The UNC Association of Student Governments will rethink its future after recent public embarrassments.

Cody Grasty, president of the group and the student member of the UNC Board of Governors, this week announced a task force that will review the ASG , the governing body of student leaders from across the UNC system, Jane Stancill reports.

Job one for the panel will be to find a way to for the ASG to "fundamentally change its public image," according to the description of the task force's responsibilities.

Also under review will be the $1 fee paid by the more than 200,000 UNC system students to support the organization. "We must find out how to make the association stronger, more productive and better-prepared for the challenges of the future," Grasty said.

The organization has been rocked by internal disagreements, and some student leaders have either walked out of meetings or stopped participating. Former leader Cole Jones, an East Carolina student, resigned recently after a misdemeanor assault conviction.

The review panel will include six students, three student body presidents, one alumnus and a member of the staff of the UNC General Administration. A report on the review is scheduled for March.

After weeks of uncomfortable negotiations, Cole Jones, an East Carolina University graduate student, has resigned his position as president of the UNC Association of Student Governments — giving up his seat on the UNC Board of Governors.

Jones was never sworn in to the UNC board because of controversy surrounding his conviction in August of a misdemeanor assault in Craven County. He is appealing and has said the allegation was false. The charge stemmed from a domestic situation involving relatives of his son, Jones has said.

Jones submitted his resignation letter, dated Oct. 8, to UNC President Erskine Bowles and UNC Board of Governors Chairman Jim Phillips, reports Jane Stancill.

Another student will be sworn in Friday. Cody Grasty, a graduate student at Appalachian State University, will take the student seat on the UNC board.