New National Professional Association for Student Governments Debuts

GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA (3/04)-- The nation's first-ever organization exclusively dedicated to helping Student Governments at American colleges and universities grow, improve, and connect officially launched on March 17, 2004, after 18 months of development. See www.asgaonline.com.

This new national professional organization is simply the most helpful and useful information, networking, and research resource ever created for SG leaders and advisors, according to Executive Director W.H. "Butch" Oxendine, Jr., publisher and editor in chief of Student Leader magazine. Already, ASGA has been accepted into the prestigious Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) and will be charged with setting Student Government standards for the entire nation in the coming years.

"ASGA is going to revolutionize Student Governments across America," Oxendine says. "ASGA will help Student Governments at all types of colleges and universities nationwide, no matter how good or bad they are right now, to become more effective and more influential. This will create Student Governments that better serve their constituents--their fellow students."

As Oxendine says, SG leaders have never before had their own national "advocate" organization, such as the National Association for Campus Activities (NACA) or the National Association for Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), organizations that serve collegiate administrators.

"ASGA is the nation's number-one advocate about the importance of having an effective, influential, and autonomous Student Government," Oxendine says. "It's clear that there's a correlation between a strong Student Government and an excellent student-affairs experience for students at all types of colleges and universities across America."

ASGA launched with 100 Founding Members representing nearly three dozen states and all types of colleges and universities, ranging from large-enrollment public universities to small religious private colleges. The Founding Members all completed the ASGA survey at www.asgaonline.com, Oxendine says, and throughout ASGA's development offered constructive criticism and feedback in helping shape the resources and services ASGA now offers members.

ASGA members can access the first-ever national searchable database of all 4,500 college and university Student Government in America. This "SG Database" includes officer and advisor contacts; budgets; SG structure; funding mechanisms; election codes; constitutions; by-laws; job descriptions; compensation; web sites; lists of major accomplishments; strengths and weaknesses; advisor experience; and examples of "best practices" that ASGA members can tailor to use on their own campuses.

"Nothing like the SG Database has ever existed," Oxendine says. "ASGA members can find exactly the information they want about any Student Government in America quickly and easily at the ASGA web site without haphazardly and blindly surfing around the web hoping to chance upon what they need. We see ASGA's SG Database saving our members hours of wasted time, energy, and resources. ASGA will help them get the information they need to do their jobs more efficiently and effectively."

Oxendine says that training collegiate Student Government leaders now will lead to more committed servant leaders in the future. "We all know that the student leaders serving right now will become our federal, state, and local officials in the next couple of decades," Oxendine says. "ASGA is going to help train ethical leaders, who will later serve our nation and our communities effectively, listening to their constituents' needs."

"ASGA is the most exciting project that I've ever been associated with," Oxendine says. "It's a ground-breaking project that is going to have a major positive impact on higher-education institutions in the coming years."

ASGA was founded by the same team that publishes Student Leader magazine (see www.studentleader.com) and the 20-year-old statewide education magazine Florida Leader (see www.floridaleader.com). For more than 21 years, Oxendine Publishing, based in Gainesville, Florida, has published magazines, books, web sites, and consulting and speaker services for the higher-education community. Florida Leader also administers the prestigious 18th annual "Florida College Student of the Year Award" (see www.floridaleader.com/soty) and sponsors the 16th annual "Best of Florida Schools Awards."

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To receive a temporary username and password to view ASGA's members-only "SG Database" and other member resources, please contact Mr. Oxendine at asga@studentleader.com or by calling toll-free 1-877 ASK ASGA (1-877-275-2742).

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