Members of the Associated Students of UCLA Board of Directors
are busy evaluating services provided by the student union and
recommending changes and additions for the future.
The board is currently considering the benefits and drawbacks of
ideas big and small. Discussions include everything from providing
space for tutoring to trying to open an on-campus pub, and from
installing Internet terminals in Kerckhoff Hall to construction on
Ackerman Union.
It’s all part of the Student Union Strategic Initiative,
the seeds of which were planted at the board of director’s
first meeting of the the 2001-2002 year.
The purpose of the project is to enhance the student union
““ to consider the union’s strengths and weaknesses and
to develop plans for a future union that can best serve
students.
Work on the project has been extensive.
Members of the board of directors sent out national surveys, to
see what services other student unions provided.
They evaluated other unions considering statistics like the
ratio of student population to the number of meeting rooms provided
to them.
Some members of the board of directors visited universities in
Arizona and throughout Southern California, viewing other unions
first-hand, so they could better evaluate their own.
“It was a very well-organized and well-executed
process,” said Pat Eastman, ASUCLA’s executive
director.
Besides examining other schools, board members also considered
the role that other entities at UCLA ““ like the Tom Bradley
International Center or On-Campus Housing Administration ““
play in serving students, Eastman said.
“Our mission is not to duplicate other facilities and
services that are available on campus,” Eastman said.
“It is to identify what makes a great student union. Is it
offered at UCLA? Or is it not? If not, does ASUCLA play a role in
offering that.”
Board members working on the Student Union Strategic Initiative
developed informed views on ASUCLA’s strengths and
weaknesses.
Randy Hall, who is the vice-chair of the board this year and
served on the services committee last year, came to some
conclusions about what he thought were ASUCLA’s strengths and
weaknesses.
ASUCLA did not provide enough meeting space ““ for students
seeking tutoring or for student groups, he thought. Additionally,
in his mind, UCLA’s student union did not provide enough
computer access.
ASUCLA’s strength, as far as Hall was concerned, is its
low student union fee of $7.50.
After individual members of the board of directors prepared
analysis, a list was compiled of possible ways to expand
ASUCLA’s student services.
Among other suggestions, the list now includes:
“¢bull; Creating a tutorial lab, where students would tutor
other students and where teaching assistants could possibly hold
review sessions during finals and tenth week,
“¢bull; Initiating a “lunch with a professor”
program, where students could meet with faculty members in the
middle of the day, the time when current ASUCLA meeting spaces are
least used,
“¢bull; Promoting student leadership programs aimed at
increasing student involvement in the student governments,
restaurants and stores,
“¢bull; Putting additional Internet terminals in Ackerman and
Kerckhoff Hall,
“¢bull; Turning the Cooperage into a pub,
“¢bull; Expanding the square footage of Ackerman.
Funds for the Student Union Strategic Initiative have not been
identified in five-year budget forecasts. Given financial
constraints, ASUCLA must make tough decisions about which programs
are realistic now, and which should be placed on the back burner.
An analogy commonly used by board members is that ASUCLA must
decide whether to go for the “home run,” or if more
modest pursuits are a better idea.
“I see (the Student Union Strategic Initiative) as a menu
of different programs and services,” Hall said.
Students can order what they want, but everything has a
different price tag attached, he said. The extent to which some of
the ideas can be implemented “is a question of how high
students want (student union) fees to be,” Hall said.
But all seem to agree some programs can be implemented with
little problem.
Setting up lunch with a professor, for example, would be a
simple low cost program.
Converting the Cooperage into a pub would involve consulting
many groups on campus, including the chancellor who would have to
give final approval, but would financially be realistic. The
revenue brought in by the pub would pay for the changes, board
members say.
However, undertaking an expansion of Ackerman would almost
certainly involve an increase in student union fees.
Larry Rubin, a graduate student representative on the board of
directors who serves on the finance committee, said a student union
fee increase would ultimately benefit students.
“It makes sense for students because the money goes back
to them. It doesn’t go to some big guy at the top,” he
said.
Marie Parkes, a chemistry graduate student and chair of the
board of director’s finance committee, said as a student she
supports a fee increase and believes ASUCLA would serve students
well with the additional cash.
But as a board member, deciding whether to push for an increase
is not a simple decision, she said. First ASUCLA must consider
whether students would be receptive to a fee increase.
Parkes noted that the Undergraduate Students Association is
considering placing a student government fee referendum before
students and said some students may not vote in favor of two fee
increases.
“We don’t want to compete with the student
governments,” she said.