The Association of Student Governments (ASG) provides a platform for representatives from the 17 UNC-System schools to voice concerns and ideas on behalf of their respective institutions. Additionally, the ASG president, who is elected by the ASG General Assembly, serves as an ex officio member of the UNC Board of Governors.
Campuses have delegates who serve as liaisons between their student bodies and ASG.
Emma Carter, a second-year studying criminology and international studies, currently serves as the ASG delegate for NC State. NC State’s delegate is appointed by the student body president and requires a majority confirmation by the Student Senate.
“My biggest task as [a delegate] would be hosting an event on campus that deals with whatever the topic is for that year, so for this year it is sexual assault awareness,” Carter said. “We are working toward the first week of April to host a couple of events that we want to and are hoping to do.”
The delegates serve in committees including Campus Outreach, Governmental Outreach, Media Outreach, Budget and Finance and Internal Affairs. These committees discuss the issues that are facing each UNC-System campus.
ASG is funded by student fees. That money is used to fund the salary of the adviser, to finance monthly meeting expenses such as travel and food and to fund grants that institutions can apply for.
The Budget and Finance Committee provides funds for registered campus organizations. These funds, limited to $3,000 per request, may be used for “innovative programs, projects and events,” according to the ASG website.
“People will send in a grant application and one of ours was from our Traditions Department here and they wanted to host an event on campus and they just needed funds for T-shirts, different items to hand out, things like that.” Carter said.
Student Body President Jackie Gonzalez, a fourth-year studying political science, is a member of the NC State delegation and serves on the Council of Student Body Presidents.
“What Emma has been trying to do is to encourage organizations to go get some of this money because we have this funding option that they pay into as well,” Gonzalez said. “It is only fair for them to know about that and not just Student Government.”
ASG does not directly affect what students can and cannot do on campus; however, it does impact student resources both on NC State’s campus and on other UNC System campuses.
“What we do here can affect ASG,” Carter said. “For instance, some schools don’t have an LGBT center, but we do. That is something that we advocate for, and so having that experience can give that to other schools on the ASG level. We can kind of help where other schools are lacking and they can help where we are lacking.”
