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 Jeremiah Garcia - Academic Affairs Commissioner- Academic Affairs Commission (AAC), Liaison to the Campus Retention Committee- Admissions Coalition, Logistics and Outreach Committee Member - ORL, Rieber Hall Internal Vice President - Queer Alliance (QA), Executive Director Mahatma Ganadhi once said, "The future depends on what we do in the present." I strongly believe it is our responsibility to fight today so that future students can benefit tomorrow. Hello everyone, my name is Jeremiah Garcia and I am the Students First! candidate for Academic Affairs Commissioner. I am a fourth year Art major and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies Minor. Student First! Seeks to change the priorities of student government by advocating for an affordable education where students have the power to control their own education. Promoting Sustainable Students! Issue: UCLA students face many stressors and fall into unhealthy habits because of the fast paced quarter system and rigorous course load. These habits and stressors threaten studentês health and wellbeing, retention and the ability to excel in their classes. Solution: I will institute a UCLA Dead Week that will: -- Replace tenth week in the Academic Calendar every quarter and where in professor will not be able to hand out tests or homework but may still lecture. -- Promote Sustainable students by working with the ASHE center, The John Wooden Center, Student Psychological Services, The Student Retention Center, The Academic Advancement Program, Covel Tutorials etcÄ through programming giving students the tools and access to resources in order to have the healthiest habits and best academic skills. This will ensure that our students are able to do the best on their final examinations, remain health and stay in school. -- Help retain students and thus increase UCLAês ranking nationally. (a better ranking usually means better funding) Why I am the best Person to do this: As the Academic Affairs Liaison to the Student Retention Center I have worked with students and staff to address the retention needs of the UCLA community. I have already begun dialoguing with the appropriate administration through e-mail correspondence and have been working with a student consultant looking at the recent implementation of such a program at Stanford and Iowa State. We have been evaluating the impact of a Dead Week at those schools and adjusting it to fit here at UCLA. Creating Global Students! Issue: It's no joke that the University is currently suffering from a diversity crisis. This crisis is not only hurting communities of students that aren't being accepted into UCLA but also students currently here. As if that werenêt enough, recent events such as the Virginia Tech Shooting, the UCLA Tasering Incident, the Lawrence King Shooting and the constant attacks on women at college campus suggest that we do not understand or respect the people and cultures around us. Our students are not being given the tools to interact in the digitally connected, global and diverse world of today! Solution: Advocate for a Diversity Requirement that will: -- Replace one of the current General Education Requirements and will give south campus majors a break from the constant stress of south campus courses. -- Create Global students and teach us how interact in a ever shrinking world, where it is imperative that we understand other walks of life and have the critical thinking skills to succeed once we leave UCLA. -- Increase UCLAês ranking, be in line with the Chancellorês commitment to diversity and be on par and competitive with the other UCês which all have a diversity requirement. Last time UCLA was accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges it was shown that 78% of schools they evaluated have a diversity requirement and the fact that we did not was a critique. Why am I the best Person to do this: As the Executive Director for the Queer Alliance I have met with the administration this year several times in order to discuss issues of safe space, office space, hate crimes occurring on the campus affecting queer students and the needs of queers students on this campus. Administrators met with include Chancellor Gene Block (via e-mail correspondence), Vice Chancellor Janina Montero and AVC Robert Naples. Last year as the Director of External Affairs for the Queer Alliance I met with the interim Chancellor in order to advocate for the needs of queer Students. I have no doubt that I can translate these skills and connections to work for a broader campus community and advocate for the needs of all students especially in regards to the diversity requirement and foster the growth of global students. I have also been in communication with a representative from the UARS (Undergraduate Admissions and Relations with Schools) and have been communicating with past SF! AACês such as Eligio Martinez to see how we can adjust the past proposal to make it successful today! I have no doubt that through the appointment I will make to the Academic Senate, my connections to people who have worked on the Diversity Requirement in the past and my relationship with the current administration that UCLA will have a Diversity Requirement in the years to come. Empowering Students to create their own education! Issue: Students are being denied a voice in how they are educated. We cannot choose what classes we want to take if they fall into certain departments. Students want to be able to major, minor or specialize in degrees the university does not offer. Solution: I will support advocacy efforts for unestablished majors, minors and specializations by: -- Creating programs that teach students and student groups how to advocate and push for the education they want. -- Using the legitimacy of the Academic Affairs Commission and its access to the Academic Senate and administrators to push student voice through! -- Use the resource of the office to help current student efforts -- Create a Minor/Major/Specialization Team to survey students and see what they want and then to work towards creating those Majors/Minors/Specializations. Why am I the best person to due this: I have currently met with the Campaign for Pilipino Studies and have talked to them about what they would need in order to succeed and what resources they would have liked to have had when first starting this campaign in order to make it as efficient and successful as possible. This beginning research plus my connections to administration and my unrivaled advocacy experience make me the only qualified candidate to accomplish this scale of a program and to run the Academic Affairs Commission. Empowering Students to reform policies that affect them! Issue: Academic policy effects all students on this campus yet students have very little voice in the implementation of such policy and these policies are often not reviewed by the administration with out pressure form students. Since these policies affect how we are educated we need to have more agency over their implementation and review. Solution: I will create an Academic Policy Review Task Force that will: -- Survey Students to see how they are affected by Academic Policies -- Evaluate current policies on the book that affect students such as Expected Cumulative Progress, Alternative Admissions by Admissions by Exception, Holistic Admissions, and Priority Enrollment etcÄ -- Offers recommendations to the administration on how Academic Policies should be reformed. -- Engage Students in their policies affecting their education and giving them the tools to succeed in the future in educational policy making and reform and negotiation. Why am I the best Person to do this: I worked with the Admissions Coalition in both the Outreach and Logistics Committeeês and helped to advocate for and bring UCLA a Holistic Admissions process. I have the skills necessary to lead these task forces and reform these policies so that all students have the healthiest and best UCLA experience possible. Also, working with the Projects in the Student Retention Center, Eligio Martinez a past SF! AAC and Patty Alfaro the current Chair Person of the Campus Retention Committee I have reviewed how ECP affects students and the negative impacts it has on their mental health and chances of succeeding at this university. A VOTE FOR JEREMIAH GARCIA IS A VOTE TO PUT STUDENTS FIRST! I am the only qualified candidate for Academic Affairs Commissioner. I have served in the trenches and actually talked to students, listening to their needs and what affect them and have not just spent my time in an ivory tower with a title ignoring the basic needs of students. The way we structure how we are educated and retained affects everything on this campus from mental and physical health to violence and hate speech against people. By redefining and reprioritizing the Academic Affairs Commission Students First! Will not only create a more positive academic environment but will also make the campus a safer, more connected and understanding place for everyone. |
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