The Undergraduate Student Government senate heard a total of 11 presentations Tuesday night on topics including expanding on-campus resources for students as well as the upcoming USG president and vice president election.

Vice president Emma Fallon said that out of the 62 projects on USG’s project tracker, the legislative branch completed 15 of them within this past semester. 

Fallon also said she and president Mikaela Bautista are continuing working on the platform they ran on. Fallon said that six out of their 15 platform initiatives have been completed. 

One of the completed platform items was their initiative to expand students’ access to ChatGPT Plus. The University announced a partnership with OpenAI during its USC Artificial Intelligence Summit on Nov. 11. 

The University’s partnership with OpenAI is separate from Bautista and Fallon’s platform. But Fallon said she has been in communication with administrators to provide direct feedback from students and her and Bautista’s approach. 

Affordability and basic needs chair Shrinidhi Sriram said the Sustainability Hub will host a thrift event in the spring to provide access to formal clothing and other clothing items students may need. 

Sriram also said that a financial literacy workshop will be held Jan. 29 to provide incoming and current students who are filling out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid with resources and to educate students about their USC financial aid packages.

“It’s really hard to navigate resources on campus,” Sriram said. “We really want to make sure that financial resources are visible.”

In his presentation, speaker of the senate Jeremiah Boisrond said he has been working with USC Gould School of Law’s Housing Law and Policy Clinic to expand off-campus housing resources for students through workshops. 

Boisrond said he has also been discussing plans with the Department of Public Safety and USC Transportation to extend campus entrance hours around Watt Way and Exposition Boulevard to 10 p.m. The University shortened gate hours from 24/7 access to 8 p.m. on Aug. 1. The closure was met with criticism from some students who commute during late hours after their classes ended. 

Boisrond also announced the extension of the hours for Trojan Grounds, a coffee shop near Leavey Library, until 1 a.m. on Dec. 10, 11, 15 and 16, during the final exam period. 

Chief diversity officer Yasmeen ElFarra said menstrual products were delivered to the Trojan Food Pantry, a project she and her team were working on this semester. 

ElFarra also announced the finalized results for USG’s diversity poll, which surveys USG officers and measures demographics including race and financial need. She said 156 responses from USG officers showed an increase in multilingual officers and students of color in USG compared to the 2024-25 administration. 

“The diversity poll is so important as an annual assessment tool of how truly representative we are of the student body that we strive to represent every day through our projects, initiatives, funding,media, et cetera,” ElFarra said. 

Sustainability and campus infrastructure chair Patrick Done said his organization plans to collaborate with the communications department on a media campaign that focuses on safe and responsible riding on bikes and scooters and walking practices on campus after meeting with DPS staff members. 

He said his committee has released a sign-up form for students to reserve spots on shuttles when they return to campus after winter break. 

Senator Jad Kilani said he also met with Lindsey Pine, the registered dietitian for USC Hospitality, where he presented his plan to display nutrition facts on the Transact Mobile Ordering app after selecting a meal option and by having an accessible PDF publication to view additional nutritional information. Kilani said the accessible nutrition facts would improve transparency and promote healthier eating choices. 

During his presentation, senator Sabeeh Mirza recapped  a recognized student organization roundtable with recognized student organization leaders to discuss this year’s recognition process and an AI roundtable to encourage discussion around the impact of AI on learning. Mirza also said that the academic affairs committee has started to distribute free blue books to students.

The senate also heard presentations from senator Andrew Cardenas, chief communications officer Emily Chang on social media and website engagement, chief of staff Karen Borglund on feedback collection from her staff and transition materials, and chief financial officer Avery Horton on updates in USG funding utilization among RSOs. 

Disclaimer: Andrew Cardenas served as an assistant sports editor at the Daily Trojan in Spring 2025. He is no longer affiliated with this paper.