The Undergraduate Students Association Council began voting to instate new guidelines for student group office space allocation on Tuesday night in an effort to make the process fairer and more transparent.
As of Tuesday night, the new guidelines will require groups to reapply every one to three years instead of every five and quantify the application evaluation process in an effort to increase turnover and rid the process of ambiguity. The meeting will continue next Tuesday and will cover the possible establishment of a room solely for the Queer Alliance and adding a new clause about space misuse, among other changes.
“We wanted to enable more student groups to apply for office space,” said Sherlyn Mossahebfar, Facilities commissioner. “By making concrete guidelines and more turnaround, it will give student groups more of a chance.”
In the past there were 16 student groups on campus that had office space in Kerckhoff Hall and until a previous set of guidelines was implemented last year, no other groups had been able to apply for this space for at least a decade or more.
Because two student groups were removed from their offices last year under the new guidelines and many student groups were unhappy about the new system, USAC councilmembers said they hope the updated guidelines will address the concerns of those groups with space and those looking to obtain it.
“For me, I’m just looking to find a fair solution to this,” said Addar Weintraub, Academic Affairs commissioner. “There is a vast difference in equality if there are only 16 groups out of hundreds on campus that have spots.”
Some student groups, however, feel there is not enough room for their organization to thrive.
“Things are already crammed,” said Naqib Shifa, president of the Muslim Student Association. “We share our room with the Armenian and the Latin student groups, and an Indian student group moved in over the summer. We’re not selfish.”
Other groups, specifically the Queer Alliance, had permanent rooms that may be reallocated under the new guidelines.
There is an exception in the new guidelines, known as “Solo Space,” that may allow an organization to have a room all to itself to provide a confidential and private space for groups that may deal with sensitive issues. However, the organization must go through a hearing process beforehand.
The Queer Alliance, which currently holds a solo office in danger of being reallocated under the new guidelines, is resistant to this change because they are concerned they will not be able to maintain a safe space for their members.
“The room was originally given to us by the administration for providing a safe space to come for people not officially out yet,” said Edgar Alvarez, director of internal affairs for the Queer Alliance.
The room has no windows and it is not located near a major footpath. These aspects are important for people who do not want to be seen coming into the room, he said. The room the organization may be moved to has a window and lacks confidentiality.
The new guidelines give specific percentages and categories for application acceptance criteria, compared to the old guidelines which were less specific.
“I had to apply last year under those guidelines,” said Nick de Ocampo, president of Samahang Pilipino. “It was a mess. There were miscommunications between the Office Space Allocation Committee chair and USAC and us. Then our office space was made smaller.”
There are about 800 registered student groups on campus.
“We were elected as council to represent all student groups,” Mossahebfar said. “The guidelines display the fact that we are trying to make everything fair.”