By Linh Tat
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Applications for student regent of the University of California
for the 2002-03 academic year are due in the chancellor’s
office by 5 p.m. Feb. 23.
They are available at the Center for Student Programming; James
West Alumni Center; Office of Residential Life; and Student and
Campus Life Divisional Office.
Historically, 15 to 29 students from UCLA ““ most of whom
are undergraduates ““ apply each year, according to Mike Cohn,
student affairs officer at CSP.
“We usually have the most number of applicants of any
school, and we’ve been successful,” Cohn said, citing
that three of the last four student regents were from UCLA.
Justin Fong and Tracy Davis, UCLA graduate students, are student
regents for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 school years, respectively.
The student regent, a full voting member of the Board of
Regents, traditionally sits on three committees ““ educational
policy, buildings and grounds, and the finance committee.
Unlike the other regents who serve a 12-year term, the student
regent serves a nine-month designate term before assuming the
actual position for one year. During this two-year period, all
university fees and tuition are waived for the student.
“The most difficult part is to identify within a year some
issues that you can actually push forward and change,” Fong
said. “The most rewarding part is hopefully getting something
done.”
Students applying for the position should be aware that
admissions policy, financial aid and housing are issues the
university is confronting, Fong said.
While the University of California Student Association has not
taken an official stance on the number of students that should sit
on the board, members say there’s a need for more student
representation. UCSA is comprised of representatives from each
UC’s student governments, lobbying for issues such as
financial aid and admissions policy reform.
“We would like to see students involved in all aspects of
the regents’ decision making process,” said Blinker
Punsalan-Wood, field organizing director for UCSA.
“One student is not enough to vocalize the unique
perspective and priority of the 170,000 students in the UC
system,” he continued.
Mary Spletter, spokeswoman for the UC Office of the President,
said to her knowledge, students have not come forward with this
concern.
“If the students feel that way, they should make the
recommendation and the regents would consider it,” Spletter
said.
In addition to having more student regents, the experiences of
undergraduate and graduate students differ so much that both should
be represented on the board, Fong said.
“At minimum, I would advocate for an undergraduate and a
graduate regent,” he said.
Because individual regents have their own views, Spletter said
she could not speculate on the regents’ stance.
“The regents do not think collectively on any single
issue, so it would have to go through the regental review
process,” she said.
Starting last year, the Board of Regents decided the student
representative would be selected two years prior to their term.
Upon selection, the student would serve nine months as a non-voting
designate member.
Previously, the designated student would serve three months
before assuming the position, but a statewide committee ““
chaired by a previous student regent ““ recommended this was
not sufficient time for the new person to learn the position, and
the regents implemented the change.
Though this new system essentially requires a student to make a
two-year commitment to the job, Cohn, who sat on the committee,
said it would result in students better prepared for the
position.
The selection process begins with students filling out an
application, which the chancellor’s office at each campus
collects and forwards to the secretary of the regents in UCOP.
Applications from the campuses in Southern California are
reviewed by a commission of student body presidents from the
northern schools and vice versa, with each commission picking
students to interview.
At that point, the southern commission interviews students from
southern campuses, and the northern commission interviews north
campus students.
Eventually, the southern and northern commissions pick five and
four candidates, respectively, to forward to UCSA, equivalent to
the number of schools in each region.
In May, UCSA will forward three candidates to be interviewed by
a regents committee, who selects one student to be appointed by the
board. The appointment will occur at the Sept. 12 regents’
meeting, and the student’s term will begin July 1, 2002.
Members of UCSA don’t think the board should make the
final decision who the student regent is.
“We believe that UCSA should have complete autonomy in the
student regent selection process and that UCSA should be empowered
to choose which student sits at the regents table,”
Punsalan-Wood said.
Though the last few student regents have been graduate students,
undergraduates have been selected in the past.
“There’s only one student that gets to be a student
regent right now,” Fong said. “The qualities you need
are remarkable and will show themselves regardless of whether
you’re an undergraduate or graduate.”
STUDENT REGENT SELECTION PROCESS
Student regent candidates undergo a selection process that
starts in February and ends in September.
SOURCE: University of California, Officer of the President
Original by ADAM BROWN/Daily Bruin Web Adaptation by REX
LORENZO