Popularly elected Executives lead the executive branch. Recently, three students have jointly held the position of Executive; they are commonly called Tri-Executives. Together they act as the student body presidents, serving the students as the chief spokespeople to the community and the University Administration. The Executives are elected each spring for one-year terms. They employ a student staff to help carry out their policy objectives. Staff members are hired by the Executives and are subject to ratification by 2/3 of Legislative Council. Information about the Executives and Executive staff is available on the Representation section of the UCSU web page.

The legislative branch, called Legislative Council, is UCSU's policy-making body. Legislative Council has final approval over the UCSU budget and the programmatic operation of all Cost Centers and UCSU services. There are two equal houses to Legislative Council, Representative Council and the Council of Colleges and Schools (CCS). Representative Council is composed of nine popularly elected Representatives who serve one-year terms; five Representatives are elected in the fall and four in the spring. CCS has nine seats, one for each college and school on campus. CCS Senators are elected by their constituent colleges and schools. Some colleges and schools send multiple Senators, but each school has only one vote. Legislative Council elects a Legislative Council President and Vice President(s) to preside over the body. Information about current Representatives and Senators is available on the Representation section of the UCSU web page.

Working with Legislative Council is a group of eight Joint Boards and Advisory Boards that provide oversight for several of UCSU's Cost Centers and operations. Joint Boards act as boards of directors, governing and supervising each Cost Center's management structure. The Joint Boards include the Recreation Board, the Health Board, the University Memorial Center (UMC) Board, the Air Board, the WRC Board the Environmental Center Board, the Cultural Events Board (CEB) and Finance Board. Finance Board is unique in that it doesn't oversee a cost center, but works to manage student fees and help create the yearly budget. Each Joint Board is led by a chair, elected internally by the board and subject to ratification by 2/3 of Legislative Council.

Overseeing the operation of the UCSU Cost Centers is a major responsibility for the student government. Cost Centers include the Student Recreation Center, Wardenburg Health Center, University Memorial Center (UMC), Environmental Center, Student Organizations Finance Office (SOFO), Women's Resource Center (WRC), Off-Campus Student Services (OCSS), Student Legal Services, Cultural Events Board (CEB), Volunteer Clearing House, KVCU Radio 1190 and the Student Outreach & Retention Center for Equity (SORCE). In conjunction with the Executives, each Cost Center submits a yearly student fee budget to Legislative Council for final consideration and inclusion in the next fiscal year's student fee.