ASUCR senators and executive officers gathered for their third state of the association meeting of the quarter this past Wednesday, Nov. 15. Here are a few highlights from the meeting:
- Seismic Improvements for Falkirk… Vice President of External Affairs Johnathan Li announced that Campus Planning (a group under the Division of Planning and Budget) will be allocating $3 million toward seismic improvements for Falkirk apartments. The funds are sourced from a $3 million housing initiative allotted to each UC (not including UC Merced) by the UC Office of the President last month. Once the initiative was handed out, Associate Vice Chancellor Jeff Kaplan and Vice Chancellor of Auxiliary Services Andy Plumley held meetings with faculty and students, respectively, to discuss how to best allocate the funds. According to Li, Kaplan says that the $3 million will allow for the campus to improve Falkirk.
- Support for GSA… CHASS Senator Grant Nakaoka drafted a resolution supporting the Graduate Student Association’s (GSA) push for a lower Student Rec Center (SRC) summer fee for graduate students. The resolution (entitled Official Declaration of Support for the GSA) follows up last week’s request from GSA President Shawn Ragan that the undergraduate representatives show support for the GSA’s efforts to obtain more affordable access to the SRC for graduate students who are not taking classes during the summer. Nakaoka finds the use of the SRC to be “a great need for the general health and well-being of graduate students at this university,” per the resolution.
- Introducing new VCSA… In the wake of Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs (VCSA) James Sandoval’s leave from the university, President Aram Ayra took time during his officer report to introduce interim VCSA and former Assistant Dean of Students Joe Virata to the undergraduate senators and executive officers in attendance. Since October of 2016, the VCSA office has fully overseen ASUCR’s Executive Director and has a larger role in the oversight of ASUCR. During public comment, Virata expressed that “the student affairs division is committed to continuing to work and support ASUCR.”
In observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, ASUCR will not be holding a senate meeting this Wednesday. Their next and final senate meeting of the quarter will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 29.