On Wednesday, Feb. 9, the 14th Associated Students of UCR meeting took place both in person and through Zoom at the ASUCR Senate Chambers. During this meeting, UCR Vice Chancellor Brian Haynes and Associate Provost Ken Baerenklau were present to host a Q&A session regarding a previous resolution in support of more remote learning options. All members of the senate were present, excluding CHASS senators Blanca Estela Alba and Christian Martinez, CNAS senator Catelin La, President William Wang, Vice President of External Affairs Elysha Castillo, Vice President of Sustainability Alondra Martinez, Personnel Director Lina Nguy and Marketing and Promotions Director Wallace Fang who were excused. BCOE senator Amy Do, Vice President of Campus Internal Affairs Arshneel Kaur, Vice President of Finance Jeffrey Tran and Transfer Non-Traditional Director Roxanna Vasquez were all absent.
Motions to approve the current meeting’s agenda were called for by Executive Vice President Mufida Assaf with the addition of GCAP under committee reports and finance hearing minutes 10. Senators’ reports and resolution SR-W22-004 were removed from the agenda. The previous meeting minutes were then opened and approved with a count of 14-0-0.
During the new business, VCSA Haynes and AP Baerenklau opened their Q&A for students to discuss their concerns regarding remote learning options. VCSA Haynes began by addressing the senate and students present. Haynes noted that he has heard the concerns from students about returning to in-person instruction and would like to acknowledge them. According to Haynes, “safety, access and accessibility” are three principals UCR adopted during the pandemic and the decision to resume in-person classes on Jan. 31 took them into consideration. About 97% of students are vaccinated with 88% of staff being vaccinated. Last fall quarter, the infection rates were monitored, and UCR did not experience any major outbreaks. There were also ongoing conversations with county and campus medical professionals along with administration from the other UC campuses.
AP Baerenklau, who is also in charge of a campus COVID-19 committee that monitors infection numbers, spoke next. Baerenklau stated that students were surveyed last February on their thoughts regarding in-person instruction and that the results showed a wide range of opinions with many extremes. Baerenklau also noted that he believes the rationale for the resolution is outdated as we are past the spike of Omicron. Social distancing and public guidance have changed. There are now more testing sites on campus while health and safety is the school’s priority. Although county mask mandates will be ending soon, Baerenklau stressed that the campus will continue to have a mask mandate and that the risk of becoming infected on campus is much lower than off campus. According to Baerenklau, UCR has been more flexible than other campuses as the administration does not dictate how faculty hold their courses. The administrative senate has also given flexibility to allow midterms to take place virtually. The emails that Provost Elizabeth Watkins sent to the community on Jan. 14 and 24 are examples of the communication UCR has provided.
Senators were then invited to ask questions beginning with senator David Kiroloss who acknowledged that the campus COVID-19 tracker does show that cases have gone down. Kiroloss then continued to ask what student accommodations have occurred as some classes are now online permanently or hybrid. AP Baerenklau replied that they could not say what accommodations have taken place due to all professors teaching their courses differently with some being more flexible than others. VCSA Haynes added that if students are unable to make accommodations, they should first speak with their professor, and if that does not work, then they should speak with the department head then the dean of the college.
Senator Rachel Paredes next asked if there are still measures in place to tell students if their classmates have COVID-19. AP Baerenklau replied that the campus is shifting the way they notify students with all of the information now being on the campus COVID-19 dashboard. “It is everyone’s responsibility to look at the dashboard everyday. Some emails may be going out still but we will not continue this going forward,” Baerenklau stated.
Senator Aalani Richardson asked what protocols UCR has if another outbreak occurs. AP Baerenklau’s response stressed that the campus will not go into another full closure and that outbreaks on campus have not been serious. The students who returned in January did cause a small spike, and that is why precautionary actions to delay in-person instruction were implemented.
Senator Lauren Garcia thanked the two for coming and asked who decides what courses will be online while others have been told to return in person. Garcia referenced that CHASS classes have been more accommodating than CNAS classes. AP Baerenklau stated that this variation is not surprising, and many professors who have labs or certain curriculum were told by their departments that they needed to be in person. As of now, he noted, there have not been conversations about flexibility for spring quarter.
