Guest Column:

ASUM lobbies for the needs of students

By Megan Block, Legislative Director for ASUM

Published Feb. 27, 2007

The Associated Students of the University of Missouri was established three decades ago with one mission in mind: to serve as the student voice in the state legislature. Although the legislative process is slow and deliberate, this voice has produced several tangible results, including the "Bright Flight" scholarship and a student representative on the University's Board of Curators. Thirty years later, the voice of our 68,000 students continues to be represented in the halls of Missouri's capitol by ASUM student lobbyists. It is also represented in Washington, D.C., by the ASUM federal intern.

The mission of ASUM seems simple enough, but complexity abounds. Extending to all four campuses in the UM system, the organization's governing board, known as the ASUM Board of Directors, must constantly evolve to adjust to the ebb-and-flow of campus differences and student turnover. The ASUM Summit, held February 24, is a perfect example of this adjustment. Determined to find a more effective way of governing the organization, the Board of Directors convened to reevaluate its goals and purpose.

By the end of the day, the Board's actions were no longer suspended.

What makes ASUM even more complex is the difference between the Board of Directors and the legislative program. The Board of Directors is now composed of three students from each of the four UM system campuses, and its purpose is to approve the organization's budget, as well as the selection of the legislative staff members, interns and policy. In other words, the Board of Directors serves as a governing body, and as such, it is not involved in the day-to-day actions of the legislative team.

Meanwhile, the legislative staff, consisting of the graduate adviser, legislative director and assistant legislative director, selects the interns from all four campuses in the fall, trains them before the session begins and proposes ASUM's legislative priorities for the following year. Beginning in January, the legislative team works in Jefferson City several days per week. As registered lobbyists, they meet with legislators, prepare fact sheets for issues regarding higher education, testify on behalf of UM students in House and Senate committees and serve as constant resources on student issues.

While the Board of Director's actions were suspended, it was "business as usual" for the legislative team. Since the beginning of this legislative session, ASUM's interns have met with every member of the Missouri General Assembly, have circulated several fact sheets and have kept abreast of higher education issues, such as MOHELA. Half of them have testified before committees. All of these actions carry out the mission of ASUM and ensure the voice of the 68,000 students in the UM System will never be silenced in state government.