Fee Transparency Project

Attendees: Chase Hayes, Brent Insua, Lydia Jenkins-Sleczkowski, Brynna Downey, Fiona Weigant, Rojina Bozorgnia, Venkatesh Nagubandi, Veronica Mitry, May Alvarez, Alexa Chavez, Isaac Karth, Lisa Bishop, Dan Henderson

Approval of Agenda and Minutes
1. Brent motions to approve the agenda, Venkatesh seconds. No objections, motion passes.
2. Brent motions to approve the minutes, Venkatesh seconds. No objections, motion passes.
Announcements and Updates
1. Announcements
  1. Elections Forum - Thursday, May 7th, 6:00 - 7:30 pm
    1. Referendum authors have been invited.
    2. SFAC can participate via special Zoom link
      1. Both Chase and Brent will be attending.
    3. Discussion on format
      1. If you would like to participate as a panelist, please contact them for the correct link.
  2. Reminder: respond to Brent’s Google Form re: collected bios on SFAC members. Deadline: Friday, May 8th
    1. Please fill out the form ASAP so everyone’s bios can be published at the same time. Brent will need these by this Friday.
  3. Other Announcements
    1. Fiona shares that she will not be on SAB next year, and the current chair will be asking the board for a new SFAC representative. Hopefully a new member will be able to take that role.
  4. CARES Act: From Kimberly (via email): Universities and colleges are receiving limited federal funding to assist with the fiscal impact of COVID-19. Through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, UC Santa Cruz has been allocated $19.3 million. Federal guidelines state that these funds must go toward expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to coronavirus. One-half of these funds must be awarded directly to students in the form of emergency financial aid grants. Students will receive a follow-up email explaining this process. The remaining half (approximately $9.6M) are to cover costs associated with significant changes to the delivery of instruction. Interim Campus Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer, working with the academic leadership team, will recommend how these funds should be directed per federal guidelines. I share with others the hope that there will be additional COVID-19 federal legislation, but it is not yet clear what kinds of financial relief will come to the University of California or UC Santa Cruz. The campus is also tracking all expenses for other kinds of support, through agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

The only information I would add are: The CARES Act institutional portion, totaling $9.6M for UCSC, is to be spent according to the federal guidelines, which have been provided in the form of “frequently asked questions” available at https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ope/heerfinstitutionalfaqs.pdf

