The UC Board of Regents discussed cross-campus educational initiatives and support for disabled students at a March 19 meeting.

The board held its bimonthly meeting March 18 to March 20 at UCLA. During the academic and students affairs committee meeting, they discussed opportunities for transfer students, support for disabled students across the UC and an update on entrepreneurship and innovation programs.

The academic and student affairs committee first discussed the Campaign for Transfer Excellence program and shared methods for supporting students interested in transferring to a UC campus. The UC has identified 69 California community colleges to work with on this campaign, said Katherine Newman, the UC provost and executive vice president of academic affairs.

The campaign aims to increase the number of students from those community colleges that transfer to a UC by 2,000 within the next five years, Newman said.

Jody Greene, the associate campus provost at UC Santa Cruz, said that UCSC was invited by the Association of American Universities to develop partnerships with local community colleges, which came with funding, aimed to increase the number of low-income community college students transferring to four-year universities and ease transfer pathways.

James Zimmerman, a special assistant to the executive vice chancellor at UC Merced, said that he led a project to create a pathways map for transfer students, which assisted in connecting community colleges to UC Merced.

He added that he worked closely with a local educational organization to align the priorities of the pathways map with those of the region, specifically the Central Valley.

“This tool aimed to eliminate barriers, reduce excess unit accumulation and improve the rate and efficiency of community colleges to UC Merced, with a particular focus on increasing diversity in STEM fields,” he said.

The academic and student affairs committee then discussed the support systems currently in place for University students with disabilities.

Last year, the University established its Systemwide Office of Civil Rights, which plans to house a disability rights office, said Genie Kim, the University’s director of student mental health and wellbeing. The UC is currently looking for a director of the disability rights office, Kim added.

Kim added that across the UC, 29% of undergraduate students reported having a disability and 31% of graduate students reported having a disability in 2024 and 2023, respectively. She said that while the University has expanded its capacity to support disabled students, there are still improvements to be made.

“Over the last year, state funding and campus efforts have enabled campuses to increase staffing, to reduce caseload and expand capacity to offer a broad range of assistance work,” Kim said. “The collective support across the UC system to support students with disabilities is essential, and there’s still more to do.”

Alexis Applebaum, the disability justice officer for the UC Student Association and a second-year political science and psychology student at UCLA, said that inconsistent transportation services are just one barrier that disabled students face.

She added that transportation services sometimes prevent disabled students from attending class and accessing meal periods.

“Unfortunately, I’ve heard time and time again from students that they experience hour-long delays in pickup when transportation is unreliable,” she said. “Students miss class, fall behind and face academic consequences for circumstances entirely out of their control.”

Applebaum also said that the use of incomplete grades disproportionately affects disabled students.

At some UC campuses, incomplete grades can be removed after a student completes a class’s coursework and receives a grade, which then replaces the incomplete notation, Applebaum added. However, she said that there is no consistent policy across the UCs, with two campuses keeping incomplete grades on transcripts after students complete the coursework.

“Some of these UCs disproportionately impacted students with disabilities who often needed extra time due to hospitalization, fatigue, pain flare ups and other challenges caused by disability and chronic illness,” she said.

Ryan Manriquez, president of the UC Graduate and Professional Council, criticized the mask policy that was announced ahead of this week’s Regents meeting. All masks except for transparent ones provided at the meeting were banned, but Manriquez said clear masks are not sufficient for protecting immunocompromised individuals.

Manriquez added that the January fires across Los Angeles highlighted a need for emergency services tailored to the needs of disabled students.

He also said that there is a major gap between the number of disabled students at the UC and those who receive accommodations.

“Another area for this board to focus on is the significant gap between the 31% of UC graduate students who self-identify as having a disability compared to only 8% who received accommodations,” said Manriquez, a graduate student at UC Berkeley. “This data highlights a pressing issue of unmet needs, lack of awareness and systemic barriers.”

Manriquez also said that the UC’s newly implemented systemwide hiring freeze – announced Wednesday in response to federal and state budget cuts – could curtail the University’s ability to provide disability services.

[Related: UC implements systemwide hiring freeze following federal, state threats to budget]

“A systemwide hiring freeze will pivot the UC’s ability to adequately support our students,” Manriquez said. “Disability services staff are essential workers.”

The University of California President’s Entrepreneurship Network Council, established in 2023, also provided updates on its recent progress. Paul Roben, the associate vice chancellor of innovation and commercialization at UC San Diego, and Robert Chin, a radiation oncologist at UCLA Health, explained the proof of concept fund and global entrepreneur in residence programs, emphasizing the importance of research.

The proof of concept fund is an effort to bring research projects down a commercial path, Roben said. The global entrepreneur in residence is a program where international researchers and inventors are empowered to establish and grow startups in California by helping retain them after graduation, he added.

Roben also discussed the Regents Innovation Award, which would publicly recognize exceptionalism in the innovation and entrepreneurship enterprise through innovation awards as a way to challenge and recognize researchers within the UC. He also said that the council is hoping to develop a database of innovation mentors with investors and industry mentors across campuses to understand gaps in research support.

“The work on innovation cannot fall by the wayside, even as we are facing funding difficulties, because these are the things that not only improve people’s lives, but they are the things that are going to give back to the University in due time,” said Regent Lark Park.