there.

Next up is a training with one of our members in South Carolina, Southern Wesleyan University, in mid September. Then we're off to the largest student government conference in the history of America, the fourth annual ASGA National Student Government Summit in late September in DC!

Connecting with your constituents

2008-08-07T12:43:00.003-04:00

Most students don't care about Student Government, even if the SG is a powerhouse and is influential. Most students don't think SG does anything for them personally.

We have to show students that we're involved in their lives and that we matter throughout the year. SGs can't just be visible during election season (when they bombard everyone with fliers and buttons and freebies and accost passersby to vote).

One of ASGA's goals this year is to make sure we communicate with our members throughout the year in many ways. We developed a plan yesterday to call each member institution four times a year, to try to answer questions and remind them of what we offer and the resources we have. We also will e-mail them monthly with the ASGA newsletter, fax periodically, and mail them with updates. It's our hope that we teach our members how ASGA can serve them.

Your SG can do the same. You should develop a strategic plan of how to interact with your constituents regularly, to solicit feedback, share news, get ideas, and show you care.

Connecting with our constituents makes us relevant in their lives and then we become indispensible to them.

Time for what's important

2008-08-04T15:10:00.002-04:00

As ASGA grows, the demands on my time as executive director are formidable. I could literally work 24 hours a day.

But I don't. My wife, children, and I have dinner together every night. Not only do we eat together, but we also read and discuss issues, laugh, and hear about the day's event and activities. I listen to what each of them has to say and what concerns or problems they may be having. Sometimes dinner lasts two hours.

It is an example of my focus on what is really important to me. I MAKE time to spend with my wife and children and it's not just scheduled to get it over with. It's a real time that matters to all of us.

Lately, with the price of gas, I have limited my trips into the office (I have a 40-minute commute), and instead am working two or three days from my home. This lets me play with the children, read to them, work around the house, and even go with them to events, like the local library talent show in which they performed last week.

All of this is intended to show that I'm trying to make time for what's important in my life. Student Government certainly isn't the reason I exist. Professionally, it is very important to me, and I see how our work can have lasting impact long-term.

But we should be more than our professions. We should do more than just our jobs. We must make time for what's truly important.

Reinventing the wheel

2008-08-01T14:58:00.004-04:00

Great leaders learn from the mistakes and successes of others. I sure didn't as a young leader. I blindly charged ahead, making costly errors one after the other. Over my 25-year career, I'm made some whoppers.

Fortunately, I've learned from most of my mistakes and also try my best to learn from others.

In Student Government, very little is "new under the sun." The project or service you're trying to provide or create probably has been done or tried before. You can save your SG a lot of time and pain by learning from those who already have done it, perhaps better than you as well.

That's what ASGA provides: a way for you to connect with other SG leaders and advisors who are in the same boat, are dealing with the same issues, are struggling with the same problems. Those of you who are ASGA members, take advantage of the vast resources we offer. Our team spends thousands and thousands of hours updating information on colleges and universities so you don't have to!

How to connect...

2008-07-30T13:53:00.003-04:00

Was looking at the SGA web site at Colgate University last night and noticed that the president and vice president both include links to their Facebook profiles. They have graphics next to their photos that encourage students to "friend" them.

This is the first time I've seen this used at an SGA web site, and I think it's a great idea.

Being a better leader is all about connecting with others who may know more than you or who can help you learn and improve. In this case, connecting with their peers is both wise and politically astute.

I encourage you to make sure your constituents can find you, can connect with you, and to make sure you have many ways of reaching out to them (phone, fax, e-mail, web, Facebook, MySpace, and more).

Take a risk to create

2008-07-29T12:09:00.004-04:00

When you create something that has never existed, there is risk and a lot of unknowns. When we founded ASGA, no one had ever developed a national resources specifically for student governments. There was no "blueprint" to use, no roadmap to follow. With constant input from our members, surveys, and research, we continue to hone and enhance our resources and change and improve to better serve our members.

The risk I spoke of shows up in lots of places. When we produce our national conference, for example, we sign a contract with a hotel that can handle 600 students and advisors. In return for waiving the fees on meeting space, the hotel requires to guarantee that they will generate 700 room nights. If the conference doesn't happen, for whatever reason, ASGA is then obligated to pay for the rooms that students/administrators would have used to come to the conference. Yesterday, the hotel's room "pick-up" report showed that conference attendees have now reserved enough rooms that ASGA has fulfilled its end of the contract. Whew!

There are risks when you start a new program or new initiative in your SG. There may not be financial risks like this, but there are risking to your reputation and that of your SG. But creating something from nothing is exciting and invigorating and can really serve the needs of your students. Take a risk this year to create!

