Students will again have a forum to air grievances this year, if Jonathan Waxer has anything to say about it.
The fourth-year psychobiology student was appointed to the student advocate position in the undergraduate student government last week, after the role was left vacant for two years.
The primary purpose of the student advocate is to serve as a resource to students where other services may fall short or appear too unapproachable, said David Bocarsly, Undergraduate Students Association Council president.
As student advocate, Waxer will be available for students to come with questions and complaints ““ like how to ask professors for letters of recommendation, where to get help with changing grades and the best way to go about qualifying for financial aid, among other issues.
While Waxer has never held a position in USAC before, he said he has experienced many pressing academic issues himself as a pre-med student, so he feels qualified to address students’ similar concerns.
“I have had experience in the academic realm, and I know how important those issues can be,” Waxer said.
Bocarsly said the student advocate position is one of the main roles delineated in the USAC by-laws, and amounts to a lot of responsibility in making sure it is a widely used and accessible forum for students to discuss their problems.
The position, however, has been empty for two years because of unsuccessful attempts to fill the role, including a lack of qualified applicants.
“When there was a student advocate (position before), to my knowledge as far as it existed, it wasn’t active ““ we will work to change that,” Bocarsly said.
USAC worked to re-fill the position this year to maximize its potential as an on-campus resource for students, Bocarsly said.
“We had multiple applicants for the position this year,” Bocarsly said. “But John by far excels in his passion for the position.”
This passion included Waxer’s meeting with current and former student advocates at UC Berkeley as well as Bocarsly himself while applying for the position.
Waxer received a unanimous vote from the council to earn the position.
“If he was willing to work before he even got the position, I’m excited to see what he can do when he actually fills that role,” Bocarsly said.
Among Waxer’s specific goals are holding office hours for students and building an accessible website.
“UCLA has a knack for having difficult websites, so it is imperative we have an easy-to-navigate and smooth running website,” Waxer said.
The website and student advocate office as a whole will focus primarily on two topics ““ academic and financial issues for students, Waxer said. These include airing grievances such as problems with grades and financial aid.
Waxer’s role as student advocate will come on top of a position as external coordinator at Hillel, an Impact L.A. internship, which partners college students with students in the K-12 classroom, and working toward medical school.
Jason Leivenberg, director of student life at Hillel, said he thinks student advocate is the perfect role for Waxer.
“I have seen him in different roles (at Hillel), and he has always been the one to be the team player and the problem-solver,” Leivenberg said.
Waxer said he hopes the student advocate position will help him build interactional and problem-solving skills necessary for a medical career.
At UC Berkeley, the student advocate office is completely student-run. The UCLA office will strive for the same student-run efficiency, Waxer said, but is starting with limited resources.
One of Waxer’s chief goals this year is to create an efficient office modeled somewhat after the student advocate office at UC Berkeley. He said he will work to build strong relationships with the administration to see these goals through.
While Waxer said he is impressed by the 40 office hours per week the Berkeley office offers, he said it will be impossible for him to run an operation of that scale on his own.
“I want to start small and lay a good foundation for future years,” Waxer said.
Taking a break from studying for the MCAT, Waxer is currently hoping to shadow the Berkeley student advocate office later this summer and get ideas on how to expand the office for the upcoming year, he said.