USAC ad hoc committee looks to increase student representation

Daily Bruin A committee trying to reform the undergraduate student government to include underrepresented communities held its first meeting Tuesday night.
The ad hoc committee, which aims to discuss ways to increase student representation in the Undergraduate Students Association Council, is meant to consist of several USAC representatives and a student focus group. However, only one of 15 students in the focus group attended the first meeting.
[Related: USAC creates committee to discuss potential council restructuring]
At the Nov. 10 council meeting, USAC Transfer Student Representative Divya Sharma proposed creating the committee in response to the presidential election results. He said he wanted to see more representation of student communities on the council table. The council approved the formation of the committee at its next meeting on Nov. 15.
Sharma, who plans to oversee the committee, recommended council members Academic Affairs Commissioner Ashly Mohankumar, Internal Vice President Sabrina Zeigler, Community Service Commissioner Zack Dameron and Student Wellness Commissioner Christina Lee to help with outreach or research-based tasks in the committee. The council approved Sharma’s recommendations unanimously Jan. 10. None of the appointed council members attended the committee’s first meeting.
The committee plans to hold weekly meetings to discuss the possibility of restructuring USAC to include more student groups that are currently underrepresented in student government. Sharma added the reform could be small, such as adding a position to an office, without creating entirely new seats on council.
“We need to reform the system,” Sharma said. “The best system is to have people of different communities in power.”
The focus group, which consists of USAC and non-USAC members, is supposed to provide student input to the committee to better inform its discussions.
In November, Sharma suggested restructuring the council to resemble a senate system, and potentially eliminating the general representative positions. However, some council members said they were concerned about the proposal because they thought ...


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