During the 2003-2004 academic year, students involved with student government at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst decided they needed a statewide voice for students to represent them on Beacon Hill. They had heard about state student associations around the country and they knew they wanted one, but they didn't quite know how to develop one from scratch. These students found the SET Project and began working with us to develop a strong statewide network.

At this initial phase of development, the Associated Students of Massachusetts needed to build support for their statewide idea. The SET Project helped these student leaders develop basic materials and a message for building this association so they could meet with student government leaders statewide. After they built a critical mass of support from a dozen state colleges and universities, the SET Project provided support at the next phase of development as they created their organizational structure and funding system. They decided to have both a board of directors with one representative from each member campus as well as a larger general assembly based on each school's population. We worked weekly with student leaders over the phone to continue developing their organizational structure and funding system.