Mission Statement
The Arizona Students’ Association is an organization directed and funded by Arizona’s public university students. ASA works to make sure that higher education in Arizona is affordable and accessible by advocating to elected officials and running issue campaigns to engage students.
ASA BLOG
ASA Seeks Government Affairs Fellows
August 30, 2010
The ASA Government Affairs Fellowships are positions open to undergraduate or graduate students currently enrolled at Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, or the University of Arizona for the Fall 2010 academic semester. Throughout the semester, fellows will work on issues affecting students at the campus and university-system, and state levels. Fellows will work at their respective campuses, but can expect to travel for job-related business. The fellowships will give students a thorough knowledge of state processes and the role that research and advocacy play in those processes. Fellows will be provided with nationally-recognized trainings, networking and mentoring opportunities, and the ability to make a difference in higher education for the greater benefit of the student and university community by conducting policy research and drafting policy reports.
ASA Launches First Legislative Report Card
August 11, 2010
At the beginning of the 2009-2010 legislative sessions, the ASA Board of Directors, made up of students from across the state, established legislative priorities. Throughout the year, ASA vocalized student stories, gathered research and letters of support, and testified at committee hearings. The bills were student-drafted and advocated by ASA as the statewide organization that represents the united voice of Arizona’s public university students.
As advocated by ASA, S1186 will strengthen efforts to ease the transfer of community college credits to the state’s universities by matching course-numbers for 100 and 200 level courses. H2668 will formalize student government civic engagement efforts with university administration to expand voter access for college students.
The following report card showcases each legislator’s votes on the ASA bill, as well as details votes on how each voted on university budget cuts. There is additional information which highlights who were amazing statewide student advocates.
Here is the 2009 - 2010 ASA Legislative Report Card Cover and the ASA Legislative Report Card.
University Students Urge Regents Not to Cut “AIMS Scholarship”
The Arizona Students’ Association (ASA), a statewide advocacy organization representing all of Arizona’s public university students, continues its opposition to proposed cuts in the Regents High Honors Endorsement Award, also known as the AIMS Scholarship. Elma Delic, ASA Board Chair and a student at the University of Arizona, released the following statement:
The Arizona Students’ Association opposes any cuts to financial aid programs, especially when tuition has dramatically increased and Arizona’s students and families planned on receiving this scholarship.
The AIMS Scholarship has provided an incentive to Arizona’s high school students; that if they work hard and pass the AIMS test, they would be rewarded with an academic award in the amount of in-state tuition at any of Arizona’s universities. Many students in Arizona have planned on receiving this scholarship since this program has begun and many are working hard to utilize this as the key to higher education, as can be seen by the steady increase in recipients.
Currently, the AIMS Scholarship is the only form of financial aid that is keeping pace with the dramatic tuition increases over the past few years. In the past three years alone, tuition has increased 63 percent, causing many scholarships to become inadequate.
The concerns of the universities stem from the fact that tuition has dramatically increased causing the AIMS Scholarship to no longer be viable within its current funding mechanism.
“Cutting financial aid should never be used as a cost-saving measure since it directly impacts both accessibility and affordability,” said Delic. “It is therefore the Arizona Board of Regents and the universities’ responsibility to provide due diligence in examining this program prior to making any substantive changes to minimize the harm to any future recipient of the award.
Click here to view the entire student proposal
Click here to view the original proposal from the Arizona Board of Regents
Click here to view the most recent proposal from the Arizona Board of Regents
