ASUCLA Board of Directors recap – Sept. 25

Associated Students UCLA is a multimillion-dollar organization that provides student services and activities that the university does not fund. It oversees the Undergraduate Students Association Council, Graduate Students Association, Communications Board, campus services and enterprises. Board of Directors meetings are monthly and open to the public.

Executive director’s report

• ASUCLA Executive Director Robert Williams said that the Campus Portrait Studio is transferring to an online appointment system.
• Williams said the upper portion of the Portola stairs reopened on Sept. 24. The lower portion which connects to Westwood Boulevard is still undergoing construction, Williams added.
• The all-gender restroom on the A-level of Ackerman Union is opening soon, Williams said.
• Williams said he does not have an update on plans to have a pharmacy in the student union.
• Williams said that about $40,000 will be allocated to repair water leakage in rooms in Kerckhoff below the Kerckhoff patio. Williams added that the water leakage is caused by rain passing through cracks in a non-permeable surface below the patio.
• Williams said that a donation box will be added at the location where the current job listings are.

  Committee reports

• CJ Gabbe, a graduate student representative, said that the Executive Committee is looking to hire a staff member who will be in charge of legal services.
• Denea Joseph, an undergraduate student representative, said the Services Committee finalized the colors for the Global Viewpoint Lounge and are planning to make the room soundproof.
• Joseph said the committee wants ASUCLA to centralize its social media handle by creating a hashtag that students can use. Joseph added that the committee wants to increase viewership on its videos, which currently only receive around 500 to 600 views.
• Patrick Adler, a graduate student representative, said the Revenue Enhancement Ad-hoc Committee is planning to make all course readers be available in an electronic format, as sales in physical copies have declined.

August financial report

• Williams said food services had a positive contribution due to Special Olympics.

• The association had $12.6 million in the bank after the end of August, which is higher than the $11.5 million they had at the same time last year, Williams said. Deducting the cost future projects, such as the as the A-level and first-floor remodeling which will cost around $3 million, the association will have around $7.8 million in its cash reserve, Williams added.
• Williams said that the association will allocate $40,000 to repair the water leakage in rooms underneath the Kerckhoff patio. Roy Champawat, the director of the student union, said that the repairs would only be a short-term solution. Champawat said that a non-permeable membrane that directs water away from the rooms beneath Kerckhoff has cracks and dates back to 1996.
• Champawat said that if the association were to replace the membrane it would cost around $400,000. Workers would have to pull out the tiles of the patio, rework the basic surface, install a water impermeable membrane and restore it back to the normal, Champawat said. Champawat said that it is a normal process that buildings undergo large-scale renovations every 20 or so years.

September preliminary sales

• Williams said that the store is about $350,000 over its budget. However, he added that summer sales do not necessarily represent future sales.
• Williams added that most divisions are performing well, such as restaurants, the Hill Top Shop and the UCLA Store. Williams said that textbooks sales are above budget but said that sales will not be as strong in future months. Williams said that ASUCLA hired a new textbook director and have new staff members in the textbook department.
• Williams said that Kikka is $18,000 above budget and that North Campus and Lu Valle Commons are doing better now after a low summer traffic.

Compiled by Jillian Frankel and Nicholas Yu, Bruin senior staff.