Cal State Student Association (CSSA) Records

The California State University System, formally established in 1960 by the Donahoe Higher Education Act. It is the nation’s largest university system. The CSU is one of three public higher education systems in the state of California (the others are the University of California and the California Community College System).

In 1958, three years before the formation of the CSU system, a group of Associated Student Body presidents founded the "Student Presidents Association." This group initially served mostly as an informational forum for the campus student associations, but the fact that a well-organized statewide student association was firmly established when the CSU was founded ensured that the students had a place in the CSU's internal policymaking from the beginning. The Student Presidents Association was formally recognized by the Trustees in 1963. By 1974, the student leaders were articulate, intelligent, and politically astute. The student leaders of this era were quite successful both in the legislature and within the system, and are responsible for much of the foundation of student leadership that still exists. By 1979 CSSA had become extraordinarily active, and many student body presidents were finding it difficult to fulfill both their campus and CSSA responsibilities and thus began appointing CSSA representatives (a few campuses had already started electing separate representatives). The Association decided to recognize this reality by re-naming itself the California State Student Association in 1979.

As of at least 2024, CSSA bills itself as "a student-led organization strives to improve the lives of California State University (CSU) students by advocating for student needs and engaging students in systemwide, state, and federal higher education policymaking." CSSA's organization structure features five executive officers, three special officers, seven committees, and a board of directors. The board includes one representative from the student government of each of the 23 CSU campuses, collectively known as Associated Students, Inc. (ASI). Representation on the committees and the board of directors is determined throught the democratic processes carried out by the ASI on each campus.

CSSA employs eight full-time professional staff members who support and advise student leadership and manage the daily operations of the organization. The CSSA staff are distributed between two locations: the headquarters in Long Beach, CA and the Office of Governmental Relations in Sacramento, CA. They are contracted through the Office of the Chancellor and adhere to the employment policies of the CSU system.

(Pulled from CSSA's website: https://calstatestudents.org/about/organization/)