The Associated Students of Michigan State University (ASMSU) has served as the student government for Michigan State University’s roughly 36,000 undergraduate students for almost 50 years. In addition to representing students to the Board of Trustees and MSU’s Administration, ASMSU also advocates on behalf of MSU students at the city, state, and federal levels on a variety of student initiatives. While ASMSU takes great pride in representing the undergraduate student voice at MSU, ASMSU also provides several programs and services such as free iClicker rentals, free bluebooks, discounted test preparation courses, free yearbooks, and free newspapers. Throughout the year, ASMSU allocates over $300,000 to various student groups and organizations across campus for various events and programming opportunities. With nearly 100 employees and an annual budget of roughly $1.5 million, ASMSU also serves as a valuable learning experience for a variety of majors and is the second largest employer of MSU’s undergraduate students.

The Council of Graduate Students (COGS) is the official governance entity for the 11,000 MSU graduate and professional students. COGS’ main purpose is to advocate for the needs of its diverse constituency. We also provide several funding opportunities for graduate students and student organizations. Additionally, COGS will hold several events throughout the course of the year to enable graduate & professional students to interact across departments and colleges, including hosting a tailgate for the first home football game this Friday.

Jointly, our organizations also provide legal services and short-term, emergency loans to students. These services have proven to be substantially helpful to students who are in need of legal or financial assistance. We encourage you to engage with your student government groups and let your voice be heard, as both of our organizations are here to serve and be accountable to students. Your participation and input is critical in helping to shape the student experience here at MSU.

Many thanks & Go Green!

Stefan Fletcher is the president of the Council of Graduate Students. Evan Martinak is the president of the Associated Students of Michigan State University.