The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every week on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Kerckhoff 417 and are open to all students. Watch a livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! YouTube channel.
Agenda
- Student Union Director Roy Champawat and the council discussed budgets for the incoming year.
Officer Reports
- External Vice President Chloe Pan said her office is working with the Westwood Village Improvement Association, Westwood Neighborhood Council, Graduate Students Association and USAC Office of the President to create a student engagement committee that will meet quarterly and offer feedback.
- Pan added that applications for the University of California Student Organizing Summit, an annual summit on activism and grassroots organizing, are due July 8.
- Academic Affairs Commissioner Divya Sharma said his office is trying to create more study spaces in Powell Library.
- Sharma said he met with Jasmine Rush, associate dean and director of the Office of Student Conduct, to discuss ways to prevent plagiarism. He added his office plans to inform incoming students about plagiarism during summer transition programs.
- Sharma said his office plans to give out 200 notebooks and pencils to students during zero week of fall quarter.
- The proxy for Financial Supports Commissioner Aaron Boudaie said Boudaie met with the director of the Parking Advocacy Task Force to address transfer students’ transportation concerns. They discussed the number of parking passes issued and how to promote alternative forms of transportation, such as bike rentals.
- Facilities Commissioner Zahra Hajee said her office is holding an escape room event in October to provide students with more information on earthquake safety.
- General Representative 2 Kayla He said her office will hold workshops during new student orientations to teach international students about different cultures, how to set up bank accounts and phone numbers and ways to get more involved on campus.
Kayla He’s orientations for int’l students is most important because being an international student is difficult, on top of our already complex culture and language. Assimilation assistance must come from numerous sources to aid these young people embarking on their life’s journey. Most struggle in their efforts and need guidance from schools’ international departments, immigration protection, host families, concerned neighbors and fellow students, and even informative books to extend a cultural helping hand so we all have a win-win situation.
An award-winning worldwide book/ebook that reaches out to help anyone coming to the US is “What Foreigners Need To Know About America From A To Z: How to Understand Crazy American Culture, People, Government, Business, Language and More.” It is used in foreign Fulbright student programs and endorsed worldwide by ambassadors, educators, and editors. It also identifies “foreigners” who became successful in the US and how they’ve contributed to our society, including students.
A chapter on education explains how to be accepted to an American university and cope with a confusing new culture, friendship process and daunting classroom differences. Some stay after graduation. It has chapters that explain how US businesses operate and how to get a job (which differs from most countries), a must for those who want to work with/for an American firm here or overseas.
It also has chapters that identify the most common English grammar and speech problems foreigners have and tips for easily overcoming them, the number one stumbling block they say they have to succeeding here.
Good luck to all at UCLA or wherever you study or wherever you come from, because that is the TRUE spirit of the American PEOPLE, not a few in government who have the loudest voice!