Student government goes to D.C.

Representatives from the Austin Community College Student Government Associa-tion visited Washington, D.C. and met with Texas politicians as part of the American Student Government National Conference.

Fifteen students attended workshops Sept. 27-30 and met with Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchi-son, Rep. Lloyd Doggett, whose district includes Hays, Caldwell, and southern Travis County; aides to Rep. Mike Conaway, whose district stretches from the Hill Country to the New Mexico border; and aides to Sen. John Cornyn.

"We learned a lot and I think we'll make a much more effective student government," said Brad Burnett, SGA's Director of Communications.

Besides Burnett, in atten-dance were faculty advisors Marisa Walden and Shelley Bowers, SGA President Josh Whitcomb, Vice President Ivan Doyle, Secretary John Truitt, Treasurer Grace Tan, Senate Chair Robert Daley, Parliamentarian Mike Reid, and senators from Cypress Creek, Eastview, Northridge, Rio Grande, and South Austin campuses.

Although a planned informal coffee meeting with Sen. Hutchison turned into a brief photo op, student representa-tives said they found policy discussions with Rep. Doggett and aides to Rep. Conway and Sen. Cornyn productive.

"We stressed the importance of community colleges in the education system" said Burnett. "[Rep. Doggett] seemed most in touch with community colleges."

And in what may lead to a future visit by a representative, SGA left legislators with an invitation to speak at ACC. Other student representa-tives agreed. Rio Grande Sena-tor Margaret Drake-Studstill said, "That went really well, it meant a lot to us."

One policy matter of inter-est brought to the legislators was the No Child Left Behind Act, which has been criticized by ACC student representatives as detrimental and discouraging to potential college students, due to standardized testing and funding.

"It is not realistically funded," said SGA President Whitcomb. "It's geared nation-ally so they don't specifically target states … it is a detriment to the student."

Rio Grande Sen. Drake-Studstill agreed with the president. "It discourages students," she said.

Although there was talk of policy matters, the conference was primarily focused around promoting student government visibility, working with students and administrators, and work-ing together with other student representatives. Student representatives said that there was little to no dis-cussion of lobbying in the many roundtables (ASGA does not lobby, and prefers to leave such efforts to individual student governments), but attempted it regardless.

"Without community colleges many Texas students would not be able to go to college," said President Whitcomb. "They are even more important than a 'backbone,'" referring to the ACC Board of Trustees' recent characterization of the role community colleges play in response to Gov. Perry's veto of junior college health benefits.

During workshops institu-tions were separated according to their type due to the inher-ent differences in factors such as size, budget, and organiza-tion across different schools. According to the ASGA's Web site, community college govern-ment organizations are "up and down" in their effectiveness, due to the non-traditional and fluid nature of the student body. When strong leaders leave, the effectiveness of the government can slip. "They usually have to start over almost from scratch just about every year," according to the ASGA Web site. To confront this dilemma, student governments were put through training seminars on marketing and infrastruc-ture (such as the adoption of by-laws and election codes), but also greater concerns such as building credibility with students and administrators in order to move weak governments away from solely concentrating on activities or "party-organizing" and into policy advocacy.

Also, student representatives learned that many states require an elected student to be allowed a place on the respective college's board of trustees, who are elected from the taxpaying public. Texas has no such requirement, although Sen. Drake-Studstill said she would like to see an SGA seat on the board. Currently, Presi-dent Whitcomb reports to the board monthly.

"Through the many activities that we did together, we became a closer, more cohesive group," said Burnett. "Becoming a closer group will allow us to communicate more openly and problem-solve more completely, taking student government to new heights in representing the student body of Austin Community College."