College students have been engaged in various aspects of campus governance since nearly the beginning of the academy. This governance was formalized greatly by the academic freedom movement of 40 years ago, and the current system of shared governance has not adapted well to the changing nature of the commercial higher education institution. The current study was designed to explore the ideal characteristics of student governance bodies, their leaders, and elements to be used to determine organizational effectiveness. Respondents from six different institutions agreed most strongly with the conceptualizations of engaging broad student interests and creating clarity about the role, purpose, and mission of the governance unit. (Contains 3 tables.)