The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government of UCLA’s undergraduate students. Council meetings are Tuesdays at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students.
Agenda
- Contingency allocations were approved unanimously.
- The USAC officers signed the code of ethics.
- The council discussed establishing a uniform process for publishing its resolutions. The council decided to put an ad in the Daily Bruin at the end of every quarter to outline the council’s accomplishments from that quarter and have links to resolutions the council passed.
- The council unanimously passed a resolution supporting the implementation of diversity programs and initiatives at UCLA in response to recent hate crime incidents on campus and the failure of the Community and Conflict in the Modern World general education requirement to pass.
Officer reports
- President David Bocarsly said he signed an open letter on student debt to national leaders urging them to take a stand against the increase in Stafford loan interest rates with the National Campus Leadership Council.
- Andrea “Andi” Hester, internal vice president, said she met with Nancy Greenstein of the university police about opening workshops with university police officers to the UCLA community.
- Lana Habib El-Farra, external vice president, said her office held a call-in event last week where she and her staff made about 110 calls in support of the Cal Grant. El-Farra said she has been working with Student Regent-designate Jonathan Stein to create a public coalition for higher education. The coalition would be a bipartisan organization that would endorse and financially support political candidates and propositions.
- Kim Davis, academic affairs commissioner, said students and faculty can go to Meyerhoff Park today at noon to voice their concerns about the failed Community and Conflict in the Modern World GE requirement. Davis said her office is taking part in the search for a new vice provost of undergraduate education to replace Judith Smith, who will retire fall quarter.
Appointments
- The council unanimously appointed Joel Ontiveros, a third-year communication studies student, to the Associated Students UCLA Board of Directors.
- The council appointed Adam Swart, a third-year political science student, to the ASUCLA Board of Directors by a vote of 6-4-2. Academic Affairs commissioner Kim Davis and Campus Events commissioner Jan Tancinco abstained.
Special Presentations
- Cameron Campbell and William Newman, professors and members of the College of Letters and Science Faculty Executive Committee said they were disappointed that the College faculty voted down the proposed Community and Conflict in the Modern World general education requirement. Former Academic Affairs commissioner Raquel Saxe said she was disappointed in the vote results as well.
- Kristen McKinney, assistant director of the Student Affairs Information and Research Office, presented the results of the Diverse Learning Environments Survey, which was conducted by the Higher Education Research Institute. McKinney said the results of the survey showed there is a discrepancy in the quality of experiences of majority and minority students at UCLA. She said that the results also showed that UCLA students value diversity but feel that they lack the tools to facilitate dialogue.