USAC proposes establishment of new fund

The undergraduate student government may soon have another fund to oversee, one that would be financed through private donors instead of student fees.

Though the proposal to create the fund is in its early stages, Undergraduate Students Association Council President David Bocarsly said the goal is to use the money raised to subsidize student group leadership activities such as retreats and provide funding for campus-wide leadership programs like LeaderShape and the Bruin Leaders Project.

It is still unclear how the money will be divided up, Bocarsly said, but ideas include splitting the funds in half for leadership programs and student groups, for which students may apply, or a portion may go toward a leadership scholarship.

Bocarsly said the student council would be responsible for allocating the money to students while UCLA Development, a department within UCLA External Affairs that is responsible for generating private gifts to support campus programs, would handle fundraising and maintenance duties of the new fund.

USAC would not need to approve the creation of the potential leadership development fund because it would be supported by private donations, said Roy Champawat, director of the UCLA Student Union, unlike the council’s approval for the creation of an endowment Tuesday.

Bocarsly said the original idea for the fund stemmed from searching for alternative funding sources. He also said the fund is an attempt to lighten the burden on USAC’s Contingency Programming Fund, a large source of funding for student groups.

But USAC Finance Committee Chair Cynthia Jasso said she is uncertain about the new fund idea. She said issues such as the stability of the fund and logistical questions such as who will allocate the funds have yet to be addressed.

Some student leaders also said they were uncertain about whether or not the new leadership development fund would be effective.

Razmig Sarkissian, a fourth-year English student and member of Cultural Arts Collective, a committee in the Cultural Affairs Commission that helps cultural groups with networking and marketing, is undecided about how he regards the fund. He said he sees how the fund could be risky without enough donors, but also understands how a focus on leadership could benefit students.

“Having been in organizations it’s really hard to get ample funding,” he said. “More resources are always better.”

Matt Panopio, a third-year atmospheric, oceanic and environmental science student and member of the student leadership group Bruin Leaders Project, said he thinks the fund could address what he views as a lack of focus on leadership development on campus.

Panopio said his organization recently added a link on its website asking for donations in order to attract donors but it has not been very successful.

“There are definitely limitations with what money and resources we have and (the new fund) could help,” he said.

Bocarsly said he hopes donors will be more willing to give to this fund over general programming because they would have a clearer understanding of where their money is going.

Bocarsly anticipates having the fund established by the end of the quarter or early next quarter, depending on logistics and details that still need to be worked out.

Email Rodriguez at [email protected].