USG discusses hybrid learning, sustainability initiatives
On Tuesday, the Undergraduate Student Government discussed their plans for hybrid learning options and campus accessibility at their second meeting of the 2021-22 school year.
During her presentation, Vice President Lucy Warren shared that USG pushed for online hybrid learning at “every admin meeting” that they attended over the summer.
According to Warren, the University offered only 30 online courses prior to the pandemic, but the University now offers over 160.
“In meetings with the Provost we’ve had over the summer and in meetings with VP [for Student Affairs Winston] Crisp, we have expressed that students do want greater online and hybrid options,” Warren said. “They’ve reiterated their policy that they allowed each school to make that decision independently, but reinforced the idea that [USC is] offering much greater online classes than have ever been offered before.”
Warren said that USG intends to keep asking the Provost’s office to expand remote learning options for students, and that if students don’t feel comfortable attending their classes in-person, they can request a note-taker from the Office of Student Accessibility Services to attend their lectures for them.
Warren, along with Chief Diversity Officer Kavita Rai, also shared an update on USG’s recent work aiming to investigate the school’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Warren detailed plans to create an ADA Non-Compliance Reporting Form for students as well as an accessibility-themed scavenger hunt on University Park Campus and Health Sciences Campus to “get all the students out to go around and find what is inaccessible on campus.”
“Right now, students have no way to report when things are inaccessible. That’s problematic,” Warren said. “Ultimately, all of these projects are working towards creating an accessibility cultural center for students, so we can actually have a cultural space for students who are disabled.”
Rai reviewed the “USG Accessibility Handbook” that she started authoring over the summer and aims to improve how “accessibility is understood throughout USG.” Rai said that she and the other members of the USG Advocacy Department are collaborating with the Peer Education Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Program and consulting the policies of comparable universities to create the document.
During the meeting, members of the Senate also discussed numerous proposals intended to promote environmental appreciation and sustainability on campus.
Speaker of the Senate Ruben Romeo recapped his efforts to access a $500 micro-grant to incorporate biophilic interior design, which would mean decorating the USG office with plants and nature-centric imagery.
“[The biophilic design] will just help to make the area feel a little more refresh[ing] and calm because these kinds of settings are very stressful on the student mind and body and psychology,” Romeo said.
Sen. Russell Agustin introduced a similar idea, proposing a community garden project with theSustainability and Campus Infrastructure Committee, in addition to a meat alternatives campaign intended to “eliminate toxic veganism” while also “promoting more meat alternatives” available to students.
Agustin hopes to start the campaign by hosting a discussion designed to address controversial issues related to dietary preferences.
“In my presentation, I talked about promoting meat alternatives … and promoting acceptance for all diets on campus. I think, you know, it’s been something that’s been worked upon in previous years, though, I just want to be able to be a contributing effort to promote that via social media and a discussion,” Agustin said in an interview with the Daily Trojan.
Agustin also said he wants to collaborate with youth from the surrounding area to “promote civic innovation within communities.”
This summer, Agustin served as the youth lead for a project called Tilt — an operation run by “the [United Nations’ Sustainable Development] guild to promote the 17 sustainable development goals,” and Ashoka, a network of social entrepreneurs. According to Agustin, his team ultimately helped over 50 high schoolers in Brazil launch their own advocacy programs.
“Using that same model, I’m hoping that I can bring that to communities in L.A.,” Agustin said. “It’s through youth leadership that we can accomplish real social impact.”
At the end of the meeting, Rai introduced the new advocacy liaisons, who will work under USG’s newly created advocacy branch. The new liaisons are Mythili Iyer, a sophomore majoring in cognitive science and health and human sciences, who will represent the Asian Pacific American Student Assembly, and Timothy Wang, a senior majoring in occupational therapy, who will represent the Student Assembly for Accessibility. The liaisons will be confirmed at next week’s meeting.
Correction: A previous version of this article accidentally referred to theSustainability and Campus Infrastructure Committee as the Safe Communities Institute. A previous version of this article accidentally didn’t mention Tilt’s other founder, Ashoka. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.