UC Board of Regents creates position of student advisor to the student regent
Every year, the University of California (UC) appoints a new student regent, a member of one of the nine UC campuses, who becomes a voting member within the Board of Regents. The student regent serves one year as a student regent designate, where they become a non-voting member on the board until their term commences on July 1. They attend all six meetings throughout the year to represent UC students and their best interests.
Any UC student in good academic standing may apply to be the student regent. The southern and northern regional UC student nominating commissions each select five semifinalists, a total of 10, from those who apply. These semifinalists are then interviewed by the UC Student Association (UCSA) board of directors. The board chooses three applicants, who are then interviewed by the Regents’ Special Committee to Select a Student Regent. The committee then recommends a nominee to the full board of UC Regents, which votes on the nominee.
According to Claire Doan, media specialist for the UC, the student regent adds a student perspective to the board.
“The goal is to give the Board of Regents a more comprehensive student perspective on university issues, so that student concerns and priorities are reflected in Regents’ decision-making,” Doan said.
Duties of the student regent include contributing to policy establishment in areas such as long-range planning, student fees, admissions and compensation. The student regent helps oversee the financial management of the University and also helps to appoint the president of the University, the 10 campus chancellors and the officers of the regents.
The current student regent for the 2016-2017 academic school year is Marcela Ramirez, a Ph.D. graduate student in higher education administration and policy at UC Riverside. Ramirez is currently serving as the graduate student representative on the UC Office of the President LGBT Advisory Committee and was previously a member of the Undocumented Student Task Force at UC Riverside. She also served as the founding director of the Middle Eastern Student Center and as the diversity initiatives coordinator in the Dean of Students Office at UC Riverside.
Ramirez has accomplished many things so far as student regent, including being a part of the UC Davis chancellor search committee.
“I have served on several committees including the sexual assault and sexual violence task force, the UC Davis Chancellor’s search committee, as well as the search committee for the UCOP Vice President of Student Affairs,” Ramirez said. “I am currently on the academic affairs and student affairs committee, as well as the public engagement committee. The largest responsibility is making sure that student perspectives and interests are represented on all these fronts.”
The current UC regent designate is UC Berkeley law student Paul Monge. He is a non-voting regent-designate until his student regent term begins on July 1. He will be the 43rd student regent since the position was established in 1975.
Monge has previously held various leadership positions. He served as student body president for UC Santa Barbara, was a budget analyst for the San Francisco Unified School District, a legislative aide for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, a health and human services policy analyst for Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City and a commissioner on the San Francisco Youth Commission.
Monge is currently the system wide graduate student representative on the University Committee on Planning and Budget, advising the UC on policies regarding capital planning, budget development and resource allocation. He is also a community advisory committee member for the San Francisco Public Education Enrichment Fund.
Monge plans to focus on issues of housing affordability and food insecurity, the need for proper handling of allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault on campuses and expanded access to culturally comprehensive mental health services.
“As student regent I will work to ensure that the voices of students are both respected and reflected in the decision-making processes of the Board of Regents,” Monge said. “I plan to leverage my background in policy advocacy and community organizing to help prioritize some of the most pressing issues affecting students today.”
In January 2016, the Board of Regents approved a two-year pilot program creating a non-voting position titled Student Advisor, who is appointed for a term of one year and is selected from the student population not represented by the Student Regent during the same term of service. A candidate for Student Advisor must be an undergraduate, graduate or professional student in good standing at one of the UC’s 10 campuses.
The position will begin in July 2017. Applications for undergraduate student advisor and the 2018-2019 student regent are now available online.
Written by: Demi Caceres — campus@theaggie.org
