News explainer: What is ASUCD?

ASUCD budget hearings in 2026. (Aggie File)

A guide to UC Davis’ student government and its units

For both new students and those returning, the five-letter entity ASUCD may prove confusing in its purpose and its logo’s diverse presence on campus: from mental health posters to bus maps. With a budget of $22 million for the 2026-27 academic year in its hands, it’s worth taking the time to understand both what ASUCD is and what it can do for you.

Firstly, the Associated Students, University of California, Davis (ASUCD, or the Association), acts as both an employer and governing body for the student population. ASUCD has two sides: the elected and appointed student officials who allocate funds and oversee the organization as a whole and the individual units that provide events and services for the student population. It is governed by a constitution, first adopted in 1996.

On the government side are the three ASUCD branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Led by ASUCD President Luis Leonardo Garcia, the Executive Office is the highest representative for all student body affairs. Garcia serves as the Association’s chief executive officer, appointing students to oversee internal and external operations as well as a controller to oversee the budget.

The Executive Office also works with some special departments — for example, the Student Advocate Office, which helps represent students accused of academic misconduct.

The ASUCD Senate is the main student legislative body, meeting weekly to allocate student funds to units and pass legislation on behalf of the student body. It consists of 12 elected senators, two additional voting members (the international and transfer student representatives) and a handful of other student officers.

The California Aggie covers these meetings, which are also open to the general public, providing coverage of important legislation and developments relevant to the student body. Additionally, senators host office hours and meetings for undergraduates to bring questions to them individually.

Under the Senate are a handful of student commissions and committees that help consult on legislation, including the Environmental Policy and Planning and the Gender and Sexuality Commissions.

Senators are elected twice a year: six in fall quarter and six in spring quarter. The ASUCD President and other top student officials are also elected in the Spring.

The Judicial Branch consists of the seven justices of the Judicial Council, tasked with reviewing legislation to ensure compliance with the ASUCD Constitution. They also occasionally hold hearings when ASUCD officials are accused of misconduct and failing to perform their duties, including executive impeachments.

ASUCD’s work is broadly categorized into four pillars: basic needs and services, advocacy, media and social. On a daily basis, it is the individual working units that students interact with the most. They include: Unitrans, the bus transit system that runs throughout the city; the Coffee House (CoHo), which works to sell food at affordable prices; The Pantry, the on-campus food bank; the Entertainment Council, which puts on concerts and music festivals, including Sunset Fest and Lawntopia; and Picnic Day, which organizes UC Davis’ yearly open house festival.

Units each have directors and teams of paid staffers, though some units also rely on volunteers for their operations. Units can vary in size from a dozen staffers to several hundred. Several units also have career staffers — full-time non-student employees — who help keep operations steady from year to year.

The California Aggie and KDVS 90.3 FM, the student radio station, are also ASUCD units, though they are managed and organized independently.

Units also make up the bulk of the ASUCD employee population. During the school year, around 1,500 students are employed as hourly workers at some level in the organization, according to the Association. ASUCD employs more students than any other department at UC Davis, making it the largest on-campus employer of undergraduates.

While the inner workings of ASUCD can be complex in their vastness, the resources and opportunities they provide are also expansive and wide-reaching. Few university student governments are as comprehensive or as centralized, and fewer can say they employ students as both bus drivers and concert organizers.

Those interested in learning more about their student government or working for an ASUCD unit can visit the ASUCD website for more information.

Editor’s Note: A version of this article has been printed annually in the paper’s orientation issue for several years. It has been updated with current information and new details.

Written by: Vince Basada — campus@theaggie.org