For the first time in at least 10 years, the UC Board of Regents will round out a year of meetings without a single appearance at a UC undergraduate campus.
The main reason for forgoing travel is financial, UC spokesman Peter King said.
“It saves a significant amount of money,” King said. “We don’t travel lightly.”
The regents will convene today for the final meeting of the year at the Mission Bay facility at UC San Francisco, a graduate-only campus and the most frequent location for the bimonthly meetings. King said most of the regents commute from Oakland.
Another consideration for the UC San Francisco location is the potential for protests at other campuses. These disrupt UC campuses and sometimes have a financial impact, King said.
UCLA has regularly hosted the November regents meeting. But last year, classes were shut down, and students, angered by the 32 percent fee increase, barred the regents from exiting Covel Commons.
Suza Khy, Academic Affairs commissioner of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, said last year’s events made regents “fearful.”
She added that the decision not to hold meetings at undergraduate campuses shuts students out of the proceedings.
“What is our contribution at the table if you’re not having (the meetings) at (an undergraduate) campus?” Khy said. “They don’t see our faces, they see the statistics and the numbers.”
Students can still attend the meeting. Buses organized by USAC will be transporting UCLA students to San Francisco tonight.
King said that the meetings can also be viewed online via teleconference, and decisions made by the regents are posted on the UC Board of Regents website.