The Student Presidents Association was formally recognized by the CSU Board of Trustees in 1963, three years after the formation of the system itself and two months after the statewide Academic Senate held its very first meeting.
Through their successes with Governor Brown and many legislators, they started the tradition of seeking victories in the legislature if they were not forthcoming from the system.
In 2005, CSSA successfully lobbied for an 8% student fee freeze for the CSU that the governor included in his January budget.
The Board of Trustees and the Office of the Chancellor responded by implementing furloughs and work force reductions, a total fee increase of approximately 32%, enrollment caps anticipating a reduction of 40,000 qualified students in the next two academic years, and additional campus-by-campus cuts to cover the remaining $190 million loss.
CSSA continues to maintain regular communication with the California State Legislature, the Office of the Chancellor, and the Board of Trustees, and representatives from each of the 23 campuses meet on a monthly basis.
[12] The job of the Legislative Affairs Committee is to make recommendations to the CSSA board of directors on higher education issues pending in the California State Legislature.
Committee members vote to recommend positions on bills and strategies for accomplishing the board's policy objectives.
[13] The committee oversees the CSSA Lobby Corps program, which provides the opportunity for students to develop the leadership skills to confidently speak with state senators or assemblymembers and be engaged with civic life.
An example of CSSA activity within systemwide affairs would be the annual voter registration drives hosted by individual campuses to help encourage the next generation of young people to become involved in the electoral process.
CHESS offers student leaders a variety of ways in which to become active members of their respective communities with a focus in higher education.