Jenna Kingkade

Seeking greater student input and providing regular updates are among several actions the campus intends to take as part of its strategic initiatives plan, which was announced by Chancellor Nicholas Dirks in February.

Lyle Nevels, former assistant vice chancellor for information technology, was appointed Wednesday as the executive director of the campus Office of Strategic Initiatives, a body recently created to support comprehensive economic and structural planning for the campus amid financial challenges.

At a special meeting Thursday, the Graduate Assembly passed a bill calling for provisions that guarantee coverage of dependents and inclusion of full transgender benefits in next year’s Student Health Insurance Plan.

The Student Health Insurance Plan will resume coverage for dependents this fall, after months of student backlash over the campus’s decision to terminate dependent coverage in May.

A Bank of the West branch will open on the first floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union building next year as part of a 10-year contract between the bank and UC Berkeley that will generate more than $17 million for the campus.

The ASUC Student Union Board of Directors agreed to define standards for working conditions for future Student Union employees at a Wednesday meeting in response to demands from current campus contract workers.

At its monthly meeting last week, UC Berkeley's Graduate Assembly elected its executive board, instating Jenna Kingkade as its president.