USAC unanimously approves three presidential appointments
By Nicholas Yu
June 3, 2015 6:04 p.m.
The undergraduate student government unanimously appointed next year’s Finance Committee Chair and two undergraduate representatives for the Associated Students UCLA Board of Directors.
Stephanie Wong, the 2015-2016 Finance Committee Chair, will manage $4 million in student fees paid to the Undergraduate Students Association Council and decide which student programs to fund.
Arielle Mokhtarzadeh and Apsara Perera, the undergraduate representatives for the ASUCLA Board of Directors, represent a multi-million dollar association that manages campus services such as the student union.
All three appointees will receive stipends next year. For Mokhtarzadeh and Perera, they will receive a paid stipend equivalent to their tuition, while Wong will receive a paid stipend. All three appointees will receive stipends next year.
USAC President Heather Rosen, who is in charge of forwarding qualified applicants to the council, said she wanted to fill the three positions before the end of the year because she thinks the positions have steep a learning curve and heavy responsibilities.
Rosen said she received less than ten applications for the undergraduate representatives for ASUCLA Board of Directors and only several for the Finance Committee Chair.
Rosen forwarded the minimum amount of applications to fill the open positions, but also allowed councilmembers to view all the applications she received. She said former USAC President Devin Murphy did not share all the applications.
“This is to ensure that the process is open and transparent and that no qualified applicants are left out of the process,” Rosen said.
Rosen added she and the Appointments Review Committee, which is in charge of recommending forwarded applicants, had different expectations for the two positions. For the ASUCLA Board of Directors positions, Rosen and the ARC looked for candidates who would be able to learn their established responsibilities and set up future goals.
Rosen said she didn’t think they could find students who have the experience with dealing with such large funds.
“Instead, we looked for dedicated students willing to learn and work with current members of the ASUCLA Board of Directors,” Rosen said. “We looked for students who had initiative to change the campus with the influence ASUCLA has.”
Mokhtarzadeh, who was appointed as the alternate non-voting undergraduate representative for the ASUCLA Board of Directors, said she wanted to increase the accessibility of board members to the public, advocate for the creation a non-denominational prayer space and increase sustainability in course materials as future goals.
Perera, next year’s ASUCLA Board of Directors undergraduate representative, said she wanted to focus on sustainability and meeting the goal of reducing UCLA’s landfill waste contribution to zero by 2020.
“Many aspects of ASUCLA can be related to sustainability, but for the past several ASUCLA finance meetings, the goal of reaching zero waste by 2020 had to be tabled,” Perera said. “I want to focus on sustainability and make sure all the decisions we make will help the environment and reduce the amount of resources this campus wastes, especially as our funding becomes more tight.”
Rosen said she and the committee searched for Finance Committee Chair applicants who had experience managing funds and were knowledgable about the USAC funding process.
“It’s a very complex position which requires someone would be able to work with USAC and student groups while being impartial,” said Amy Shao, Cultural Affairs Commissioner and member of the Appointments Review Committee.
Wong said she also wanted to address the current flaws in the funding process for student groups.
“I want to create a more comprehensive audit system that would make sure student groups are using their allocations properly,” Wong said. “Currently, we use physical audits to investigate only 5 percent of the events we fund.”
Wong said she would like to increase the percentage and increase cooperation between the Finance Committee and student groups, especially for groups who apply frequently.
Contributing reports by Rupan Bharanidaran, Bruin reporter.
