Transitioning well is key

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

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...

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.