Questions raised over council’s purpose, administration’s commitment to students

The Council on Student Affairs and Fees’ May 19, 2017 vote on an increase in student fees to support intercollegiate athletics ended in a tie, which, for the council, is an effective no. Then-Interim Chancellor and current Provost Ralph Hexter decided a month after the decision to provide the increase in student fees for athletics despite the council’s advice not to, raising questions on the purpose of the council and the administration’s obligation to students.

COSAF is one of 11 administrative advisory committees. Its purpose, according to its website, is to “provide a more comprehensive oversight of student fees” and “assure the highest degree of transparency and accountability regarding the use of student fees.” The council, which comprises 10 undergraduates, four graduate students, one faculty member and two staff members, passes nearly every proposal put in front of it.

Daniel Nagey, a third-year economics and psychology double major who at the time was acting as ASUCD’s appointee to COSAF and voted against the athletics measure, believes that students usually pass every proposal because the issues are complex and the students involved do not typically understand the dynamics of university politics. It is difficult, he said, for students to fully understand university budget politics in single-year terms, so many students seem to simply go along with what is said in an effort to pad their resumes and “play nice” with the administration.

Despite this, “it’s not in the chancellor’s best interest to not take [COSAF’s] recommendation,” Nagey said.

COSAF provides a student voice in the fee process, and Nagey believes that ignoring the advice of the council continuously could lead to a decrease in morale and questions of the council’s legitimacy.

Nevertheless, Hexter dismissed COSAF’s advice, announcing over a month later in an email to COSAF co-chairs Madelina Garcia and Brionda Tanner that he would be approving the fee increase for athletics, which amounts to about an $8 increase per student, or approximately $200,000 total, because of his concern “about a continued degradation of spending power” for student-athlete scholarships. These scholarships “allow teams to recruit the best student-athletes” and pay for their tuition, fees, housing and books, Hexter clarified in an email to The California Aggie. The fee increase was deemed necessary because of increases in tuition and fees.

The decision to dismiss COSAF’s advice came at a time when the council was in transition; the 2016-2017 school year was coming to a close, council members were terming out, and the university was transitioning to Gary May’s chancellorship, relieving Hexter of his powers as acting chancellor. Hexter said he made the decision based on a recommendation from the UC Office of the President and that “there was no intent to rush to make this decision before my term as interim chancellor conclude and I returned to my position as provost and executive vice chancellor.”

“I would say it was a snaky move to try to pull something like that when it’s the end of the year and you know that COSAF is transitioning,” Nagey said. “It’s a time where, if people were to find out, not a lot could happen.”

“As a student who spends hours going to these meetings, I felt unnecessary, powerless,” Nagey said. “What does this say about admin listening to students and not believing the students who pay the tuition? [The administration] is clearly not listening to the demands of students.”

Hexter, however, maintained that student input is taken seriously.

“I want to assure students that the administration does listen to the voices of students,” Hexter said in an email to The California Aggie. “Students are, however, bound to be frustrated if they expect recommendations to be taken as directives. I receive recommendations from many bodies across the university; I often agree, since those who offer advice think carefully about the matters before them, but sometimes I don’t agree and in those cases don’t follow the recommendation in every detail. In other words, one can listen and nonetheless respectfully disagree. It does not mean one has not listened, and listened carefully.”

In part, the decision to not approve the fee for athletics was due to Athletic Director Kevin Blue’s presentation, sources say. In the transcript, two voting students said the presentation was “poor,” with another expressing concern for the lack of transparency on what the money would be spent on. During the presentation, Blue also made a comment about the athletic department having to get over a financial wall akin to President Trump’s border wall, which some council members thought was made in bad taste.

“The brief comment was misunderstood by some,” Blue said in an email to The California Aggie. “It was not a joke […] nor was there any intent to be insensitive. I apologized for any misunderstanding and we moved forward fifteen months ago.”

Voting members also mentioned a “separation and a disconnect between Student Athletics and the student body.” A suggestion was made to “make athletics more palatable to the general student body.” Some of the affirmative votes on the proposal seemed reluctant but still voted yes because of the obligation that the students have to pay for intercollegiate athletics that originally stems from UC Davis’s transition from Division II to Division I.

When the university transitioned to Division I, it was agreed that the athletics department would not give preferential treatment to the more visible sports like men’s basketball and football. It also promised to not cut sports, and students at the time made an agreement with the UC Regents that the core funding for athletics would come from student fees rather than outside sources. This led to UC Davis becoming one of the largest spenders of student fees for athletics in the UC system. Students paid $562.11 in fees for the 2017-2018 school year to support scholarships for student-athletes that include out-of-state tuition and housing costs.

With nearly 28,000 undergraduates this year, the athletics department received around $15.5 million just from student fees. The athletics department’s request for more money last May raised questions of bloat in the department that follows a nationwide trend of athletics departments overspending.

Chancellor May addressed accusations of financial bloat in an email to The California Aggie. He said the athletics department pays “below the campus average” for staff positions and coaching salaries are “very modest.” The department also provides recent graduates with positions “to reduce costs and provide entry-level employment.” Daily spending and lodging are “significantly less than the allowable amounts” for the university, and the operating budget for administrative support for the department was reduced by five percent in 2018 and will further be reduced in 2019.

“I do not believe ICA [intercollegiate athletics] should be considered bloated in anyway,” May said. “I believe that ICA is stewarding its funding very conscientiously.”

Written by: Taylor LaPoint — campus@theaggie.org

Released assessment of other sites in consideration discuss demographic disparities university, city project aims to address

Chancellor Gary May and Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg held a news conference in Sacramento on April 12 to announce the UC Davis Health Center as the site for the project Aggie Square.