The group seems comfortable regarding how the funding will be used.
May asks what counts as the loss of revenue, and if there are any breakdowns that students can see for information? Chase is not sure, but shares about his call with CSF last weekend. CSF does not set or control tuition. At UCSB, students are looking into seeing if SSF can be reduced, but it will likely have to come from UCSA.
Alexa hasn’t heard from UCSA regarding SSF or tuition reductions.
Rojina said she has heard concerns from students regarding the lack of criteria for who will receive CARES funding from financial aid. This number seems to be different across the UCs. The “need-based” criteria is not transparent, and should be addressed by a campus group.
Chase says that GSA and SUA were apparently consulted. Rojina adds that Davon has already met with the groups. Isaac responds that he is not sure who at GSA was contacted. Isaac also says that there seems to be a disconnect around how students perceive fees are spent around campus, and have a misconception around how student fees are actually used.
1. Chase says that representatives from GSA and SUA should be contacted about the conversation about fund eligibility. SFAC should steer away from how student fees are used. SFAC’s best contact into how the CARES funding will be spent should be through Lucy and Lisa.
2. Isaac responds about the double dipping issue, and says that students will not like that if it happens.
3. Can more than half be used for financial aid?
4. Brynna says that it is important to remember that tuition, like fees, goes toward many instructor salaries on campus.
5. Chase says that the responsibility of paying these expenses is a larger question regarding state funding and availability.
6. Rojina shares that university funding is the first item to get cut from state budgets, and should not be relied on for funding. The May budget revise has been pushed back to September. The state has lost 65% of its revenue this year.
7. Lisa says that the funding has very specific guidelines. For example, CARES act cannot offset CBF revenue, it must be used to offset the expenses from transitioning online.
  1. Chase asks if the operational costs will be released? Lisa says that the decisions will be shared with SFAC after the distributions have been determined.
Visit with TAPS
1. Chase welcomes Dan Henderson, TAPS director, into the space.
2. Condolences on loss of team members
3. Questions
  1. Tell us about the impacts of COVID-19 on operations? How have you adjusted operations in response to the pandemic? What safety precautions have been implemented to protect drivers and riders?
    1. Operations have been adjusted in response to the pandemic. Ridership has been reduced significantly, and campus transit service levels have been reduced, and are continuing to be reduced until the end of the academic year. They are reassigning drivers to different roles and routes as needed as they see riders’ needs change. There have been no layoffs, and are utilizing redeployments to the extent possible. There are COVID leave and resources available to pay drivers. Some drivers have self-reported as immunocompromised. Metro is still continuing service, but has been reduced as well and is at minimal levels. The campus is getting 4 trips per hour.
    2. Initial measures included outreach about COVID-19 and how to stop germs. Since then, they have been conducting education and training for drivers. They have implemented rear-door boarding on transit shuttles, regular wipedowns, and “deep cleaning” of shuttles weekly. Riders are physically separated from drivers. Drivers have gloves and masks. They haven’t had to do any rider limitations yet since ridership is so low, but is on the radar for when UCSC returns to more regular operations.
  2. Tell us about your current service levels, how many students are you serving? Have any students been turned away?
    1. Ridership is about 1-2% of normal, some routes get less than 100 riders per day.
    2. Metro ridership is down about 90% systemwide. Campus routes were down 60% on campus routes for March, but are anticipated to be down 90% for April.
    3. Students have not been turned away. Metro has indicated 1 pass-by since these changes have been implemented.
  3. How are student fees being used this quarter (i.e. Student Transit Fee?)
    1. This fee is still being used in accordance with the ballot language, and is paying for driver salaries, gas overhead, managers, and Metro. UCSC is still under contract with Metro, and is in conversation for an extension of the contract, though it is still uncertain.
    2. Venkatesh asks if the spending has been reduced as aligned with the usage, and asks if the paid fees can be used for improvements? Dan says that surplus will be applied towards transit, but isn’t sure where extra revenue will go. It could be technology, but there is still so much uncertainty about what expenses will come up.
    3. Fiona asks if the Metro has applied for government aid? Dan says that yes, and the website has public information about this. Fiona asks if an on-demand could be adapted, similar to Uber or Lyft, for people living on campus? Dan says that night core have already changed to on-demand, similar to the DVS service. Shopper shuttles likely won’t be used this year. TAPS does have smaller vehicles, but aren’t being regularly used this year. Students who have had to be quarantined are being picked up in these smaller vehicles.
      1. Brynna asks if there is anyone in charge of determining the effectiveness of the shopper shuttle? Dan says it would be a team analysis and effort. There is an advisory committee who would give feedback. Dan isn’t sure how long it would take to launch.
    4. Fiona says that adjusting the transit models would be a good way to show that student fees are being used to benefit the on-campus population.
  4. Do you anticipate any surplus of student fees this quarter?
    1. TAPS expects a surplus of $500,000.
  5. How have costs increased due to COVID-19? What are your projected revenues losses?
    1. Costs have mainly come from supply needs, such as printing and specialized cleaning. Otherwise, there isn’t an increase in costs.
  6. Short term/long term financial impacts?
    1. There are so many unknowns, it is hard to say long-term impacts. They will try to keep a healthy budget, but the campus will be experiencing a fallout for many years.
    2. Fiona aks if there will be an impact from students taking leaves of absence? Dan says this information hasn’t arrived from Planing and Budget yet. Lisa will be looking into post-third week projections to figure out what happens.
      1. Chase asks if there is a projected percentage of decrease in enrollment? Lisa says Planning and Budget doesn’t have enrollment numbers yet.
    3. Isaac says that communication will be very important for students as these issues get resolved.
  7. If remote instruction format continues past spring 2020, what does the future of TAPS look like for students, will/could fees be reduced?
  8. Any topics/issues you would like to consult on?
Adjournment
1. Fiona motions to adjourn, Venkatesh seconds. No objections, motion passes.

Next meeting: Wednesday, May 13th @ 3:00 pm. Athletics & Recreation is our confirmed guest.