Student regents do make impact on board

Tracy Davis Davis was the 2001-2002 student
regent.  

I have been fortunate to serve on the UC Board of Regents for
the past two years in the capacity of student-regent designate and
student regent. It has been the fastest
and most rewarding two years of my life. As my term
has come to a close, I have often been asked three questions: 1) do
you think you made a difference, 2) did you accomplish your goals,
and 3) what was your most memorable experience? To answer the
first, although there were days when I felt the learning curve was
amazingly steep, I do feel that my involvement on the board made an
impact. I am glad to report that at my final meeting a few regents
expressed that comments I made during meetings and my understanding
of the issues helped sway their vote on more than one occasion. In
answer to the second, I do feel that I was able to advance my
goals. I say “advance” instead of accomplish because I
feel that real change involves not only changing structures (i.e.
doing away with the SAT) but committing oneself to impacting the
underlying issues that produce discrepancies in our country and
world (i.e. unequal opportunities in our school system). Although I
recognized the difficulty of achieving large scale change during
the short time of my term, I did have a few goals when I began. I
chose three issues on which to focus: admissions reform, the
taxation of stipend and fellowship monies, and the lack of
affordable housing throughout the UC system. Admissions reform has
been my primary focus over the past few years. Before coming to the
Board of Regents, I had worked in the UCLA Undergraduate Admissions
office for three years as an outreach and admissions
officer. I brought experience and an understanding of the
admissions process to the board. Many regents saw me as a
resource of information, and I was able to make a qualitative
difference in discussions. I had an impact on the vote to approve
the new comprehensive review process and the dual admissions plan.
Some progress has been made on the issue of taxing stipends and
fellowships. I hope that an improving economy will provide
lawmakers with the push they need to write legislation that would
end the taxation of fellowships and stipends. Although
stipends and fellowships produce only a small amount of the tax
revenues for the country, any amount which the students must
pay back can create a hardship for students. The issue now has
a nationwide following of students. I will continue to assist as
much as I can to see that this goal is achieved soon. Housing has
been one of the more challenging issues on which I have
worked. I have served on the System-wide Housing Taskforce for
the past year. Although housing is in many ways a local issue,
every campus is experiencing affordable housing shortages. The
shortage of housing impacts students, faculty and staff
alike. It is very real and impacts our daily lives. The
taskforce report, which will be coming out in the next few months,
offers a number of innovative suggestions to help deal with the
problem. To answer the third most often asked question, I would
have to share two experiences. The first was the exhilaration
I felt after reading a somewhat emotional statement which I had
prepared during the discussion before the comprehensive review
vote. The reception I received for my comments from
chancellors, legislators and fellow regents made me feel that I had
hit the mark. My second most memorable experience was participating
in a tour of farms and flower nurseries throughout the central
coast of California that had benefited from the research done by
the UC. The tour reminded me of one of the original purposes
of the University of California, a land-grant university, to aid in
the development and advancement of agriculture. During the past few
years I have often been reminded of the vast scope of the UC. I was
often asked if there are issues that surfaced on every campus.
Parking and housing are two. It is a common tendency to think that
the problems we face are unique to us or to our campus. During my
two years as student regent, I have come to the conclusion that we
have more things in common than we have different.  That is
true of the regents as well. So, maybe I don’t drive a
Mercedes or live in a home that belongs on the pages of
Architectural Digest, but I do have concerns about my family,
stories to tell about memorable experiences, dreams for the future,
and a commitment to the University of California. Although we may
differ in approach and opinion, each regent has in mind the best
interests of the university and of the people who spend their lives
here when they make decisions on our behalf.