Aggie Square is a prospective extension of UC Davis as a campus for graduate, undergraduate students and faculty to live in, pursue research or secure internships. Partnerships with private or public companies are meant to introduce restaurants or retail into the square to create a learning-centered community.

The UC Davis Health Center, located in Sacramento, was one of four sites considered by a working group of representatives from UC Davis and the city.

Representing UC Davis were Vice Chancellor of Finance, Operations and Administration Kelly Ratliff; Associate Vice Chancellor of Campus Planning and Environmental Stewardship Robert Segar; Interim Vice Chancellor of the Office of Research Cameron Carter; Academic Senate Chair Rachael Goodhue; Academic Senate Vice Chair Kristin Lagattuta and Associative Chancellor and Chief of Staff to the Chancellor Karl Engelbach.

Other potential sites were the Railyards, recycled land projects in Sacramento, the Sacramento Center for Innovation and North Natomas.

The finalization of the site falls under the first phase of the planning of Aggie Square. The first phase also involves looking for relationships between UC Davis and entities in Sacramento that can provide future funding.

“There is much planning to be done,” said UC Davis spokesperson Kimberly Hale. “The university and city will be looking at public-private partnerships, consultations with community, business and other leaders on the composition of Aggie Square.”

The next phase in planning is deciding what kind of academic programs will be available for students at the Square. These programs, according to Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Dana Topousis, will be decided based on recommendations by Davis faculty.

“Some students might choose to live there, as well, if they’re interested in having a more urban experience,” Topousis said. “Some people come to UC Davis and are glad that Sacramento is where it is. You can have that urban experience and so if they want to live in Sacramento, this is an option.”

Louis Stewart, chief innovation officer within the mayor of Sacramento’s Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, explained the next steps for the planning of Aggie Square, which involves the acquisition of funds to develop academic programs and construction.

The two teams from Sacramento and UC Davis “will get back together” and “bring in a few other stakeholders to really start sussing out next steps,” Steward said.

“But the first step, really, is working with Assemblymember McCarty to support his efforts to get two million dollars to research what’s next,” Stewart said.

Also announced at the Sacramento news conference was the report from the working group researching potential sites. The report discussed positive characteristics for each site as well as points of interest within Sacramento demographics that a relationship with UC Davis would address.

The report referenced an assessment of Sacramento’s economy conducted in February by the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program that revealed “alarming trends.”

Sacramento ranks “84th of the 100 largest metros for inclusion, factoring in employment rate, median wage, and relative poverty rate,” and “47% of Black residents and 42% of the Hispanic residents are described as struggling.”

“UC Davis provides a solution to these economic trends,” the assessment stated.

“Aggie Square provides the opportunity to align university strengths and ambitions with the needs of the market, allowing Sacramento leaders to better support the university, sector growth and job creation,” the working group report said. “These jobs, which generate more economic impacts and create additional downstream jobs, will provide economic opportunity for struggling residents across demographics.”

There is no expected date of completion for Aggie Square. Topousis referenced a similar extension campus project headed by Chancellor May in his previous position at Georgia Tech that took approximately 10 years to construct and finalize. A similar period is expected for Aggie Square as well.

Written by: Elizabeth Mercado — campus@theaggie.org

Event featured parades, science shows, animals

Picnic Day 2018 once again drew large crowds and great excitement with a wide range of activities from cow milking to parades and science shows.

The Band-uh! kicked off the parade with its lively music and marching. Floats and processions from more than 80 different organizations in the school and the community followed.

Among the notable processions were the Animal Horse Barn, which featured individuals riding horses, while the Entomology Club showed off a giant replica of a black spider. The International House sent flags from dozens of countries, and KDVS featured a live band performing on its float. And, of course, one float featured a giant cow head.

There were also plenty of events hosted all over the campus.

The Department of Entomology and Nematology offered a variety of insect-related activities in Briggs Hall. Visitors had the opportunity to taste an assortment of honey and create “maggot art” by having maggots dipped in paint crawl around their paper.

“I really like when the Entomology Department puts on events like this, because normally I don’t like insects, but this gives me a different insight into the insects without being afraid,” said third-year biochemistry and molecular biology major Jordan Keys.

Meanwhile, Hutchinson Field hosted booths from various animal rescue and adoption centers where visitors could view and interact with all sorts of animals, including kittens, doves and parrots.

At the center of the field was a frisbee dog competition hosted by the Canine Medicine Club at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. Some of the competing canines were elderly or had disabilities, but this didn’t stop them from leaping into the air and catching their frisbees.

“We weren’t expecting it, but the dog show was awesome,” said fourth-year mechanical engineering major Michael Lyons.

Among the many highlights of Picnic Day, the science shows are always popular with students, and this year was no exception.

The Material Advantage Student Chapter hosted a Harry Potter-themed magic show centered on a muggle who used his knowledge of science to perform feats that resembled magic, such as standing on a wine glass, moving books with magnets and popping balloons with lasers. The Chemistry Show also drew large audiences, with a series of exciting experiments involving fireballs, explosions and liquid nitrogen.  

“I thought it [the Chemistry Show] was really cool and interesting to watch, and it also shows how chemistry does not always go as planned,” said second-year aerospace and mechanical engineering major Christine Anderson.

As the day stretched into late afternoon and most of the events came to a close, the Battle of the Bands was still going strong. Bands from all across California competed against the Band-uh! to be the last school standing without repeating any songs.

“I love seeing the bands from different campuses,” said third-year biomedical engineering major and Band-uh! Member Jotera Conway. “Even though it’s a competition, I still get the feeling that they like music and I like music too, and it’s all really friendly competition.”

Written by: Clara Zhao — campus@theaggie.org