Fee Transparency Project

[3:30 - 3:33] Welcome and Introductions
1. Members' introductions: Name, Pronouns, Year, Major, and Space.
2. Order: Cowell, Stevenson, Crown, Merrill, Kresge, Porter, Oakes, RCC, C9, JRL, Graduate Students, SAB, Provost, SUA, Lisa, Sezona, Lucy
  1. Present: Cowell, Stevenson, Crown, Merril, Rachel Carson, C9, JRL, Graduate Student(Wahaj), SAB, Provost, SUA, Lisa, Sezona, Lucy
[3:33 - 3:35] Approval of the Agenda and Minutes
1. Approval of Agenda
  1. Approved, No Objections.
2. Approval of November 24th Minutes and Closed Session Minutes
  1. Approved No Objections.
[3:35 - 3:40] Announcements & Updates
1. SFAC Office Hours
2. Appeals Subcommittee
3. Winter SFAC When2Meet
4. SFAC Merch
5. SFAC Assistant Name Change
  1. Approved with no objections.
[3:40 - 3:45] SFAC Chair/Vice Chair Updates
1. Chair:
  1. Meeting with VCSA Student Affairs and Success on Tuesday, 11/25
  2. Working on Elections Policy Language
2. Vice-Chair
  1. Still waiting to hear back from Oakes Senate, I’ll reach out again
    1. The group discussed whether to make the role open to applications from anyone (from any college) due to the lack of response from Oakes students.
[3:45 - 3:50] Subcommittee reports
1. Audit:
  1. Time/Dates: Every Wednesday 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
  2. Location: Zoom/In-person
  3. Reduction Survey
2. Outreach:
  1. Time/Dates: Every Other Thursday, 12 pm - 1 pm
  2. Location: Zoom (Only in person when planning tabling)
  3. Minutes - no updates
[3:50 - 4:00] Winter Quarter Planning
1. Discussion
[4:00 - 4:40] Presentation on Bay Tree Renovation with Steve Houser, DSAS Director of Capital Planning
1. Presentation
  1. Will meet LEED Silver Certification (Minimum)
  2. Contractor: Plant Construction
  3. Construction is expected to start in January 2026 and continue through August 2027.
  4. Student Resource Center spaces are expected to be moved/housed on the second floor.
  5. The third floor will largely remain unchanged and continue to house student groups.
  6. Budget=28.8M.
  7. Sustainability/Green elements contribute to elevated cost.
  8. Fluorescent lighting will be replaced with LED lighting for the whole building.
2. Q&A
  1. Is there any budget set aside for unforeseen expenses? A construction contingency is set to 8% for construction projects.
  2. Will there be air conditioning? No, but there will be improved airflow to maximize comfort.
  3. Will the separate parts of the building be internally connected? No, the slugstop, bookstore, and new student space will continue to be standalone spaces with independent entrances.
  4. What is the final cost for the renovation? 28.8 Million.
  5. Do you foresee any additional costs from inflation or tariffs? There should be padding from contractors in the bids to account for potential inflation of costs.
  6. For Lucy: Do you anticipate tapping into additional SSF funds for the project? Funds raised for the naming rights of certain rooms could be used to absorb costs or be swapped out for SSF funds.
  7. Is there any point at which a cost explosion causes a project to be cancelled? There are safeguards in place to ensure that contractors complete a project once it is started.
  8. Is the reopening of Bay Tree subject to changes/pushed back? There aren’t unforeseen obstacles, and the timeline should very accurately reflect, however, with any construction project, expect an additional 6 months to the projected date.
[4:40 - 5:00] Reviewing Fees
1. https://web.archive.org/web/20240811021718/https://deanofstudents.ucsc.edu/elections/enacted-fees.html#expand
[5:00] Adjournment

Upcoming Guests/Topics:.

Student Media Council Summer Fee in January
Potentially SFAC Attending a UC Regents Meeting: March 17th, 2026 @UCSF
Planning Spring CSF Meeting

Meeting and Committee Member Resources:

SFAC Roster
Orientation Materials
Agendas and Minutes
Tracking Sheet for Campus-Based Fees: ongoing discussion
Google Folder
Summer 26 Fee Levels