Upcoming Conferences in Portland and Texas
January 29, 2014
Student government leaders in the northwest and southwest both have the opportunity to attend great student government conferences next month.Read more
News Roundup: FSU, Penn State, and more
January 23, 2014
This week's student government news including stories on tuition breaks for veterans, efforts to increase campus safety, and a project to make a campus more bike-friendly.
In-State Tuition for Veterans
Florida State University's Student Government Association visited the State Capitol to show their support for a bill that would grant in-state tuition at public colleges to veterans who were honorably discharged from the military. FSU has previously declared that it aims to be the most veteran-friendly university in the country.Read more
Organizing Tips: Getting Media Coverage
April 21, 2013
Getting media coverage for your projects helps you educate the public, urge decision-makers to take action, and build visibility for your student government. You can get your issues covered in student-run media outlets on your campus, as well as off-campus media outlets.
Here are the steps to getting media coverage on one of your issues.Read more
Organizing Tips: Making Class Announcements
March 22, 2013
Class announcements are one of the most effective recruitment tactics you can use to identify potential volunteers for your student government. Here are some tips on how to do them.
What you need:
- A class announcement "script"
- Student government "interest cards"
- Professors to let you make the announcements
- You and other student government members to actually make the announcements
Organizing Tips: Leadership Development
February 11, 2013
To be effective, a student government needs a deep bench of leaders who are willing to take on responsibility and help coordinate different projects. Many student governments struggle because they only have a small group of students who are taking on real responsibility. Those student leaders tend to end up overburdened and burned out, and those student governments often struggle from year to year because they don't have new students who are ready to replace the graduating leaders.
Student governments that constantly develop new leaders are able to tackle more projects, keep their members motivated, and keep their organization vibrant from year to year.Read more
Organizing Tips: Get-Out-The-Vote Drives
January 18, 2013
Voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives are popular projects for student governments. Here are a few tried and true tactics for effectively getting out the student vote.
The most effective way to increase voter turnout is by contacting students individually to remind them to vote. There are lots of ways to do this.Read more
Organizing Tips: Holding a Press Conference
November 10, 2012
Generating media attention for your issue is a great way to educate the campus and the public, put pressure on decision-makers to take action, and build your student government's visibility and name recognition.
A press conference is a short event where you invite reporters to cover something newsworthy. For example, you could hold a press conference to:
- Release the results of a survey or a study
- Launch a new campaign
- Culminate a campaign or part of a campaign (at the end of your voter registration drive, petition drive, etc.)
- Highlight a big event (e.g., at the launch of your community service day)
Here's what you need to do to make your press conference a success.Read more
Organizing Tips: Running Productive Meetings
October 24, 2012
Running a productive meeting is a skill. Once you learn it, your meetings will accomplish more, they'll be better attended, and your members will feel like part of a community.
Here are seven ground rules for running a productive meeting.Read more
Organizing Tips: Building a Student Vote Coalition
October 3, 2012
One of the best ways to get decision-makers to pay attention to students is to make sure that students get to the polls and vote during elections.
If you want to run a big voter registration and get-out-the-vote project, building a campus-wide coalition is key to your success. Having a broad Student Vote coalition lets you run the biggest possible voter registration drive by bringing together groups with a range of resources.Read more
Organizing Tips: Planning a Big Event
September 18, 2012
Whether it's a rally, a day of community service, an educational forum, or a community town hall, big events are often important to your success.
Why organize big events?
- They can help you win your campaigns. Big events can help you get your message across to a decision-maker, generate media attention for an issue, educate the public, etc.
- They create a ton of good visibility for your student government.
- They are a chance to team up with important people on campus and build your relationship with them. Events provide an opportunity to work closely with other student organizations, campus administrators, local VIPs, etc.
- They help to develop more leaders within your student government. You need a lot of people in your student government to step up and take on more responsibility. Helping plan a big event is a good chance for up-and-coming students to learn the skills that will make them better leaders.