Student Government Association Records

The collection spans from 1940-2003 with the bulk ranging from 1967-present. This collection spans the history of the organization since the time of World War II.

Materials that relate to the founding of the SGA can be found in the first series of the collection which contains the early records. By the mid 1950s when the college was beginning its transition from a teacher's college to a liberal arts college, the cohesiveness between students, faculty and staff began to fade at the school. According to the minutes of the CGA during the spring of 1956, it was agreed that the CGA no longer made sense it the manner it was run and it should be run solely by the students.

The collection contains twenty-one ledger books containing budget reports, student loan records, minutes from SGA meetings, roll book of the SGA members, and phone logs. There are also loose pages from ledger books containing budget records of the SGA clubs and organizations from the 1980s. The collection also contains several photographs of various events, students, faculty/staff/administration, and buildings throughout the history of WCSU.

The focal point of the SGA collection is found in the numerous folders containing various different items from the SGA. Most of the items deal directly with the SGA, but some have a more indirect connection with the organization. Items that directly deal with the SGA include the following: minutes and agendas from SGA meetings, budget reports and club budget requests, records of SGA members during selected years. Also, coverage of some of the SGA elections, SGA activities and programs, letters and other correspondences, student court matters, surveys and evaluations, and other miscellaneous items, are included in this collection. Items indirectly related include the following: minutes from Board of Trustees, Boards of Governors, Student Advisory Board, Student Life Committee, and faculty and University senate meetings. The collection includes promotional material and pamphlets, Student Union/Center matters, budget and tuition information, and external WestConn issues. It also contains WestConn-related clippings from newspapers, primarily the News-Times and The Echo.

Some items of particular interest contained in this collection:

Pub Committee: During the 1970s, a Pub Committee was formed with the goal of establishing a pub/bar on campus. While the records of this committee aren't extensive, they provide some insight to one of the more controversial subjects at the university.

Newsletters: there is a vast collection of newsletters that the SGA subscribed to during the 1980s. These newsletters include Collegiate Headlines, Intercollegiate Press Bulletins, National On-Campus Report, American Student Association, United States Student Association, and Education Update. Most of these publications range from 1981-1990. Some issues are missing but provide a good summary of information about student life at this college and others during this time. There is also a copy of the History of Western Connecticut State College: 75 Years, 1903-1978 by Dr. Charlotte Isham in 1978.

This collection, for the most part, has been arranged in a chronological order. However, starting in 1968, the collection is arranged according to the records of the SGA president during that academic year(s). Individual documents are assigned the date range of the President to whom the records emmanated; however, while some records are dated before or after that tenure they have been left with the records of the president that they were originally associated when processed. The result is that some documents will have one date in their title and another in their date field. Starting with Bruce Giffin, the SGA president during the 1968-69 academic year, all the SGA presidents are listed with the term years they served. It should be noted that in some cases, records that fall under a particular SGA president might not be in the year(s) of his/her term. For instance, Mark Block, SGA president during the 1982-83 academic year, has items contained that came from before he was president. In cases like this, because it dealt directly with the SGA president or something during his/her presidency, it was vital to keep it with that president. Sometimes records cover a time span that does not fall under one presidential term. In case like this, it is filed by the years it covers starting with the first year. The files are arranged under each SGA president with the SGA internal matters at the beginning of it. In most cases, the minutes of the SGA meetings are filed first. There is also a separate box with legal sized folders. Most of these contain SGA legislation bills that span from 1973-1992. They are also arranged chronologically by the SGA president at that time. The photographs were taken for use in the yearbooks and Echo. Effort was made to identify all the images in the photographs. However, this proved to be difficult and while many have been identified, some have not and/or are not complete. Also, due to the difficulty in identifying these images, some may have not been properly identified. Yearbooks and The Echo were used to aid in the identifying process. Copies of The Echo were removed from this collection and are available in Student Publications Collection in the Haas Library Archives and Special Collections.