SGC History

WSU Student Government Council (SGC) History 

Updated: July 2021

1989

WSU Campuses established

1990-91

  • Student government organizations established in Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver (constitutions modeled after Pullman's document)
  • S&A Fees generated by the branch campuses were funneled through the S&A committee process in Pullman. Campuses captured only about 30% of the S&A funds they were generating in the first few years and student government leaders had to travel to Pullman to request funds.

1992 - 1993

  • Student Government Council (SGC) established and constitution presented to Board of Regents on February 22 and approved on March 5, 1993: 
    • "This organization shall be known as the Washington State University Student Government Council, (WSUSGC) and shall constitute the official representative voice of the students attending all Washington State University campuses. "

1994

  • Tri-Cities (June 24) and Vancouver (August 6) constitution approved by the Board of Regents
  • SGC was a bit dormant in the mid 1990's and certainly not at all volatile. The ASWSU President was consistently selected as the SGC Chair. 

1996-1997

  • One representative is placed on the S&A Fee Committee in Pullman to represent other WSU campuses. 

1997-1998

  • Paul Dash, ASWSUV President, was elected Chair of SGC; Steve Wymer was the ASWSU President at the time 
  • Problem in Olympia -will the real voice of WSU students please stand up? In front of a legislative sub-committee, WSU SGC Chair, Paul Dash (WSU Vancouver), claims he is the voice of all WSU students and Steve Wymer (ASWSU President) claims he speaks for all WSU students. 
  • Spring - The first year that other campuses convened their own S&A committees. About sixty percent of S&A funds generated by other campus students were returned to their local S&A committees for allocation locally. 

1999

  • Resolution 10-14-99 from the SGC provided for incrementally increasing the percentage of S&A funds returned to the branch campuses from 60-80% over three years; for the Extended Degree Program it was from 30%-80% over a six-year period
  • Distance Degree Program  (now called Global Campus ) joins SGC

2001-2002

  • Called Student Government Presidents Council 
  • No SGC meetings

2002-2003

  • No summer or fall meetings
  • January -SGC resurrected with a meeting in Vancouver.
  • Working Document of the Washington State University System Student Government Council created and signed at Spokane meeting; April 5, 2003.
  • Decision made to meet four times/year and rotate to all WSU campuses . Each meeting had a core purpose:
    • Summer -team building/orientation
    • Fall - legislative agenda
    • Winter- student regent selection process
    • Spring -transition and year recap
  • New Memorandum of Agreement for Student Regent selection

2003-2004

  • The Board of Regents dissolved SGC as a constitutional ground since it was in conflict with the State of Washington RCW's. 

2005 - 2006

  • Revision to Memorandum of Agreement regarding Student Regent selection process
  • Spring (FY07)- 100% of S&A Fees returned to the urban campuses from which they were generated

2009 - 2010

  • Developed first Cougar Coalition MOU, requiring active due paying membership of all campuses for the WSA 
  • Cougar Coalition’s purpose is to coordinate all legislative initiatives, lobbying, and representation of the students of Washington State University by sharing priorities and visions. 
  • Required to determine the legislative priorities of the SGC 1x per year by vote 
  • WSU was paying dues to WSL (Washington Student Lobby) in 2009 and developing the MOU for the Cougar Coalition  

2010 (Jan)

  • Council begins to have a formal role in making recommendations regarding the university's Service and Activity Fee levels for the following year.

  • Campuses collectively leave Washington  Student Association 

2012 - 2013

  • Due to new student information system (zzusis, later name myWSU) each WSU campus now technically able to determine their S&A fee percentage (through their local S&A fee committees) 

2014 - 2015

  • Fall 2014 WSU North Puget Sound at Everett began attending SGC; elected their first student body president in spring 2015

2015 - 2016

  • ASWSU created at North Puget Sound at Everett and officially became the 7th member of SGC as approved by the Board of Regents

2016 - 2017

  • Established Chair and Vice-Chair positions, recommend that these positions represent different campuses. Chair, Melanie Thornton, GPSA President and Vice-Chair, Karl Nacalaban, ASWSUHS President
  • Revamped SGC governing documents, Constitution and Bylaws, passed on Dec 3, 2016
  • Passed 3 Resolutions: S&A Fee Education and Training, Grad-Prof Student Representation and Non-documented students and Sanctuary campus status

2017- 2018

  • Passed Resolution 2018.01 requesting Butch T. Cougar to be present on all WSU campuses. 
  • Established Board of Regent meeting presentations schedule for each student government association. 
  • Jordan Frost, ASWSUP President elected as Chair. 
  • Alec Sisneros, ASWSUHS President elected as Vice-Chair. 

2018-2019

  • ASWSUHS President, Johanna Pantig, elected as Chair.  
  • ASWSUTC President, Zach Harper, elected as Vice-Chair.  

2019 - 2020 

  • Formal letter sent to BOR in response to tuition increase​.
  • Added ad-hoc positions to the SGC. 
  • Official vote to create the SGC Coug Health Fund.​ 
  • SGC website made at sgc.wsu.edu​.
  • Established Vision and Mission Statement​.
  • Revised Constitution and Bylaws​.
  • Added vision and mission statement​ to Constitution.  
  • Clarified legislative committee roles. 
  • Resolution 2019.01, Adding Citizenship and Immigration to Protected Classes.​ 
  • Resolution 2019.02, Commitment to Equal Access of S&A fee benefits​.
  • Formal letter to WSU administration in response to COVID 19. 
  • Morgan Atwood, ASWSUG President, elected as chair.
  • Brandy Seignemartin, ASWSUHS VPLA, elected as vice-chair.

2020 - 2021 

  • Held first ever Virtual Coug Day at the Capitol 
  • Created memo in response to the cancellation of Spring Break 
  • Samantha Cruz, ASWSUP DoLA, elected as chair. 
  • Mando Antonion, ASWSUV President, elected as vice-chair.