The Undergraduate Students Association Council held a busy meeting on Tuesday night that included 17 appointments to the Academic Senate and further discussion about a plan to digitize forms for student groups.
The Academic Senate is the committee that oversees academic issues at UCLA, such as establishing university curriculum.
The students up for appointment to various Academic Senate subcommittees included Anglie Taneja and Alexandra Ramos, who both ran for USAC positions last year.
Academic Affairs Commissioner Addar Weintraub was in charge of recruiting, reviewing the applications and forwarding applicants to council for approval.
“At the end of the day, obviously these are my appointments, but I was really open to people’s comments and concerns. These representatives are serving and representing the entire council, not just me,” she said.
Three appointees, including Ramos, had their confirmations postponed until the next meeting so that they could be present for questioning and further review by council.
Cultural Affairs Commissioner Bernice Shaw was the only councilmember to abstain from voting on 11 of the appointees, which she said was because she received copies of the appointees’ applications that same day and the majority of them were not present at the meeting.
“With the importance of these applications and appointments, it’s necessary for the person to be there,” she said.
Later on in the meeting, USAC returned to the issue of digitization of its funding and appointment applications, which General Representative Christina Colosimo has been working on throughout the summer along with ASUCLA executives and others.
During the presentation, Colosimo and Associated Students UCLA Student Support Services Director Jerry Mann said they have now chosen a software and the plan is moving forward to set it up.
Council agreed that there are numerous benefits to having electronic forms, which will enable student groups to apply for funding or students to apply for various leadership positions more easily.
Currently, every form that is submitted is in paper form and must then be manually scanned by student employees. Student groups often complain that receiving and requesting funding with paper applications can be challenging and cumbersome.
“This project will enable USAC to more fully automate its funding and appointment application processes, thereby saving time, expense and, as an added bonus, allowing USAC to practice sustainability,” said Mann of the benefits.
Colosimo said she believes more students and student organizations will be likely to apply for important positions or funding with a streamlined, digitized process.
“From all the work I’ve done on funding over the years, I think this is a big deal. It makes the funding more accessible to students,” she said.