For all of the important work the UC student regent does in representing the student perspective on vital issues, the lack of visibility of the position undoes some of that.
As one of 26 voting members on the UC Board of Regents, the student regent is the only one who can connect the student experience with the highest levels of UC administration.
In order to effectively empower and educate the student body, future student regents should strive to make the office more accessible to their constituents through an increased presence online.
This is something that Jonathan Stein, a graduate student in law and public policy at UC Berkeley and the current student regent, agrees with.
Although Stein found it difficult to maintain a website with the demands of his job, he said that there is room for the next student regent to grow the office’s presence with a website and video updates.
In lieu of a website with regular updates, Stein focused on more feasible ways of communicating his work, actively using social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter to engage with students and provide updates.
This board agrees that social media is a useful tool to reach students who are not already personally engaged with the student regent through participation in a student group or student government. But presenting relevant issues in an expanded online form is also necessary.
Currently, the URL ucstudentregent.com redirects to a page on the Regents’ main site that simply explains the duties of the office and provides a link to the application.
The student regent is understandably busy, but the maintenance of the website could be undertaken by a staff member, something Stein said he had considered.
The amount of information that can be communicated through Facebook posts and tweets is limited. By creating a centralized website, students would be able to easily access information about important issues affecting the UC.
Being visible to the UC community is even more imperative in light of the fact that applications to become the student regent for the 2014-2015 academic year are due on Feb. 28.
The next student regent will be responsible for representing the student perspective on vital issues of financial aid reform, state funding and the emerging debate over the place of online education at the University.
Increasing awareness of the role of the student regent would help attract a diverse and qualified field of applicants. Selling the importance of the position would help the strength of the office overall.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of the editorial board.