USG discusses expanding course options


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Three USG Senators sit with their laptops open in TCC 450 and listen to a presentation.
USG’s funding department has raised over $17,400 to finance existing recognized student organization projects and is waiting to receive 40 more applications for Fall 2021 funding. (Amanda Chou | Daily Trojan)

During the Undergraduate Student Government meeting Tuesday, senators discussed expanding language course options and providing support for a doctoral student who was recently involved in a dispute with the Los Angeles Police Department.

Accessibility committee chair Holly McCaulley first presented a progress report on several of her projects, including an initiative to provide hybrid courses for students and adding to the language options available for course credits.

The push for hybrid courses, managed by vice president Lucy Warren and senator Nivea Krishnan, aims to make class content available for students with disabilities or who contracted the coronavirus through recorded lectures and more options for virtual access. 

In an interview with the Daily Trojan, McCaulley said one of the issues with offering virtual classes is that teachers are accustomed to teaching Zoom classes due to the pandemic but struggle with the hybrid format. The project currently works to provide teachers with training to offer these classes, starting with faculty at the Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

“The plan right now is to pilot a hybrid program with Dornsife, test out those surveys with student interest,” McCaulley said. 

The project is experiencing a transition due to Vice President of Student Affairs Winston Crisp’s leave of absence because of health-related issues, and those working on the project anticipate a new contact within administration, McCaulley said. 

McCaulley also presented Trojan Translate, an initiative to provide more options to offer foreign language courses, focusing on languages less popular but culturally relevant, such as American Sign Language. 

“We all think that these languages have the same significance as languages that are currently being offered,” McCaulley said. “In addition to widening the options for students, it’s really about keeping the culture and practice of these languages alive at such a big research university.”

Chief financial officer Adenike Makinde provided a progress report on the financing of recognized student organization projects. According to Makinde’s presentation, the funding department raised more than $17,400 for existing projects and awaits 40 more applications for Fall 2021 semester funding. The department’s staff increased from nine to 30, including funding delegates and additional assistant directors, Makinde said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. 

Two new funds accompany the staff increase — the green engagement fund and the accessibility fund — designed to finance campus sustainability and student accessibility efforts, respectively.

“What we’re doing now is establishing the entire expectation of our oversight board for each of those funds,” Makinde said. “So we can figure out going forward, how we want to work with projects, how we want to allocate money and just the overarching parameters.” 

Warren also unveiled a collaboration with the Black Student Assembly to support Kayla Love, a postgraduate student studying chemistry who was involved in a dispute with the LAPD and USC Los Angeles County Medical Center.

According to NBC, Love was confronted by LAPD the night of June 27 after declining an overnight stay at the center following the birth of her child. The officers responded to a medical personnel’s request for a health and wellness check after Love’s departure, arriving with their weapons drawn at her dorm in the USC residential education housing.

“We had a very disheartening experience at USC Housing,” Warren said. “We want to promote her story and make sure everyone is aware of what’s going on.”

USG will publish a statement on the event from BSA soon, Warren said.