USAC recap – Sept. 28

The Undergraduate Students Association Council appointed five undergraduate students to the Academic Senate. The council approved new Bruin Advocacy Grant guidelines that expanded the definition of advocacy to include attending protests and conferences, educational programming and community organizing. 

Public Comment:

• Radha Patel, the chair of the UCLA chapter of the California Public Interest Research Group and a fourth-year sociology student, said that CALPIRG is pushing Governor Newsom to commit to 100% clean energy by 2030. She added that CALPIRG’s other initiatives this year include clean oil drilling in California, alleviating hunger and homelessness and making college textbooks more affordable.

Allocation: 

• The council allocated $885 to Samahang Pilipino, a Pilipino cultural organization, for a Pilipino Welcome Reception.
• The council allocated $1100 to Sigma Eta Pi, an entrepreneurship fraternity, for fall rush.
• The council allocated $946 to Bruin Entrepreneurs for their 1000 Pitches event.
• The council allocated $750 to VSU Modern, a dance organization, for their fall retreat.
• The council allocated $750 to the Nigerian Student Association for their Independence Day Social.
• The council allocated $700 to Bruin Visual Arts Club, an art organization, for BVAC weekly studio sessions.
• The council allocated $245 to the Medical Aid Initiative, an organization that works to provide free medical care and health education to underdeveloped nations, for fall quarter recruitment.
• The council allocated $750 to the Disabled Student Union for operational expenses. 
• The council allocated $750 to UCLA Project Rural India Social and Health Improvement, an organization that works to promote sustainable development in rural Indian communities, for their fall retreat.
• The council allocated $750 to the Mobile Clinic Project at UCLA, an organization that works to provide healthcare to people experiencing homelessness, for their fall 2021 Mobile Clinic Project. 
• The council allocated $1135 to Unión Centroamericana de Estudiantes, a Central American student organization that empowers Central American students in the United States through activism, education and organizing, for Decolonizing Time with Jason.
• The council allocated $240 to the Muslim Student Association for a Meet the Board and Chaplains event.
• The council allocated $220 to UCLA Roundnet, a club spikeball team, for Blue and Gold Intrasquad.
• The council allocated $213 to the Association of Chinese Americans for ACA Dumpling Night.
• The council allocated $132 to BiochemASE, a biochemistry student organization, for a BiochemASE student meeting.
• The council allocated $250 to the USAC Finance Committee for a welcome back retreat.

Agenda:

• The council approved the new Bruin Advocacy Grant guidelines. These guidelines reflect the changing needs of student advocates, including an updated definition of advocacy that no longer covers only lobbying and now incorporates attending protests and conferences, educational programming and community organizing. The council also reviewed the application content and process.

Appointment

• The council appointed Ashley Ceballos-Hernandez, a third-year public affairs and labor studies student, to the Committee on Planning and Budget. Ceballos-Hernandez said she hopes to make the committee more transparent and collaborative with the UCLA community. She added that she plans to connect with more student organizations through social media. 
• The council appointed Mmeli Ugochuku, a fourth-year philosophy student, to the Academic Senate Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Ugochoku said she hopes to focus on DEI for both students and faculty. She added that she looks forward to the opportunity to represent nontraditional students on the committee. 
• The council appointed Achraf El Madnaoui, a first-year political science student, to the Academic Senate Legislative Assembly. El Madnaoui said he aims to make the legislative assembly a place for student advocacy and civic engagement. He added that he will represent international students and will work to fight against discrimination.
• The council appointed Bakur Madini, a third-year physics student and the 2020-2021 USAC International Student representative, to the Academic Senate Committee on International Education. He said that he will focus on the transition back to on-campus instruction. 
• The council appointed Neha Kulkarni, a second-year bioengineering student, to the Office Space Allocation Committee. Kulkarni said she looks forward to promoting the website and revamping the space allocation application process.

Reports:

• President Breeze Velazquez said her office and the Response and Recovery Task Force discussed the lack of student testing and asked other council members to encourage students to get tested. She added that her office emailed UCLA administrators about addressing overcrowding in classrooms. 
• Internal Vice President Cassandra Gatica said her office met with student legal services and plans to have a workshop about student worker rights. She added that her Meet Material Needs platform created a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for the housing relief award initiative. She also said that her office is finalizing the IVP Leadership Lobby, a Slack channel for student organizations and leaders to share resources, and the mental health resource guide is also almost complete.
• External Vice President Sarah Wang said her office met with CALPIRG to discuss civic engagement and met with Bruin Shelter to discuss affordable housing for students at risk of homelessness. She added that her office will meet with President Drake on Oct. 8 to discuss understaffing and course shortages on campus. She also said her office is continuing to work on the Double the Pell campaign by meeting with congressmen. 
• General Representative 1 Hailey Valles said in a written report that her office is working on outreach for a STREAM proposal and will be hosting a Planning for College 101 workshop. She added that the Seat in the Classroom committee is finalizing plans for student major guides. She also said her office is finishing up a mental health resource guide as well as outreach for a mental health coalition. 
• General Representative 2 Passa Pungchai said in a written report that her office met with resident assistants to discuss concerns over residential hygiene. She added that her office met with RAs and Justin Rodriguez, the 2020-2021 General Representative 2, about concerns regarding short staffing on the hill. She also said that her office is working towards putting braille signs in Boelter Hall. 
• General Representative 3 Carl King said in a written report that his office met with the Financial Wellness Program team to plan the launch of the financial literacy program. He added that his office met with an EVP team member about the tuition increase and its effects on the future Counseling and Psychological Services budget. He also said that his office has relaunched the student survey about the transition back to campus. 
• Academic Affairs Commissioner Angelina Quint said her office continues to meet with the Center for Accessible Education, her office’s Disability, Justice and Education director, the Disabled Student Union and department heads to remove attendance policies and start livestreams in lectures. She also said that the DSU will be holding a protest on Oct. 8 in front of Murphy Hall.
• Community Service Commissioner Mominah Subhan said in a written report that her office is restarting many in-person services and programming this quarter. She added that Volunteer Day on Sept. 26 went well, and that her office will meet with Volunteer Day stakeholders within the next week to discuss how the event can improve next year as well as other collaboration efforts between the Volunteer Center and CSC. 
• Transfer Representative Herman Luis Chavez said in a written report that his office is working with the Executive Office Assistant to complete a statistical analysis regarding transfer admissions by the California community college system. He added that the Transfer Transitions, a program that connected incoming transfer students with resources and opportunities that will make the transition to UCLA easier, was successful.