Associated Students UCLA has an opportunity it cannot refuse, and we have UCLA to thank for that.
On Feb. 13, ASUCLA moved its loading dock for deliveries and equipment to an area beneath the engineering building, leaving its previous loading area – which rests adjacent to the base of the Portola Plaza stairs – ready for the taking.
While ASUCLA Executive Director Bob Williams said he is not sure what the now-empty space will be used for, he hopes to provide additional resources to meet student needs or expand the student union.
This new space presents an opportune moment for UCLA to marry the interests of essential student services, some of which are in dire need of space, and ASUCLA, which is now in need of tenants. Instead of transforming the loading area into an extension of the already-sizable UCLA store, ASUCLA should construct a building and lease to campus services that are seeking additional space – such as the Counseling and Psychological Services center.
Although Williams could not point to an exact reason for the construction of the new loading dock – which he said is a decision made by UCLA Capital Programs department and not ASUCLA – it’s clear how the unused space could drastically improve campus resources that are struggling to meet rising student demand.
Case in point: CAPS. Last quarter, CAPS saw an average of 534 different students each week at its location in the Wooden Center, which marked an unusual increase of 17 percent in its visits. It has recently applied for funding to rent out additional space on campus, but both the lack of room at UCLA and the lack of administrative support spell a difficult search for the center.
[Editorial: UCLA must prioritize finding space to expand CAPS on campus]
However, providing an additional space in Ackerman Union would make it easier to accommodate more students, which is especially important as the demand for counseling services rises at UCLA. Moreover, many of CAPS’ problems stem from its lack of additional space, and the loading area is a fairly centralized location on campus, allowing for a feasible and much-needed expansion of the center.
And this kind of expansion – which isn’t just limited to CAPS – would also be beneficial to ASUCLA. After all, according to Williams, current Ackerman Union businesses are starting to suffer losses due to lower student traffic, and even the newly opened Bruin Custom Print shop has reported slow sales.
[Editorial: ASUCLA needs to interact with students to better meet consumer needs]
Thus, it is essential ASUCLA officials steer away from more merchandising and strive to make the additional space more meaningful to students. It’s clear selling more UCLA gear or overpriced food isn’t a viable way to attract students to the student union. Instead, by catering to essential student services, ASUCLA can better draw in more student customers while simultaneously increasing the caliber of campus services.
And when it comes to such rare win-win situations, ASUCLA would be mistaken not to answer the opportunity knocking on its door.