ASGA Celebrates First Anniversary

Contact: W.H. “Butch” Oxendine, Jr. Executive Director
Phone: 352-373-6907
E-mail: info@asgaonline.com
Web: http://www.asgaonline.com

National Student Government Association Celebrates First Anniversary

(March 17, 2005) -- The American Student Government Association (ASGA) celebrates its first anniversary on March 17, 2005, riding on a wave of unprecedented achievements since its debut as the first-ever professional association serving Student Government leaders and their advisors at colleges and universities across America.

ASGA (see www.asgaonline.com) launched on March 17, 2004 with 100 Founding Member institutions nationwide. Since then, 100 more institutions of all types and sizes have joined– ASGA now has recruited 200 member institutions from 41 states, D.C., and the Bahamas. “It’s arguable that ASGA is the fastest-growing higher education organization in history,” says W.H. “Butch” Oxendine, Jr., ASGA Founder and Executive Director.

In addition to its 200 member institutions, ASGA daily gathers intensive data on all 4,700 higher-education institutions in America, compiling and categorizing everything from information on officers, advisors, and administrators to SG documents, campus media, strengths and weaknesses, accomplishments, and signature programs. All of this information is categorized and is instantly searchable by ASGA members looking for best-practices, precedent, and networking contacts. ASGA members can compare their institutions to other institutions that are similar based on enrollment-size, type, size of city, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and other parameters.

This past weekend ASGA just concluded its first conference, the “Northeast Student Government Training Conference” (see www.asgaonline.com/conferences) at Villanova University in Philadelphia, PA. “Many attendees said this SG conference was the most impactful they’ve ever attended in their lives,” Oxendine says. “This intense one-day conference may have been the most productive training opportunity these students have ever experienced.” ASGA has several additional conferences planned in 2005, including the “National Student Government Summit” in Washington, D.C. on September 8-11, 2005.

ASGA’s senior leadership recently formed the first-ever consulting firm devoted exclusively to student governance issues, The SG Consulting Group (see www.sgconsultant.com). The SG Consulting Group analyzes the “client” Student Government through exhaustive research, offers in-person training, then presents an unbiased report on its strengths and weaknesses and offers constructive feedback on possible improvements, based on the consultants’ knowledge of national precedent and trends. The SG Consulting Group recently has served the University of Dayton, Hendrix College, and recently contracted with Austin Peay State University. “ASGA is most helpful when we can interact one-on-one with SGs about their unique situations and problems,” Oxendine says. “No one has ever given SGs this intense level of personal attention and individually tailored analysis.”

ASGA members also have access to massive list-serves for advisors and SG leaders, as well as complimentary legal advice, and many other member resources.

Additionally, ASGA conducts research on student governance issues such as the percentage of students from traditionally marginalized backgrounds who are elected SG presidents (11 percent of SG Presidents nationwide are African American) and the percentage of women serving in SG (54% nationwide). ASGA also is tracking data that never before compiled, such as the academic major, gender, ethnicity, year in school, and program of study for student leaders. “ASGA also is gathering data on SG advisors, and for example now has evidence that the average SG advisor has less than five years of experience,” Oxendine says. “ASGA’s SG Database will permit ASGA to report on trends over the next decade and longer on who is serving in Student Government.”

As Oxendine says, ASGA is a powerfully useful resource for Student Government leaders and their administrators nationwide. “There has never been another organization with the depth and breadth of what ASGA offers its members,” he says.

“As we offer more conferences and consulting, SGs and their advisors get to know that this is a serious, deep resource that literally gets better by the day,” Oxendine says. “We think ASGA is going to positively revolutionize how SGs operate in the coming years, and that is a positive development for the higher education community.

”When a school has a strong and effective SG, it aids the institutions in many tangible ways.” Oxendine says. “SG can help recruit new students who enroll to get involved in SG and other clubs, retain existing students by encouraging more campus involvement overall, and also build a loyal alumni base of former SG leaders who love their school and desire to give back. A strong SG is not something to fear, but to desire. ASGA is helping SGs become more effective and influential, and that is a major positive for all colleges and universities nationwide, and in fact, our nation, as so many former SG leaders end up as public servants.”

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