Senator Arleth Aparicio asked if dorms or campus housing students will be notified by email if someone on their floor is positive. According to AP Baerenklau, they do not have an answer to that question yet but students should continue to check the dashboard.
Senator Garcia spoke again stating that some students felt the email from the provost to return occurred too late as many students did not have housing yet. They asked if there is a guarantee that students and faculty will have a prompt response for spring quarter. AP Baerenklau responded that the response will be sent out as promptly as possible.
Senator Myra Usmani commented that some professors are more accommodating while others are more difficult to work with and that they hope moving forward there will be more accommodations instead of students scrambling for tests or attendance.
Sen Paredes noted that the campus has RISE technology that allows for hybrid accommodations and asked how many classrooms have this technology. AP Baerenklau responded that “about 110 general assignment classes” have this technology and that it all depends on what the professor is teaching and how they can use it. Other smaller and older classrooms are unable to install the RISE technology. “About ⅓ of the classes don’t have it,” Baerenklau explained. More technology has been put around the campus during the pandemic to assist students.
Senator Richardson asked what the campus is doing to protect students because Riverside County has had one of the highest infection rates in California. AP Baerenklau replied that the COVID-19 committee has been monitoring numbers.
Sen Christian Torres stated that there is more to COVID-19 than getting sick, asking what the campus is doing to help students get online jobs or counseling because of COVID-19 hardships.
VCSA Haynes replied that when the pandemic began, the CAPS center went online and has mainly remained online. They are trying to be accessible to students who need help
The school recently received a grant that will allow UCR to hire more councilors. The career center is also assisting students with remote jobs and conducting remote interviews.
The public forum was then opened to members of the community. Several students who are members of a Discord server titled, “Students for a Safer Return to Campus,” organized by UCR student Bryce Hill, were present through Zoom and discussed their concerns.
Hill spoke first, thanking the two for coming and allowing a forum for students to gather. Hill continued by stating that he feels students were not kept informed and that the survey from February is outdated. He also cited that the email from Provost Watkins ended stating, “What happens next? I don’t know.” Hills argued that this is not an adequate response and that the short notice was difficult for students to find work, housing and childcare accommodations. He then pointed out that this is the first time we have been able to directly communicate with administration. He also questioned that if counselors can conduct appointments remotely, why can’t students remain remote? Hills feels the RISE technology isn’t being utilized, explaining, “I had to request for my professor to use it after speaking to the department chair.”
VCSA Haynes replied that not all counselors are currently remote. Some accept remote appointments but are still on campus. The campus has tried to be as flexible as possible. AP Baerenklau then invited Bryce to have a meeting with him and Haynes regarding his concerns.
Hailey Alzina, a UCR student, spoke next that their professors have not been flexible. They said that they were expected to go back in-person and that the students also needed to be present. Alzina said that the professors don’t seem to be able to make their own decisions if they want to obey the school’s in-person orders. Alzina explained that it’s difficult to attend in person due to living with a person who has a compromised immune system. AP Baerenklau responded that some instructors had to communicate with their departments due to certain curriculum needing to be taught in person. Baerenklau cited that it isn’t surprising that some faculty do not have the same freedoms to teach remotely or through hybrid.
Cyan Shaw, another UCR student, then asked for clarification on hybrid options and if there are any plans to continue to implement them. AP Baerenklau responded that the administration learned several things from the pandemic on what is and isn’t working. He is unsure yet how the campus will incorporate more online and hybrid classes after the pandemic.
UCR student Stephanie Caldwell spoke next in support of Bryce and more hybrid options, stating they value the safety of being able to learn online.
Hill spoke again, accepting the offer to meet in person. He then asked why administration is not dictating faculty on how to teach their classes when they are dictating that all students must return to campus. AP Baerenklau replied that they have allowed faculty to make their own decision and have advised them to be empathetic and accommodating while adhering to the curriculum.
