Student regent looks at UC’s future

  Tracy Davis Davis is the 2001-2002
student regent.

This past year has been a greater learning experience than I
ever thought it would or could be. I was appointed as the student
regent- designate to the UC Board of Regents last September. My
year as a voting regent began this past July, after 10 months of
learning the ropes as a designate.

I have actively participated in board meetings, committee
meetings, taskforces and UC lobbying events in Sacramento. I have
also been fortunate to visit all nine, soon to be 10, of the UC
campuses and the Los Alamos Lab in New Mexico, one of the three
national labs managed by the University of California.

I have met with students, staff, faculty, administrators, alumni
and prospective students, and listened to their hopes and concerns
for their home campuses and the University of California.

But I too have come to the Board of Regents with hopes and
concerns of my own. As a third-year doctoral student in higher
education and organizational change at UCLA, I have attempted to
bring an informed opinion and critical eye to my position as
student regent.

The student regent position, created in 1975, provides an
opportunity for a student to actively participate in setting policy
for and making decisions on behalf of the UC. Together with the
University of California Student Association, which includes
elected undergraduate and graduate representatives from the
different campuses, the student regent is able to provide a student
voice and perspective to the Board of Regents.

UCSA is the representative student voice for the University of
California and participates in system-wide committees and
taskforces. The student regent serves a complementary role as a
trustee for all the constituents of the UC, including students.

All members of the Board of Regents serve to maintain the
excellence and set policy for the University of California. The
board consists of 26 voting members: 18 are appointed by the
governor and serve 12-year terms; seven serve as ex-officio members
as a function of their positions. These seven members are comprised
of the governor; the lieutenant governor; the speaker of the State
Assembly; the superintendent of schools; the president and vice
president of the UC Alumni Associations and the president of the
university; and a UC undergraduate, graduate or professional school
student.

Two faculty representatives from the system-wide Academic Senate
also serve on the Board of Regents but do not vote.

Overall, I have been impressed by the commitment and sincere
dedication demonstrated by the regents. I have felt welcomed and
believe that my opinions and comments have been well received and
respected.

During the past year I have come to the conclusion that each
regent has the best interests of the university in mind when making
decisions on its behalf. It is the way in which each one goes about
achieving those interests that can at times leave many, including
myself, with a sense of bewilderment and concern for the future of
the university.

I have also learned firsthand of the immense reach of the UC,
both within and beyond our state. I visited fields throughout
Central California, known as the “salad bowl” of
America, which have benefited from the research of UC scientists
and programs that provide services for farmers and their
communities. I met with residents of Los Alamos, N.M., who praised
the university for the support they received during the fires that
destroyed their community a few years back.

A number of issues face the UC and are top on my priority list
for the year, including: admissions reform, housing shortfalls and
tax reform as it relates to the taxing of undergraduate and
graduate stipends, scholarships and fellowships .

My work as a UCLA admissions officer for the three years prior
to my term as a regent has provided me with a wealth of knowledge
about the UC admissions process and the undergraduates who apply
here in the hopes of gaining admission.

The repeal of SP-1 and SP-2 this past spring provided the needed
jump-start for a candid discussion of admissions and access to the
UC. Issues of admissions reform will continue to be discussed this
year by the system-wide senate and information is continuously
being provided to the regents so that they may have an informed
position.

I sit on a system-wide housing taskforce and am pursuing,
together with other UC representatives, a plan to provide adequate,
affordable housing for all UC students, staff and faculty.

Current projections for growth in the numbers of students at
each of the UC campuses and the faculty and staff needed to provide
those students a high-quality education far surpass the housing
available within the areas surrounding every campus. Affordable
housing is necessary to provide access to the UC and to provide for
the academic success for our students.

In the coming year I expect these issues and others to be
prominent in university discussion and I believe that our ability,
as students, to be informed and prepared to participate
meaningfully in those discussions will have a critical impact on
our university.