Every Tuesday night, 27 undergraduates meet in a room on the third floor of the HUB-Robeson Center to discuss student life at Penn State. This group of people is the Undergraduate Student Government Senate, one branch of student government at this university.

Commonly known as USG, the organization has three branches, similar to the federal government: executive, legislative and judicial.

The senate is one of the two groups that comprise the legislative branch; Academic Assembly is the other.

Senate President Bridget Van Osten explained the difference between the focus of the two groups.

"Assembly deals with academic issues and what goes on inside the classroom. Senate deals with what occurs outside the classroom -- student life issues," Van Osten said.

Senate will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in 302 HUB-Robeson Center this fall.

These meetings are open to the public. Students are able to address the senators during open student forum, the part of the meeting set aside for public comments from the gallery.

Van Osten said senators are there to tell the university administration what students are thinking and if students suggest a change, senate can explore it or take action.

The 27 senators are elected in March, along with the USG president and vice president. About 10 senators represent the different residence areas on campus and the rest represent students living off campus.

"We're also here as information centers," Van Osten said as she sat at her desk in the USG office, 223 HUB-Robeson Center.

USG President Rubina Javeri and Vice President Kris Ankarlo head the executive branch. They ran on four platform goals: creating an online waiting list for classes, expanding on-campus eatery hours, offering more online health services and creating a union of off-campus students.

"USG is the primary outlet for students to voice their concerns," Ankarlo said.

USG is one of the best ways for freshmen to get involved in the university and community, he said.

USG is also involved in Student 2 Student, an initiative specifically targeted at freshmen. Student leaders go to first-year seminars to talk to students about life at Penn State and in State College in general.

Ankarlo said students who want to get involved can come to the office and fill out an application to join a committee.

"We're always looking for people," he said.

Ankarlo served as Council of Commonwealth Student Governments president last year. Also known as CCSG, this functions similarly to USG, but represents the 40,000 students who attend Penn State campuses other than University Park.

Current President Mike Cooper said the group is composed of a council of individual student government presidents from the Commonwealth Campuses and a 22-member staff centralized at University Park. The council meets at University Park six times a year to discuss common issues. CCSG has an office in 229 HUB-Robeson Center.

Cooper joined CCSG when he was a freshman at Abington College. Now he is a senior and the president of the organization.

"I've enjoyed it so far and I stuck with it," he said.

The part of USG that looks at academic concerns is Academic Assembly. Each of the 11 colleges at University Park is represented by two students in Assembly. One is a senator, the other a representative. The Schreyer Honors College has a seat and the Commonwealth Campuses also have seats.

Sara Langley, a representative from the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and director of internal affairs, said senators are elected by students in their colleges. They also attend University Faculty Senate meetings, which is a faculty body that sets educational policies. Representatives also sit on the student council of their college.

"Academic Assembly is basically a service organization that assists students with academic problems and concerns," Langley said.

Students can come to Assembly with concerns about the physical condition of classrooms, because it has a member on the University Committee on Instructional Facilities. Langley said the committee has looked into the advantages of carpeting, rather than tiling, classroom floors.

Students can get involved with Assembly by joining the student council in their college, by becoming an Assembly representative, or by applying to be a staff member. Langley said freshmen are especially welcome to join.

"We like freshmen better than anyone because hopefully they can stay for four years and follow through."

Assembly will meet at 7 p.m. Mondays in 330 HUB-Robeson Center, in the fall. These meetings are open to the public.