It wasn’t until 12:51 a.m. Wednesday when the gavel hit
the long table to end the first meeting of the newly elected
Undergraduate Students Association Council.
A long-time staff representative called the meeting the longest
of its kind as far as she recalls.
In the USAC transition session in which the outgoing
councilmembers conduct one last meeting followed by another meeting
of incoming officers, the agenda was filled with presentations,
proposals and ““ the most time-consuming ““ the goodbyes,
farewells, welcomes and introductions of a mix of the old and the
new.
During the first meeting with outgoing councilmembers, External
Vice President John Vu and his office representative, Roy Samaan,
presented the importance of allocating money toward the University
of California Students Association.
UCSA is a UC-wide coalition of students created to lobby on
behalf of UC student interests and educate students on the advocacy
efforts most important to them, such as fighting fee hikes.
The proposal passed unanimously.
Following the presentation, the next lengthy item was the
goodbyes, in which officers went around the table and expressed
their gratitude for working with other councilmembers and for the
experience of serving on council as a whole.
Officers around the table discussed their feelings about leaving
council and said they were looking forward to continued involvement
with new councilmembers.
Each ended his or her statement with a pound of the gavel on the
table and its passage to the next councilmember.
After the last officer spoke, the gavel was passed to the new
USAC president, Jenny Wood, who began the meeting immediately. The
night would seem even longer for some new councilmembers who were
not yet familiar with meeting procedures and proper statements of
approving or voting on agenda items.
Tommy Tseng, outgoing general representative, shared his
PowerPoint presentation on the outgoing council’s findings
from the surveys on the Expected Cumulative Progress requirement
and what he called “its negative effects on student
life.”
The ECP requirement mandates students to take a certain number
of units per quarter in order to stay on track for timely
graduation.
General Representative Brian Neesby questioned the value of the
findings, pointing to a discrepancy between the number of students
not meeting the requirement compared to the number who said they
were negatively affected by ECP in the survey.
The meeting continued with Wood’s appointment of External
Vice President Jeannie Bineik, Internal Vice President Kristina
Doan and Student Welfare Commissioner Tracy Pham to the
Appointments Review Committee.
“I am confident in the three people appointed not only
because they are fair and just, but also because we would be
following precedent since (Doan) and (Biniek) are of offices that
have always had a seat on that committee,” Wood said.
The Appointments Review Committee has the job of reaffirming,
interviewing and offering advice and support to whom they see fit
for the almost 50 positions the president has the power to
appoint.
Another time-consuming agenda item was the discussion about the
creation of a Student Advisory Council, which Wood said would be a
collection of representatives from the 800 student groups on campus
that would like to add to USAC efforts. Any group interested could
apply to send a representative.
“This is a way for USAC to represent more diversity on
council ““ by inviting all student groups to discuss their
general concerns and opinions on USAC-related projects,” Wood
said.
The Student Advisory Council is planned to come to a final vote
of approval from the council in the USAC meeting in two weeks.
By the end of the deliberation about the logistics of the
proposed advisory council, some officers became restless and were
ready to call the meeting to adjourn.
Then the second round of goodbyes began, except this time, most
councilmembers did not simply say, “Have a nice
night.”
Rather, they said hello.
Some also discussed their enthusiasm for working cooperatively,
since this year’s council is run by a slate majority of seven
out of 13 offices with the Bruins United slate and three Student
Power! officers, including the president and EVP.
There are also three elected independents.
The gavel hit the table once more by Wood at the end of all the
introductions.
And this time, the first of the weekly meetings Wood will
conduct, came to an end with a round of applause and fresh faces
smiling with contentment as they would begin to fill the shoes of
the old councilmembers.