You may have heard of ASB before. It stands for Associated Student Body and is also known as Student Government. In college, ASB isn’t just a popularity contest. They are here to help students any way they can.

The ASB office is located on the second floor of the Student Activities Center (building 44). Some might only know of this place because that is where you get your student ID, but they do much more than just print out ID’s. A whole range of services is detailed at the ASB website.

Per their charter, “The Associated Student Body (ASB) exists to serve and represent the entire Victor Valley College student population. The ASB Council is an 18-member group of elected student leaders who volunteer to advance the interests of higher education, coordinate student activities, and improve communication between students, faculty, administration, and the High Desert community.”

So what does that mean to you? Simply put, there are 18 different positions that people volunteer for, and they are either voted for or appointed by the council itself. These positions range from being the president of ASB to a fine arts senator to an activities senator. 

Each senator has a specific role, but they all work together to try and make the overall student experience better. Sometimes that means putting on fun events. Other times they’re advocating at government levels to get things changed for community colleges across the country.

ASB doesn’t just do things locally. They go to different parts of the country, like Nashville or Washington DC, with other community colleges to speak in front of government officials about what changes they want to see for community colleges.

Jacob Nobles, the inner club counselor senator at VVC, described this process. He meets with students clubs every month to see what their plans are and how they are doing. According to Nobles, if you want to make your own club, you have to go through ASB. You fill out a club charter form and turn it into Nobles. At the ASB meeting, the student council decides whether or not they’ll approve your club.

Jacob is very passionate about helping students. He seems to thrive on it. He mentioned how each new council goes on a retreat up to Big Bear to bond and learn what it takes to be a council member. They also set goals that the council will try to accomplish that academic year. This isn’t just jotting down ideas, though. They have to make a solid goal and use very specific wording. It could take hours and hours to finish, and they often go into the early morning hours. 

The goals of the current ASB council are listed on the website mentioned above. The site also describes the programs and philosophies that are designed to help students realize happiness and success here at VVC.