Undergraduate student government officials recently secured $2,000 to fund a safety app for UCLA students, although they still need thousands of dollars more from campus organizations to reach the total funding goal.
Undergraduate Students Association Council Internal Vice President Avi Oved and Student Wellness Commissioner Savannah Badalich are working on a $20,000 UCLA version of the Circle of 6 app.
The app would allow users to call and text close contacts efficiently, by centralizing UCLA’s safety resources in one place in the event of an emergency, Oved said.Through the app, users would be able to contact the university police, the UCLA Counseling and Psychology Services and the Rape Treatment Center at the Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.
Oved said that councilmembers are currently looking for funds from the Office of Residential Life, the Community Programs Office’s Student Risk Education Committee and UCLA Student Affairs.
Last week, USAC’s Discretionary Fund allocated $2,000 towards the app, the only funding secured for the app so far.
Oved said he hopes to obtain $500 from the Office of Residential Life, $1,000 from Academic Affairs Commission’s Academic Success Referendum Fund, and $2,500 from the Healthy Campus Initiative, leaving a remaining $14,000 to be funded.
Dana Pysz, chair of the Office of Residential Life’s Safety and Security Education Committee, said the committee has not confirmed that it will be able to contribute to the project.
Pysz said he and Oved talked about the possibility of funding the app but did not finalize the amount.
Darren Ramalho, the Academic Affairs commissioner, said that the referendum fund can contribute a maximum of $1,000 to the app, but no values have been confirmed. Oved said he plans to meet with Ramalho within the next two weeks to discuss the fund and the application.
Oved said he is working with the developers of the app and hopes to bring them to UCLA to host informational workshops.
These workshops would ideally be incorporated into UCLA’s New Student Orientation to educate students about the app’s features, Oved said.
To obtain more funds, Oved said he also plans to meet with the Graduate Student Association in a forum Wednesday and ask graduate student officials to financially back the app.
Healthy Campus Initiative officials could not be reached to confirm whether or not they will contribute to the app.