ASUC Senators discussed upcoming projects with campus administration and passed new resolutions at the weekly Senate meeting Wednesday.
The meeting began with a semesterly report from Chancellor Carol Christ during which she discussed campus housing and capital projects, financial challenges and funding allocations.
Anchor House on Oxford Street, which will be completed in fall 2025, will provide 775 apartments for transfer students, according to Christ.
It will also include a community gathering space and a commuter lounge.
Anchor House is the “biggest” gift donation the campus has received, Christ said, and called the donation a gift that is “giving twice” as costs avoided from not paying for the construction will be used for scholarships.
“Donors were moved to give this (because) they understand transfer students often have trouble getting located on campus, they have trouble finding housing, they have trouble just connecting to campus activities,” Christ said.
Construction has also begun on 770 graduate student apartments in Albany Village. Other housing projects that will be underway within the next year include housing on Bancroft Way and Fulton Street, Ellsworth Street and Channing Way and the Anna Head site.
The campus will be appealing the 1st Appellate Court’s decision to block the construction of housing on People’s Park to the California Supreme Court. Christ outlined goals to work with the California Legislature to pass legislation that would permit them to proceed with the project.
“It’s a complicated project but I think that the danger in People’s Park is not good for student life on the Southside,” Christ said.
Other expected construction projects include a building for the new College of Computing, Data Science and Society on the north side of campus, a classroom and advising building on the Dwinelle Hall parking lot, a new chemistry building on the east entrance of campus, two new floors on top of the Bechtel Engineering student center and a revamping of another two floors of Moffitt Library to include a hub for discovery experiences such as independent creative projects and internships.
Christ moved to discuss issues with campus budget.
While there has been an increase in state funding and cohort tuition, they are insufficient to cover the compensation increases for new graduate student instructor contracts, Christ stated. She noted that she is, however, “confident” campus will solve the deficit.
The campus recently received $10 million in funding which they are still in the budget process for. Disabled student services, public safety, basic needs and more sections for courses in high demand are all candidates for receiving that funding, Christ said.
Furthermore, in alignment with the campus Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, initiative, the campus is also working on hiring more Latine faculty as well as making HSI and other multicultural initiatives a funding priority.
While ASUC senators passed SR 22/23-046 previously in support of campus offering the Transfer Admission Guarantee, or TAG, Christ clarified that UC Berkeley will not be implementing the program and continuing with its holistic review of transfer student applications.
“We are very focused on looking at every student’s achievements in the context of their opportunities,” Christ said.
According to Christ, there will be three UC campuses that will be designated as universities offering TAG: UC Merced, UC Riverside and UC Santa Cruz.
ASUC Academic Affairs Vice President James Weichert then stated that the Undergraduate Council, or UGC, has moved forward with a proposal to exclude grades in lower-division classes from students’ official GPA calculation.
UGC is also considering a more robust languages and cultures requirement for students across all colleges.
The digitization of Cal 1 Cards through the UC Berkeley Mobile app is now beta testing at two doors in Eshleman Hall, according to ASUC Chief Technology Officer Saruul Amarbayar.
Senators then passed the consent calendar unanimously, which included resolutions 22/23-050 in support of establishing crowd control protocol at ASUC meetings open to the student body and 22/23-051 in support of the distribution of sexual contraceptives by resident assistants in campus residence halls.