Gimme a break!

2008-07-28T10:13:00.003-04:00

Most Student Governments continue to almost completely shut-down during the summer months. Why? Their members are interning, studying abroad, working, or resting up for the fall semester.

But most colleges and universities continue to operate and make important decisions during this time.

If your SG is on hiatus during the "break," it's time to reconsider this. At least have one person checking in with administrators once or twice a week to keep in touch. She can then inform the rest of your e-board and senate through e-mail. If you need to take action, you can arrange to vote electronically or by conference call.

It's time to "break" with the old and acknowledge that colleges and universities operate year-round. For an SG to not be up-and-running throughout the entire year is a mistake and a disservice to your constituents.

An honor to serve...

2008-07-24T21:41:00.008-04:00

I've been doing this Student Government training and research "thing" for more than 25 years now. Usually, it's not very glamorous, just a lot of hard work and research. We spend thousands of hours gathering and updating information and contacts for every college and university in America, for example.

But our work makes a difference in the lives of the student leaders and advisors who take advantage of ASGA's resources. Our work is important, and the knowledge of this makes all of the effort worth it.

It is an honor to earn the trust of hundreds of institutions that join ASGA because they believe we can help and serve them. We can help make them better. We take this responsbility seriously. The ASGA sees our role as servants-- servants to the student leaders and advisors who have the courage and foresight to understand that they can improve with a little help from the outside. That's ASGA.

I have the best job in the nation!

The first, the best, and the most

2008-07-23T11:54:00.004-04:00

Student Governments are pretty quick to say things like "we have the largest budget in the nation," or "we have the most members" or "we were the first to do...whatever."

With 5,100 student governments nationwide, nearly everything has been done before or tried before.

For example, Wesleyan University's WSA representatives bragged in their campus newspaper that they're the first student government to create an "endowment" using unused funds from their annual budget. This is hardly true. There are several examples of fiscally conservative student governments (Eastern Connecticut State University, the University of Wyoming, and several of the public institutions in California come to mind immediately) that have roll-over monies that they hold close each year.

One of ASGA's many strengths is our vast database that includes information like this on every student governnment in America. Our members can search this. They also can communicate with thousands of their peers using our list-servs.

Instead of reinventing the wheel, they can save time by using ASGA's resources.

Wesleyan's WSA does something, however, that is worthy of mention. They produce a mid-year progress report that is circulated to the campus press, students, and staff. This reminds WSA members about the progress that has been made on specific projects, and it always reminds them of what it left to be done. It can help them focus on marshalling their resources to focus on completing specific projects before their terms of office conclude.

Devoting our lives to improving student government

2008-07-17T15:29:00.005-04:00

The team that runs ASGA is made up of full-time professionals who specialize in student governance and student leadership. What makes ASGA so unique as a resource is our total focus on helping student governments improve. We live and breath student government every day and that simply makes us the best there is in the world at student government training. We're immersed in the research, data we gather on every school in America, and hundreds of e-mails we get daily. We also subscribe to campus newspaper newsfeeds and are constantly searching the web for new trends, hot issues, and solutions to problems.

Our members know that this is our mission. For me, as executive director, there is nothing more important to me (aside from my wife and children). It is my full-time mission in life: to improve America's government by training student leaders to be effective and ethical future public servants.

Always improving, always growing

2008-07-16T22:21:00.002-04:00

In my 25 years in student leadership, I've never encountered an SG organization that literally gets better by the minute. ASGA does.

We literally are growing and improving our resources every minute of every day during the work week. Our data team is gathering more information, we're conducting more research, adding new members, producing new conferences, and much more.

It's exciting to be part of something that is truly changing the face of student governments across America!

Advisors training

2008-07-16T12:23:00.001-04:00

Just got back from ASGA's Advisors conference in Miami. We had more attendees for the third year in a row. It was a good time to get to know some new, green advisors and also reconnect with other allies we've worked with for several years. I enjoyed having dinners two nights with our speakers, Chris, Vicky, and Suzette. They're super-smart people and share the vision of ASGA: improving student governments and in the long-run, improving our nation's government.

It was a long drive down and back (five hours each way), but I got home about 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night and was able to spend the day with my wife and children.

All in all, it was a great conference and ASGA continued to improve and grow and serve our members better. We learn from every one of the conferences we produce.

Join ASGA to improve your SG!

2008-07-16T12:02:00.002-04:00

ASGA is the national professional association serving and supporting collegiate student governments. Please see http://www.asgaonline.com/ for details.

ASGA has nearly 1,000 member institutions of all types and sizes nationwide.