USG President explains plans for ongoing projects


Undergraduate Student Government President Edwin Saucedo described the final projects he is working to implement during the remainder of his term at the USG meeting Tuesday. Chief among these are his plans to establish a resource center for first-generation college students, a fall break and a stipend for student leaders on campus.

Saucedo began by explaining his goal of creating a resource center for first-generation, low-income students, modeled after others such as the LGBT Resource Center. Part of this project involved working with the University administration as well as with members of student government in other universities to come up with a plan to support first-generation students. Saucedo said he had submitted a proposal for a resource center to Provost Michael Quick and had discussed the idea with President C. L. Max Nikias.

“Being first-generation at an elite university can be an intimidating process. The idea for a resource center is about addressing the needs of the students to make them successful in an academic setting. Being able to provide them with resources such as career mentoring opportunities and different programming will help to create a community among students.”

Saucedo said he has been working with Trista Beard, the associate director of the Norman Topping Student Aid Fund and chair of the First-Generation Student Union, and Associate Provost Andrea Hodge to put together best practices for first-generation college students. He brought up the example set by different universities including Stanford University and Brown University, both of which have resource centers like the one he hopes to implement at USC. Saucedo said he hopes to have a center set up for first-generation students by the end of the school year.

Beyond his first-generation college student project, Saucedo also discussed his plan to create a two-day break between the eighth and 10th weeks of the fall semester, which he said will be ready to present on Feb. 15. Saucedo said he was discussing the project with Academic Senate President Paula Cannon, and that a final resolution would be ready by March 29.

“If we look at the fall semester, between Labor Day break and Thanksgiving, our school currently has 56 instructional days, one of the largest amounts of instructional days without a break in the nation compared to peer institutions,” Saucedo said. “That’s 11 weeks for students without a chance to breathe. This has to do with promoting an environment where students can address mental health issues and not feel so stressed out.”

Finally, Saucedo announced his plans to move forward with the Positional Leadership Stipend, which he first introduced one year ago when he was still the USG Finance Director.  The stipend, according to Saucedo, is intended to meet the needs of low-income students who have to choose between having a job or being able to get involved on campus. Students in any official, unpaid leadership position on campus —  such as a club officership — would be eligible to apply to receive funding, which would reflect the compensation that paid positions such as USG members receive.

“The stipend is similar to a scholarship opportunity, so that students can choose to get involved instead of having to [work to] meet their finances,” Saucedo said.

Last spring, Saucedo implemented a pilot program for the stipend, which he said received 65 applications requesting over $70,000 in award money. After seeing this interest, Saucedo decided to bring the stipend back this semester, and he is currently working to allocate the funding from different USG accounts.

After Saucedo reviewed his final plans as president, the Senate also approved its new exceptional funding allocation, which encompasses any additional money USG received this semester that was not originally anticipated. Saucedo said this often results when last year’s USG budget underestimates the next semester’s enrollment. This year, USG calculated $145,057 in exceptional funding, which will be distributed to different USG organizations such as the Concerts Committee, Student Assembly for Gender Empowerment and Environmental Student Assembly.

Correction: An earlier version of this article stated Saucedo announced his plans to create a two-week fall break. His actually plans to create a two-day fall break. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.