Students Mario Torres and Nate spoke next in support of Bryce. Torres stated that Hill is representing a lot of student voices and despite the small attendance today many students share these concerns.
More time was then yielded to Hill who spoke about how one of their professors has to use their personal technology and laptop to record the lectures and why the school is not using more funding towards hybrid technology. AP Baerenklau responded that the RISE classes were funded with a one time pandemic bailout grant and that the school has finite resources.
UCR student Austin Haugland spoke in support of hybrid options and Hill stating that they are frustrated with UCR as the transition from being remote half of the quarter has been difficult. Another student Naydine echoed Haugland stating that they wanted to attend the meeting in support of “Students for a Safer Return to Campus.”
VCSA Haynes and AP Baerenklau thanked the senate and students for their time and agreed to return to host another forum in the future if requested by the community. They recognized that many students have concerns and stated they would take into consideration the feedback received.
Senator Dornilla spoke last, reiterating that this conversation is the first chance students have had to speak with the administration. They then thanked them for their time and acknowledged that COVID-19 and the pandemic have not been consistent.
New Business followed with the judicial branch presenting concerns related to social media usage and legislation during elections. During elections, senators running for office should recuse themselves from voting on legislations that affect them. The judicial branch was also concerned with the approval of their Instagram account. Senators Nguyen and Usmani clarified that the judicial branch was approved to use their account.
Executive Office reports were presented next with Elections Director Sarmiento reporting that they have revised the candidacy manual and assisted in promoting a new elections legislation that passed. The elections committee is also still meeting to decide if they will have in-person or online elections due to the pandemic. Candidate applications are due Feb. 20. Sarmiento has met with the Highlander on how to cover elections.
International Student Director Gonzales reported that they have met with International Affairs and international students to assist in navigating travel restrictions implemented during the Trump administration. Gonzales is working with senator Dornilla on a resolution to implement priority registration for international students and transportation from the airport.
Transfer and Non-Traditional Student Director Nina Aguila is still promoting transfer week and is assisting in remodeling the transfer room on campus.
VP of External Affairs reported that the graduate student union and ASUCR will be having a rent burden rally on Feb. 15.
First Time College Student Director Lilly Romero reported that they are open to transitioning to in-person committee meetings. Romero is also planning their first event called Snack and Grab as well as events for the spring quarter.
VP Sustainability Martinez reported that they are working on legislation to help reduce plastic on campus.
Executive Vice President Assaf reported that they are currently on how to summarize the meetings and post the highlights on Instagram and that senator reports are due biweekly. The nursing and criminal justice major legislation has also been sent out.
President Wang and VPCIA Kaur did not submit reports while the Ethnic and Gender Program Liaison had nothing to report.
Committee reports were then read with GCAP starting first. Green Grant 37 read by senator Christopher Kent would allow a green grant for a plastic free initiative at Glasgow with a request for $4000. Green Grant 41c was requested by Highlander Racing FSAE for a vehicle they are building with a request for $4000. Both grants passed.
The Finance Committee then read Finance Hearing Minutes 9. Senator Hoang Vu presented them stating that the Fair Trade Committee was allocated $908, senator Alba asked for $1100 for an event and it was tabled, Dancesport at UCR was allocated $3,500 and the Chess Club at UCR meeting was rescheduled. Finance Hearing Minutes 10 were then opened and presented stating that the Medical Emergency Education Project was rescheduled, Puente Connection was allocated $908, Make a Wish UCR was allocated $750, senator Alba was allocated $200, Abyssinian Student Union was rescheduled, HOSA was rescheduled and La Familia De UCR was allocated $908. Both finance minutes were passed.
Legislation was then reviewed beginning with SB-W22-004 Town Hall Amendment. This resolution will edit the bylaws that required senators to host a town hall based on their respective colleges so that no senator has to conduct two. The legislation passed with a count of 12-0-0.
No one spoke during public comment followed by no roundtable and announcements. The meeting was adjourned at 8:47 p.m.
