The Texas Student Association gathered at the University of North Texas on Saturday to discuss an agenda representing more than half a million university students statewide for the upcoming legislative session.

Student government officials from seven universities across Texas, including UNT, the University of Houston, Texas A&M and Texas Tech, compiled ideas they said were important topics that needed to be addressed by legislative officials.

The meeting was historic, said Jeff Kline, the association’s secretary of state.

“We finally adopted a charter, a governing document ratified by other universities,” Kline said. “This is the first time since our reformation that we have a legislative agenda.”

In previous years, student government officials gathered separately in Austin to try to sway politicians to consider student needs, Kline said.

But now the Texas Student Association, representing 500,000 students in the state and their clout, will descend on the state capital this year en masse, he said.

The topics echoed at the meeting included economic issues like financial aid, tuition rates and textbook prices, according to written collaboration displayed on a whiteboard.

Student government officials spoke in a roundtable format, hoping to come up with alternative scenarios to offer lawmakers, such as financial aid for military personnel and regulating unnecessary changes to textbooks by publishers.

The only question left unanswered on Saturday was an alternative to a tuition fee increase that could keep tuition affordable for students while still keeping universities functional.

That question has no easy answer, said Aleah Al-Sad, director of external affairs at the University of Houston.

“We looked at a bill that had a tuition freeze, and we decided that would not help universities with growth and admissions,” Al-Sad said.

The 30-person group took a mid-afternoon break to think of ways to solve the state’s tuition concerns.

During an address earlier in the day, UNT President Gretchen Bataille said a tuition freeze would not solve the problem and that public universities need to stick together on providing an education for students, Al-Sad said.

“She was right on the money with me. She’s on our side; she’s in touch with the students,” Al-Sad said.

Despite not arriving at a solid solution by the end of the meeting, some key points were identified that needed to be researched further, said Samuel Dike, the association’s co-chairman and the University of Houston’s student body president.

“This is an important legislative session for us students. We have an opportunity to do some really good things for schools in the state,” Dike said.

CANDACE CARLISLE can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is ccarlisle@dentonrc.com.