[GSAUCR] GSA Fall Quarter Letter

[Henry Huang]

Dear Highlanders,


The holiday season is just around the corner, and I hope that all of you
were able to end Fall Quarter strongly! Although I cannot emphasize enough
the knowledge and sense of fulfillment that comes with being an active
member of the student body, our *top priority* should always be our
academic performance as that is the fundamental reason that we are all here
at UCR.

I wish you all the best and a safe Christmas break with your families,
friends, and loved ones. As I read about the horrific shootings that
occurred earlier today at a Connecticut elementary school, my grief for the
victims is a stark reminder to keep things in perspective and always
cherish time spent with the individuals who care for you the most.

With that being said, for the Graduate Student Association this quarter has
presented its fair share of challenges since for many of your Executive
Officers (including myself), this year is our first time being involved in
GSA. I feel that many of us took an enthusiastic leap of faith, but rather
than caving in to the steep learning curve we have instead emerged as more
competent student leaders –more knowledgeable, efficient, and prepared to
tackle your most pressing concerns while passionately advocating on behalf
of your interests to administration and government at all levels.

I thank you for all your contributions thus far in the year, and strongly
encourage all of you to keep it up. Let there be no doubt that your voices
are being heard and as student government, we are your humble
representatives and it is our job to fight for your interests. But, we
cannot do it alone. We need your help in being active participants in the
process. There are no dumb questions and no concerns that are too small.
Let me reiterate that it is our job to communicate your voice and your
concerns so that actionable solutions may be implemented in a timely manner.

Based on your valuable input, our team has been able to identify a number
of areas that need improvement. First, a significant portion of the revenue
for our Conference Travel Grant (CTG) fund is not guaranteed
year-over-year. Thankfully, due to the generous Chancellor Tim White,
prudent financial management of past GSA administrations, and your
hard-working CTG Coordinator, Katherine Dejernes, we have been able to
operate with rolling temporary funding on an annual basis. This temporary
funding process is not sustainable and will inevitably become more and more
reliant on students to foot the bill in two ways: (1) Student Services Fee
Advisory Committee (SSFAC) allocations, and (2) new fee-referenda. Both of
which are unacceptable. We have already been footing the bill with the
rising tuition costs; yet have been receiving less value in return on our
investment as resources continue to be cut. I will work closely and
creatively with your newly elected Finance Officer, Steven Jew, to develop
an agreement with UCR administration on how to secure future financing.
With all the transition currently taking place at the highest levels
coupled with it being a hugely important election year it has been rather
difficult to move forward with large-scale structural initiatives, however
looking back it played out in our favor now that we can turn our focus
internally rather than have to be endlessly at the mercy of budget-cuts.

Second, our website is completely outdated. In Winter Quarter our team will
begin discussions and taking input from all of you as to the best way to
proceed in this site overhaul. If you have any suggestions please feel free
to email them to gsaucr at ucr.edu It seems that a systemic and recurring
issue is the difficulty of navigating in order to simply access the
information that is readily available on our website. Also, thanks to your
Public Relations Officer, Lauren Hale, we have re-established our social
media presence on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/232946590168927/

It is an open group within UCR and will be used to post details about
events such as Grad Bash and our coffee socials.

Lastly, partially contributing to some of the tension that had built up
internally was the large amount of holes we need to plug up in our bylaws.
At points they are vague and can be interpreted in various ways and at
other points they simply leave out very important and detailed information.
I’m confident that your Executive Vice President, Rachel Cassel, is fully
equipped with the help she needs to plug up these holes. I’d also like to
mention that she has contributed a wealth of knowledge and experience to
newer Officers as Rachel served as immediate-past GSA President.

The topics covered above are what we feel to be GSA’s main priorities going
forward, but let’s shift gears shortly to touch on some of the successes we
had. First, without a doubt the passing of Proposition-30 is our biggest
student victory thus far. Students turned out to vote in record numbers and
saved the UC-system alone $250M in trigger budget-cuts and the broader
California public-education system was saved in excess of $1B. Yes, we are
off the cliff for now, but we must leverage this momentum and take the
offensive to continue gathering up these little wins as they will add up
for the all the future students who come after us. We must all work
together to ensure that the same opportunity and access to public higher
education is available to future generations. I cannot commend our external
team of officers enough; your Legislative Liaison, Liliana Klein, as well
as your Campus Organizing Director, Naveen Cheerath, for their hard work
and long hours in accordance with the leaders of University of California
Student Association (UCSA), the voter registration team put together under
the leadership of the undergraduate student government (ASUCR) and its
President Liam Dow, Highlander Editor-in-Chief Christopher Locascio and his
staff, and all the other student groups and individuals who helped make our
jobs as student leaders easier. If it weren’t for their hard work every
single student would be paying at least $2,600 more than they’re paying now.

Second, our team under Lauren’s leadership and initiative were able to
generate a record turnout for our Fall Grad Bash. We will continue working
hard to provide you all with fun social activities to bring us closer
together as one UCR family. And lastly, I feel that we have done an
excellent job opening up lines of contact to administration, staff, and
faculty in a way that will allow GSA’s future leaders to not miss a beat as
they transition in and implement new and creative ideas that will improve
and evolve your student government for the better!

In closing, my team here at GSA has worked day and night to represent your
interests to the best of our abilities. There have been some missteps along
the way, but that is exactly why we need all of your help to continue being
closely involved with the process and other student affairs, so that we can
deliver the results that will materially improve your experience as a
student here at UCR! We look forward to returning from break energized and
with renewed vigor to tackle all your concerns!



Respectfully yours,

Henry Huang


-- 
Henry Huang
President, UCR Graduate Student Association

MBA Candidate 2013
Anderson Graduate School of Management
University of California, Riverside
Phone: (951) 827-3740 | Email: gsa at ucr.edu <henryhuang8 at gmail.com>
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