Students meet with Napolitano to discuss UC transparency

About 15 University of California students met with UC President Janet Napolitano in Oakland Tuesday to discuss how the University can be more transparent and get students more involved in University discussions with the state about funding.

The meeting took place in light of the UC’s November proposal to potentially raise tuition if the state does not dramatically increase UC funding. Napolitano did not confirm any decisions to increase student involvement, as the meeting was an effort to facilitate discussion between Napolitano and students.

UCLA students at the meeting included UC Student Regent-Designate Avi Oved, Undergraduate Students Association Council President Avinoam Baral, Financial Supports Commissioner Heather Rosen, Graduate Students Association President Mike Hirshman and Aurelia Friedman, a third-year political science student and intern at the Office of Government and Community Relations.

No students from the UC Student Association, the UC-wide student government body, attended the meeting. Conrad Contreras, USAC external vice president, claimed UCSA students were not invited to the meeting, although UC spokeswoman Dianne Klein said they were. UCSA frequently circulates petitions and holds protests against University decisions.

“I’m not shaming anyone, but I’m challenging the approach the way the UC is navigating around the UCSA to get to students,” Contreras said during the USAC meeting Tuesday.

Baral said that as a representative, this was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. He added he was pushing Napolitano to make the University more transparent to students.

Students asked Napolitano how the University should be getting students more involved in UC lobbying efforts, such as having students accompany Napolitano in legislative meetings and being involved with Napolitano and Gov. Jerry Brown’s committee, which examines University costs.

Napolitano and students also discussed keeping students better informed about negotiations with the state by involving them earlier in the process, Baral said.

“There is no reason that (students) shouldn’t be more involved,” Baral said. “It is really important that perceptions line up with intent.”

Rosen said students also asked about making it easier for students to meet with Napolitano.

“The president has met with student groups more than any other president that I can recall,” said Klein, who attended the meeting.

The University and students agreed they all want the UC to be accessible and affordable, but also maintain its quality of education, Rosen said.

In addition to tuition, students talked about issues that Napolitano and Brown are currently discussing, such as three-year degrees and online education.

Rosen said the University and students agreed that administrative costs do not contribute much to increased tuition, and that the increase in the University enrollment is partially responsible for the recent increase in tuition.

A separate meeting with students was held Friday in Sacramento at Brown’s office, where Brown’s staff discussed the governor’s perspective on the budget. Brown has said he would allocate additional state funding to the University only if it agrees to not raise tuition.

Baral, who attended the meeting with Brown’s staff, said that after both meetings, he thinks students need to ramp up efforts to lobby the state on how important funding for the UC is.

“I am an optimistic person, but it seems that the governor and the University’s position are set in stone,” he said.