USAC recap – Feb. 8

The Undergraduate Students Association Council approved a resolution in support of the Buy Your Values UCLA campaign to advocate worker-friendly and environmentally sustainable apparel at UCLA stores. Academic Affairs Commissioner Angelina Quint said her office launched a website with resources for professors to implement recorded and hybrid options for their classes.

Special Presentations:

• Representatives from the UCLA Community Service Commission said they will host a nonprofit networking night for students to meet with industry professionals in the nonprofit sector. They said the networking event will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Feb. 23, adding that the event is intended to provide more opportunities for underrepresented communities, connect students to nonprofits and help students become involved with their communities through acts of service. They also said the Community Service Commission will hold a networking tips workshop from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Feb. 17 to give students the opportunity to practice marketing themselves to nonprofit representatives.

Allocations:

• The council allocated $650 to China Care Bruins, an organization that connects transcultural and international adoptees and their families to UCLA student mentors, for its winter retreat.

• The council allocated $344 to Cadenza A Cappella for its winter concert.

• The council allocated $650 to the Latin Business Student Association, a professional development organization, for its winter retreat.

• The council allocated $425 to the Pilipino Recruitment and Enrichment Program, a community service organization, for its Winter Retreat.

• The council allocated $609.82 to the Bruin Sports Business Association, an organization that prepares students to work in the sports industry, for its tour of SoFi Stadium.

• The council allocated $750 to the UCLA Student Stroke Force, a volunteer organization, for its spring volunteer development retreat.

• The council allocated $382.07 to the UCLA Alumni Scholars Club, a club for students who receive an Alumni Scholarship, for its PERIOD Packing Party.

• The council allocated $426.91 to the UCLA Bruin Animal Rescue Coalition for its volunteer T-shirts.

• The council allocated $1,233.33 to the InterVarsity Bruin Christian Fellowship, a Christian student organization, for its February Freshstart.

• The council allocated $500 to Phi Alpha Theta, a history honor society, for its club T-shirts.

• The council allocated $350 to the transfer student representative’s office for its retreat.

• The council allocated $750 to the Bruin Republicans at UCLA, a republican student organization, for the Conservative Political Action Conference 2022.

• The council allocated $120 to the Student Transfer Outreach and Mentor Program, a volunteer organization, for its Pre-Finals Paint.

• The council allocated $750 to the Backpacking Club at UCLA, a recreational student organization, for its winter Cerro Alto camping trip.

• The council allocated $650 to the Indian Student Union at UCLA, a nonprofit cultural organization, for its retreat and $840 for its winter formal.

• The council allocated $500 to Zeta Phi Beta Sorority – Nu Lambda Chapter, a Greek organization, for its 9th Annual Date Auction.

• The council allocated $1,840.67 to the American Society for Mechanical Engineers at UCLA, a technical, professional and social organization, for Flagship Combat Robotics.

• The council allocated $592.72 to Samahang Pilipino, a cultural organization, for its SP x KASA collaboration.

Resolutions:

• The council approved a resolution in support of the Buy Your Values UCLA campaign to carry worker-friendly and environmentally sustainable apparel at UCLA stores. Facilities Commissioner Jane Ni said the Buy Your Values UCLA campaign is a student-run campaign that focuses on bringing ethical and sustainable practices to UCLA retail and educating the student body on the importance of implementing ethical practices.

Agendas:

• Andrew Lewis, the vice president of the North Westwood Neighborhood Council, said Friday will be the last day to submit public comments regarding the Los Angeles Metro’s Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project. He encouraged people to write letters to the LA Metro board of directors to push for a heavy rail option that includes a UCLA station.

• Mominah Subhan, the Community Service commissioner, said section two of the Supplemental Fund for Service guidelines was changed to clarify when the submission form opens and when it closes.

• Lewis said Los Angeles City Planning has released an updated draft ordinance to amend the Westwood Village Specific Plan, the local zoning plan in Westwood Village. He added that this plan oversees zoning related to land use and the types of restaurant and beverage licenses that can be given out in Westwood Village. Lewis said that the current zoning plan prevents Westwood Village from having more fast, casual dining. He said the NWWNC has submitted amendments for the plan that will go before the City Planning Commission on Thursday. He encouraged people to submit an action network form in support of the amendment.

Reports:

• Lysol Patiño, a proxy for President Breeze Velazquez, said the office is continuing to plan its Future Student Leaders of Color Conference. She also said the Student Leaders of Tomorrow Fellowship has constructed a curriculum and is working on funding applications for the fellowship. Patiño said the fellowship is also working on a mental health platform for students and it has connected with two campus mental health organizations to co-program events for the rest of the year.

• Internal Vice President Cassandra Gatica said the Strengthen Student Wellbeing committee attended the mental health coalition meeting on Monday to present its research about student mental health. She added that she and the Empower Resilient Communities directors are in communication with Campus Assault Resources & Education to discuss establishing a sexual violence and sexual assault toolkit for student organizations. She also said her office hosted the Annual Off-Campus Living Fair online, adding that it is planning on releasing a digital brochure for students who were not able to attend. Gatica said her office is working on increasing engagement in the student organization leadership lobby to share as many resources as possible. Gatica said she and Campus Safety Alliance are in the process of writing a letter regarding students’ concerns about how the university handled the shooting threat made last week.

• External Vice President Sarah Wang said her office organized a Q&A session with Adam Schiff, congressman and chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. She added that Connecticut congressional candidate Muad Hrezi came to UCLA to speak to students last week. Her office’s federal relations team will be hosting a Title IX panel, and her office is planning a local relations CD5 town hall and a mayoral town hall. She also said that CalFresh will now be accepted at all UCLA registers.

• Quint said she met with the Undergraduate Student Initiated Education program to discuss the delay of communication to students who will be teaching USIE programs in spring quarter. She added that her office released a letter regarding students’ concerns about the lack of concrete COVID-19 protocols in student housing and the extra work that resident assistants and front-desk workers have done amid the transition back to in-person learning. She also said she has been attending weekly meetings with the University of Southern California Undergraduate Student Government’s Academic Affairs office to launch a joint social justice mentorship program. Quint said her study space team is working with the Campus Library Instructional Computing Commons to implement a one-month pilot program of an app that shows the capacity of each CLICC study space, adding that this will be implemented for the entire Powell Library afterward. Quint also said the Center for the Advancement of Teaching has launched a website with resources for professors to implement recorded and hybrid options for their classes, adding that it is currently recording a video with student testimonies about how hybrid learning is beneficial to them. She also said her office is planning to host a healing space event in collaboration with other USAC offices and the Holistic Wellness Coalition to help students cope with recent events on campus. Quint also said her office released a running document with information about which professors have and have not been accommodating to help students navigate enrollment. She added that she is working with the Learning Management System Transformation team to help get closed captions for lectures uploaded onto Bruin Learn.

• Transfer Student Representative Herman Luis Chavez said in a written report that he attended the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students’ national conference this past week, where he presented with the UCLA Transfer Student Center, shared his experience as a transfer as a National Transfer Student Ambassador and connected with transfer professionals across the country.