Zack King, an NC State senior studying political science, was elected 2015-2016 president of the North Carolina Association of Student Governments, which represents more than 220,000 students on all 17 campuses in the UNC System.

As part of his role as president of ASG, King will have non-voting seat on the UNC Board of Governors.

King is currently the chief of staff of ASG, as well as on the Saint Jude’s National Vision Committee. 

King said the new administration will continue to transform ASG’s advocacy model to better serve students and represent their concerns to the UNC Board of Governors and the NC General Assembly. 

Student Senate President Cody Long is working on legislation that would, if passed, ask the Board to give a vote to the student with a seat on the Board of Governors. 

As president of ASG, King said he will be pushing similar legislation.

“Number one especially is continuing the fight to get the vote on the Board of Governors,” King said. “I really think that’s possible in the next year, maybe two years.”

Part of King’s role will include joining the search committee to find a replacement for UNC System President Tom Ross, who is being forced to vacate his position in January 2016.

“I think the most important thing, since we don’t have a vote, we just have a voice, is to call them out on it when I see it,” King said, in regards to the Board of Governors meetings. “I’ll call it as I see it. I’ll call them out when I say I think they’re playing politics.”

King said though he does have his own political views, it is not his job to have a political opinion. 

“My job is to be the surrogate of the student body presidents who are thereby the surrogates of all their students, and that’s how I get to be the voice of 220,000 students,” King said.

Current ASG president Alex Parker, a senior studying international studies, said this year was a critical year for ASG, but the next two or three years will be even more important as the state will decide if it is going to divest or invest in higher education.

   “Zack is going to be the first person to implement the changes to an advocacy model, setting an important precedent,” Parker said. 

King plans on having face-to-face meetings and engaging with the Board of Governors early next session to create a more effective relationship.

“They don’t really get to engage with us, so they kind of think of us as some rowdy students just causing them trouble, so just presenting that professional image helps the institution and helps us get the vote in the long run,” King said.

Davonte Belle, a UNC-Charlotte student, was elected senior vice president of ASG. 

Bell’s priorities for next year are centered on financial aid and veterans affairs. 

“I would like to focus on financial aid for each institution and make sure to stand up for Pell Grants to ensure that our students can afford to attend our institutions,” Bell said in an email. “I would also like to focus on veteran affairs and making sure that veterans have a smooth transition into the UNC System.”

Historically in ASG, student body presidents have been too busy to participate in all the ASG meetings, King said. The association plans on combating this by adding paid delegates appointed by their student body presidents to increase continuity between ASG and the schools it serves.

“I’d say the biggest shortcoming was just not having all the Student Body Presidents there and involved, especially from the larger schools,” King said. 

King said he is planning to reach out to UNC-Chapel Hill’s Study Body President-elect Houston Summers to get him involved in the process as early as possible. 

“We have a penalty process, and we won’t be afraid to use it to call out student body presidents who aren’t engaging, because they’re required to,” King said. 

ASG will also be collaborating with NC Comprehensive Community College Association. The association represents about 850,000 students, more than twice the amount of students in the UNC System. 

“I think if we work together we can get a lot done,” King said.

Parker said ASG did not show as much progress as he had hoped during his time in office. He said he would have liked to do more campus visits to talk about critical issues on campuses.

“When I was a freshman I wanted to get rid of ASG, but I’ve come a long way in making it more relevant,” Parker said.