External Vice President Jesse Melgar’s office within the undergraduate student government manages Travel Grant, which funds student groups’ advocacy efforts at the local, state and national levels.
But if the Practicing Leadership and Empowerment to Develop Growth thru Education referendum does not pass in the upcoming May election, giving the Travel Grant $0.20 per quarter, Melgar says the allocation program will suffer.
He said that his office is “charged with being the judicial advocates for students.”
As a result, it sends lobbying groups to policymakers like the UC Board of Regents, the California legislature, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Congress.
Melgar said his office’s mission is to make the University of California more accessible and affordable.
To work toward this goal, his office collaborates with the University of California Student Association and the United States Student Association.
Through the Travel Grant, the EVP office is able to send students on trips to lobby for student rights as well as to attend conferences such as the Student of Color, University of California Student Association, United States Students Association Student Congress and the Student Lobby Conferences.
Assistant EVP Susan Li said that the grant’s primary goal is to enable students to advocate for their issues not only at UCLA but also beyond the campus and into the community.
Any student group can apply online for a Travel Grant, which has a current cap of $500 per group member.
Melgar said this year alone, the grant has helped about 500 to 600 students attend lobbying trips and conferences.
“It’s one of the only sources of funding of its kind within the UC system,” Melgar added.
Cinthia Flores, co-chair of the Union Salvadorena de Estudiantes Universitarios, said the Travel Grant helped her group fund their trip to the recent presidential election in El Salvador.
“It was my first time visiting El Salvador, and I would not have been able to travel across the world if it wasn’t for the Travel Grant,” she said.
She added that the skills she brought back from the life-changing experience can help enrich campus life at UCLA.
Travel Grant Director Phoebe Lao said that the grant is able to provide some amount of funding to any group attending any event, as long as they have completed a satisfactory application.
This year’s Travel Grant started with a $10,000 budget to allocate; Melgar added $4,000 more from general funds. However, even with the added support, the Travel Grant is already closed for this academic year.
Melgar said that the depletion of funds is due to the outdated nature of the Travel Grant’s funding, which was established by referendum in 2002.
“The Travel Grant is not at the level it should be. It needs to also keep growing with the groups,” he said.
Melgar mainly attributes the grant’s popularity to his office’s project in transparency.
If the referendum does not pass, Melgar said the grant will be left with the same level of funding. As a result, fewer students will be able to travel to advocacy events.
“It would hurt the advocacy potential of UCLA as a leader,” he said.
Melgar also predicted that next year more groups will apply, and consequently the office will have to deny funds earlier if the referendum is not passed.
“These programs are already running on minimum budgets now and they are being cut even more, which makes it difficult for them to provide quality services,” said Patricia Alfaro, a PLEDGE representative at Tuesday’s Undergraduate Students Association Council meeting.
Melgar said that while UCLA is currently at the forefront of the student advocacy effort, it will require students willing to raise fees for UCLA to remain there.