ASUCLA Board of Directors recap – Aug. 30
By Aimee Zhang
Sept. 5, 2024 2:48 p.m.
The ASUCLA Board of Directors held its second meeting of the 2024-2025 term Aug. 30.
The board, which is composed of a student majority, has financial oversight over ASUCLA entities, including the Undergraduate Students Association Council, the Graduate Student Association and the ASUCLA Communications Board – which oversees UCLA Student Media. ASUCLA also has responsibility for the UCLA Store, on-campus restaurants and some UCLA trademarks. Meetings of the board are open to the public and are normally held in Kerckhoff Hall, though August’s meeting was held virtually.
Public comment:
- There were no public comments.
Executive director/CEO remarks:
- Executive Director and CEO Pouria Abbassi asked Director of ASUCLA Restaurants Cindy Bolton to speak about her experience working her way up the ranks as an employee at ASUCLA since 1985. Bolton said she has spent 39 years working for ASUCLA and, as of 2007, now works as the director of food operations, where she said she expanded the diversity of products and services across the UCLA campus.
- Abbassi also presented the 2023-2024 end-of-year ASUCLA synopsis, which included about 104 to 105 completed initiatives and projects that aimed to improve ASUCLA’s spaces, service levels and environment.
Committee reports:
- Executive Committee Chair Jackson Fletcher said the committee met Aug. 23 to discuss preparations for UCLA hosting the 2028 Summer Olympic Village and the costs associated with ASUCLA from previous protests in spring. The executive committee also replaced and reformed a joint operating committee with Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Monroe Gorden Jr., updated the governing documents for ASUCLA and revisited the Student Union Fee adjustments, Fletcher said.
- Finance Committee Chair Tiara Weedagama said the committee met Aug. 16 to discuss various ASUCLA initiatives, such as going live on BruinBuy Plus, where UCLA departments can purchase products such as computers or Bruin custom print services electronically. Other initiatives discussed included capitalizing on UCLA’s move to the Big Ten by moving the merchandise into the “Big Tent” inside the Rose Bowl and setting up infrastructure projects around campus.
- Services Committee Chair Javier Rodriguez said the committee met Aug. 16 to discuss a new loyalty program, the joint board renovations, the UCLA Athletics committee and the ASUCLA restaurant catering services.
Executive director’s report:
- Abbassi discussed various ASUCLA programs, projects, initiatives and activities in the previous reporting period, including adding a new 360-degree panorama view of a Judy Baca mural on the website, revisiting key positions and vacancies to better distribute workloads among staff, and renovating infrastructure around campus. He also said ASUCLA is working on introducing fully compostable bowls at SAMBAZON in Ackerman Union, releasing new UCLA fall apparel collections and hosting the annual ASUCLA Job Fair on Sept. 24.
- Abbassi said ASUCLA’s gross income for July was $5.6 million, which was $780,000 below planned. ASUCLA is working with insurance carriers to see if the $1 million losses in revenue and expenses due to the campus protests in June are recoverable, he said. Abbassi added that the United States’ real gross domestic product increased by an annual rate of 2.8% in the second quarter of 2024. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has since revised the figure to 3%. Abbassi said he anticipates ASUCLA will end the fiscal year with a net income of $5.6 million.
Action/discussion items:
- The board went into Executive Session at the end of its meeting.
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