The administrative team at ASGA is ready to help you.
The ASGA Team members are specialists in SG issues, problems, and trends.
- They spend thousands of hours each year maintaining the SG Database of contacts for Student Governments nationwide
- They assist in ASGA’s research projects for our members
- They are totally focused on Student Government every day
Click on each team member’s profile to see contact information and a detailed bio.
Val Grodewald
If you have any questions about your membership dues, renewing your membership, making a payment, or getting copies of receipts, Val is the ASGA staffer to talk with.
Butch Oxendine
I’m ASGA’s generalist. My workshops cover all aspects of Student Government. I’m a pragmatist. I focus on identifying your problems and then offering real solutions, not gimmicks.
My workshops are mainly lecture style. I use fun, easy-to follow graphics. I do not read from PowerPoints. I also ask a lot of questions, ask for volunteers to help illustrate key points, and offer several interactive exercises.
Jeff Riemersma
Jeff keeps ASGA’s many web sites up-to-date, designs and prepares marketing materials, and prepares conference materials to help make your ASGA experience better.
Mickey Arce
Mickey communicates regularly with member institutions, provides access to ASGA’s web resources, and helps bring in new member schools to ASGA.
Detailed Team Member Bios
Val enjoys time spent with family and friends just hanging out and being silly. She says she is learning to not take herself or others too seriously. She has a little Suzuki 650 that she enjoys riding when the weather is good. And loves technology and tends to spend the bulk of her allowance on upgrading her cell phone. When Val’s not working, she can be found at the local bowling alley working on her pitiful score, sweating to some hip hop tunes in Zumba class, or taking photographs and working on digital scrapbook pages.
Butch was SGA vice president and editor-in-chief of the college newspaper (serving at the same time) at Lake City Community College (now Florida Gateway College), then served as SG press secretary and editor of The Campus Leader at the University of Florida.
Named in 1992 as one of the nation’s top 100 entrepreneurs under age 30 by the Association for Collegiate Entrepreneurs, Butch has been publishing student-oriented magazines, books, and web sites for nearly 40 years. He studied journalism at the University of Florida, but left school in 1984 to work full-time on his first magazine, Florida Leader.
He later launched four other publications, including the national magazine Student Leader. He travels frequently to speak and present leadership seminars and has written three books on student-leadership issues, including So You Want to Be President…How to Get Elected on Your Campus, Poster Secrets: How & Where to Hang Flyers on Your Campus, and Inspiration for Student Leaders.
Butch is married to Kathy, and they have a daughter, Leah, son Will, twins Adam and Andrew, and son Luke. Butch enjoys being a Trekker, loves Firefly, working outdoors, serving his God and church, wrestling with grandsons Shiloh and Gideon, and cheering for the Florida Gators, Tampa Bay Rays, and Vanguard High Knights.
What began as a job dedicated solely to the design and production of magazines has evolved to include such responsibilities as Web design and updates, conference materials preparation, marketing materials design and preparation, overseeing all company computer and networking needs, acting as liaison for ASGA’s dedicated hosting and content management software providers, and data entry.
Jeff enjoys dedicated music listening, following the Tampa Bay Lightning, and dabbling in creative food preparation. Jeff also enjoys food consumption, but wouldn’t use the term “dabble” to describe the extent of his participation in this activity.
Mickey enjoys hiking, running and weightlifting. Mickey is an avid coffee lover and considers himself a coffee connoisseur. Mickey also finds solace in the winter and snow storms.
