Schedule

Are you the best SG in America? Before you start boasting, even the finest SGs have lots of room for improvement. And just because you control millions in student fees and get quoted in the campus paper doesn’t mean that you’re truly appreciated, respected, and actually get things done for your fellow students. The nation’s “Super SGs” have some key characteristics in common. This is your chance to finally find out how yours stacks up against the best. By taking ASGA’s “SG Effectiveness Test,” you’ll learn about your strengths and weaknesses and will get guidance on setting priorities and realistic goals to improve your SG now.

Delivery Format: Lecture style because of the amount of information provided. The presenter encourages feedback through direct questions throughout.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 3

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand the 13 key components that make up great SGs
• Know what to do first to improve
• Understand your SG’s current strengths and weaknesses

Many SGs make the same mistakes over and over, never learning from the past. In this workshop, you’ll discover the most common SG missteps, and most importantly, how to avoid these pitfalls during your term of office.

Delivery Format: Because of the significant amount of information provided in this session, it is presented in a lecture format. The presenter welcomes and encourages feedback through direct questions as well as fielding impromptu questions throughout. The presenter uses volunteers to illustrate key points.

Presentation Resources: The session utilizes Microsoft PowerPoint, as well as printed handouts.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 4

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand the importance of learning from the mistakes of others
• Brainstorm your own list of mistakes to avoid at your institution

Your SG must do something real that matters to fellow students if you ever want to be respected and appreciated. This workshop will give real examples of innovative and exciting “signature programs” that are being used by SGs nationwide to get the attention of students and administrators. These programs will make your SG much-admired and “relevant,” and will help you with everything from member recruiting to voter turnout to relations with administrators.

Delivery Format: Because of the significant amount of information provided, it is presented in a lecture format. The presenter welcomes and encourages feedback through direct questions as well as fielding impromptu questions throughout.

Presentation Resources: The session utilizes Microsoft PowerPoint, printed handouts, and props.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 4

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Be aware of the 800 programs you could bring to your campus
• Understand what makes a “signature program” and how you find one that will work for you
• Understand which signature programs are best

Social media shouldn’t just capture attention, but inspire action. Just Keep Watching explores how student leaders and students can transform everyday campus moments into reels that stop the scroll, tell compelling stories, and encourage students to get involved. Students will discover what makes audiences keep watching, how to develop content pillars, create stronger hooks, batch content, and turn campus experiences into engaging short-form video. Through real examples, students will leave with strategies for creating consistent, authentic content that celebrates student life, strengthens campus connection, and moves students from simply watching to attending, joining, sharing, and engaging.

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Identify the key elements of scroll-stopping Reels, including strong hooks, relatability, emotion, curiosity, storytelling, and calls to action
• Develop strategic content pillars that create consistency while showcasing campus life, student leadership, events, and authentic student experiences
• Create a Reel concept using a clear hook, storyline, content pillar, and call to action designed to encourage student involvement
• Apply content planning and batch-filming strategies to efficiently produce consistent social media content that strengthens campus connection and inspires action.

The times we live in have exposed a major weakness for most Student Governments: our web sites are outdated, inaccurate, and just plain bad. Also, our social networks are drastically underutilized. This workshop will provide tangible instructions on how to improve our entire web presence.

Presentation Resources: This session utilizes the internet.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 4

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand what should be included at our SG web site
• Learn how to utilize social media to engage our student body
• Recognize the importance of focusing on web/social media

This interactive game show will help you understand the history of SG, trends, firsts, largest budgets, highest voter turnout and more. At the end of the 50-question quiz, you’ll know if you’re an SG expert.

Delivery Format: This workshop is presented as an interactive game-show with attendees as guests.

Presentation Resources: This session utilizes ASGA’s online quiz and handouts.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 5

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand the history of Student Governments
• Know trends, firsts, mosts, and highest on many SG topics
• Understand where your SG stands compared to other SGs

A great SG election doesn’t start when voting opens. First find the right students to run. Then you need clear rules, polls students can actually see, and advertising they can’t ignore. Learn how to recruit better candidates, prevent common election problems, create the “Perfect Poll,” and make your election impossible to miss. We’ll also tackle candidate training, debates, inaugurations, and what happens after the votes are counted. Come ready to rethink how your SG runs elections.

Delivery Format: This fast-paced workshop combines practical instruction, audience participation, and interactive exercises. Questions, ideas, and real campus election experiences are encouraged throughout.

Presentation Resources: Microsoft PowerPoint and printed handouts.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 4

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Recruit stronger candidates instead of waiting for them to show up
• Prevent common problems that derail SG elections
• Make voting easier to find, easier to understand, and more visible
• Promote an election students actually notice
• Take home specific ideas to improve their next SG election

We all like to think our SG can change the world, but the reality is more brutal. Even the greatest SGs in America are limited in their authority, “power,” and influence. Can you really stop tuition increases, get more financial aid from the federal government, and build a new parking garage? This brutally frank session tells the truth about which projects, issues, and programs you can take on successfully—and which ones are doomed to fail.

Delivery Format: Because of the significant amount of information provided in this session, it is presented in a lecture format. However, half of the workshop is an interactive exercise that includes all participants working in small groups. The presenter welcomes and encourages feedback through direct questions as well as fielding impromptu questions throughout.

Presentation Resources: The session utilizes Microsoft PowerPoint, as well as printed handouts.

Level of Interactivity (from 1 to 5, five being very interactive): 4

Learning Outcomes. After attending this session, participants should be able to:

• Understand which issues are impossible, possible, and probable to make a difference
• Understand how to prioritize your work on issues that are realistic
• Determine how much time to spend on lobbying