People complain about the Student Association for a lot of things. The annual SA Getaway, for one, tends to draw a lot of flak: detractors say it’s foolish because it’s a waste of student money, or because it’s full of after-hours beer-soaked debauchery, or both.

True, it’s a little bit expensive, and a little bit full of drink. Still, I’d wholeheartedly endorse it to anyone who will listen, and I’ll tell you why.

The concept is a noble one: give student leaders the skills they need to better do their jobs, skills that have been sorely lacking in recent SA memory. This is especially true in the Assembly, whose bickering about internal policy and factionalizing have turned it into an impotent object of derision or ignorance among most of campus.

So a little training on how to work well with others isn’t such a bad thing.

By and large, the ‘getaway’ was well executed. This is a departure from last year’s debacle, when (I hear) organizers pretty much had to make it up as they went along, and where many of the rooms in the dumpy ’70s-era resort were infested with hornets. This time around, the Feb. 3 to 4 weekend agenda was actually thought out, and people accordingly went where they were supposed to go (some schedule reshuffling to accommodate a lunch for 90-plus hungry, bus-worn delegates notwithstanding).

The most recent getaway, in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., featured around 10 solid hours of programming in which campus ‘student leaders’ ‘ members of community government, the Student Assembly and some student groups unfortunately included as an afterthought ‘ were exposed to training in delegation, diplomacy, advertising and other skills that tend to be useful when you’re dealing with other students and groups. There were speeches from a world-class expert in mediation and from BU’s division of administration.

And it wasn’t ridiculously expensive: the whole shebang cost around $7,000, or just under $80 a head ‘ all paid for with money from the Student Activity fee. This included around 30 hotel rooms, speakers, full breakfast, conference materials and $2,000 for two cheese buses to make the 320-plus-mile round-trip to picturesque Saratoga Springs.

Not bad, but that bus trip is one place to cut costs. Holding the conference here at BU would be a waste of time, as many delegates indicated that they wouldn’t bother coming. But there’s got to be something closer, like Ithaca (a 98-mile round trip) or Syracuse (146 miles). This would help keep transportation costs down ‘ although it’s worth noting that finding a nearby hotel that would willingly rent out an entire wing to rowdy college kids, at a decent price, could prove a challenge.

In any case, if you’re going to spend many thousands of dollars, get some real experts to hold some real workshops. The ‘speed-dating’ method of 10, 10-minute workshops did offer a quick, broad look at lots of different skill sets. But learning about delegation or time management is about more than just hearing about what other students do ‘ someone qualified should be there to turn those stories into a useful curriculum with takeaway value.

And yes, when conferences ended, there was drinking. There was lots of it, and it was spectacularly fun. I didn’t think student-government nerds knew how to enjoy themselves that much ‘ but then again, I’m a college-newspaper nerd, so maybe I shouldn’t talk.

But given the chance, most college students will take to the bottle ‘ or can, or handle ‘ and that’s what happened, until security came and told us to shut up.

Some curmudgeons in the SA cite the fact that there’s been drinking at the leadership retreats as a reason not to even hold them in the first place. But it’s not as though the SA paid for alcohol, or sanctioned any underage drinking. What people did after workshops ended was their own business, and that was made abundantly clear as soon as people arrived.

And besides: the drinking fostered communication between student group leaders, which is probably even more important than leadership training. I made five Facebook friends over the weekend, as Dave Belsky is quick to point out on my Wall, and almost everyone seemed to connect with someone new. All the money, effort and travel headaches were worth the SA turning its hallmark bickering into some meaningful conversation.

Let’s just make sure student groups are included from the get-go next time.