The Association for Student Governments, which represents all 17 campuses and 220,000 students in the UNC System, proposed a change to disband several of the current issue-based committees in the group in order to create new working groups.
The government relations, university affairs and campus communities committees are set to be replaced by a legislative working group, a media working group and a campus outreach group.
The Government Relations Committee looks at legislative priorities and advocates for students based on what comes out of the NC General Assembly or local town halls. The Campus Communities Committee is currently focused on sexual assault prevention.
The legislative strategies and outreach working group will write open letters, go on advocacy trips and maintain a higher presence in the general assembly than the committees they will be replacing, according to Zack King, a senior studying political science and chief of staff of the Association of Student Governments.
The media strategies and outreach working group will create press releases, a multimedia campaign, video creation, social media presence and newsletters. An example of what the group would produce is the promotional video NC State’s Student Government made for the ‘It’s On Us’ campaign to combat sexual assault.
The campus strategies and outreach working group will visit campuses and conduct surveys, polls and outreach system-wide, connecting student organizations across campuses, King said.
Alex Parker, a senior studying international studies and president of the ASG, said he, Vice President of ASG Leigh Whittaker and King would be drafting the bill for the reading during the February session.
Whittaker said she enjoyed participating in working groups at a national leadership conference that she attended, which inspired her to bring them back to the UNC System.
“It felt like we were actually doing something for students rather than just writing legislation,” Whittaker said. “It just felt more meaningful,”
King said this would allow the group to be more task-oriented, with everyone working on multiple issues where the working groups will be focused on more real-world issues.
Not many students are able to tell their story to legislators or the Board of Governors, so ASG has a responsibility and a privilege to represent students, Whittaker said.
“Last year [Parker and I] were both student body presidents, and we noticed that ASG wasn’t as effective as it could be,” Whittaker said.