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. Attendance:
    1. Arielle, Mel, Angelina, Lyra, Cheryl, Trey, Vir, Laila, John, Aims, Rigo, Lisa, Lucy, Nick
[3:33 - 3:40] Advisor Updates
1. From Lucy:
  1. Marshall has decided to step back from SFAC for the rest of the year
  2. Mel has agreed to serve as Chair for the rest of the quarter
  3. Since we’ve already done elections for next year, and with such a short timeframe, we will continue the quarter without electing a Vice Chair
  4. If anybody has questions or would like to chat with Lucy, feel free to reach out directly.
2. From Mel:
  1. Since we’ve elected new leadership already, we’ll form one big leadership unit to help with transitioning
[3:40 - 3:45] Approval of the Agenda and Minutes
1. Approval of Agenda
2. Minutes:
  1. May 19th Minutes
  2. Today’s agenda and meeting minutes are approved by unanimous consent
[3:45 - 3:50] Public Comment
1. None provided.
[3:50 - 4:00] Announcements
1. Update on TAPS Letter and feedback from Chancellor and VC (Lucy)
  1. Received feedback from the Chancellor, Akirah, and Dan
  2. About 3 weeks ago, voted to share the letter with the Chancellor so she could provide feedback. Lucy sent it to the Chancellor; Chancellor expressed gratitude for how we’re engaging with her and was happy to review it.
    1. Overall, the Chancellor thought the content was reasonable. Provided two areas of feedback:
      1. Perhaps tone could be more collaborative
      2. Suggested two updates per quarter would be too much, considering how much administrators are working on already.

Perhaps adjusting the amount of feedback or frequency of feedback would be better.

- - 1. Akirah gave similar feedback
    2. Lucy, Mel, Vir, Angelina will have a meeting with Dan in a few weeks to share the letter and consult with him before we finalize and issue the letter.
1. Absentee comment form
  1. None provided.
2. Bylaws Workgroup - this work will be taken up by the Outreach Subcommittee but everyone is invited to participate.
  1. Anyone is welcome to come to meetings, even if you weren’t previously in Outreach.
3. Year End Celebration for SFAC
  1. Responses
  2. Still welcome to fill out the form, but tentative date is June 6th, 7pm-9pm
4. Go Bananas Carnival: Saturday, May 30th
  1. SFAC will be assigned a station so we can work together, during the second half of the event. More details coming soon.
  2. Question from Angelina - if you can’t make it to the Go Bananas! Carnival Volunteer Orientation (on Wednesday, May 27th), but can make it to the actual event, is that okay?
    1. Lucy: Yes, totally okay. The group that’s running the event will likely record the volunteer orientation tomorrow.
    2. Mel will also take notes from the volunteer orientation
    3. Updates to follow on what SFAC’s exact role will be (perhaps even tomorrow).
5. Member updates and announcements
  1. Lisa question: Are there results from elections?
    1. Mel: No results public/announced. Since the elections website still says “as of 11pm”, likely certifying votes.
    2. Lucy: Process after election is over where the IRAPS analyst that runs the survey verifies the results, makes sure there was no tampering, runs different tests. These results go to the Chancellor and then get released. Goal of releasing election results for candidates by Wednesday, since GSA has their last meeting of the year soon and would like to go into the meeting with more knowledge.

[4:00 - 4:10] SFAC Chair Report
1. Chair
  1. Meeting with Travis Becker on Monday June 1st to establish Permanent Updates to Campus Elections Policy (an initiative started by Marshall and hopefully we can finish it right!)
  2. Meeting with Dan Henderson Monday June 8th to hear his thoughts on the original letter we sent out to him
    1. After taking in the considerations of Dan, Akirah, and The Chancellor, Lucy will send out the final letter for an asynchronous vote sometime during finals week
      1. Keep a lookout on your email!
  3. I would like to reach out to Eve Chavez the new IVC next year and welcome her to the space as the next SUA ex-officio
    1. Mel: Hopefully we can keep the train running so that SUA will be a part of our space. This is the first year an IVC has attended the meetings.
  4. I would appreciate your patience as I transition into this new role along with onboarding the new leadership for next year. As always you can always reach out to Lucy and I for support
[4:10 - 4:20] Subcommittee Reports
1. Audit
  1. Meeting was canceled due to the holiday
2. Outreach/Bylaws
  1. First round of proposed bylaw changes
  2. Second round will be this Friday at Iveta, 11am-12pm
  3. Will not do formal voting today, since a lot of the document left to get through.
3. Hiring
  1. Updates from Lucy (Mel will read)
    1. A hiring committee will be established to hire new SFAC representatives for Crown and Merrill Colleges. There is also a reappointment process for any members at the end of a term who are interested in being extended for another year (Kresge, JR Lewis). The Graduate Student Association has requested consideration for their Treasurer to re-enter the SFAC space. Lucy and Marshall met with the GSA President and agreed to this request as there are mutual benefits to GSA, SFAC and graduate students at large.
    2. The hiring committee is composed of Chair, Vice Chair, one continuing undergraduate member and one continuing grad member (Nicholas). For the continuing undergrad member, if you are interested in serving, please fill out this form by Friday, June 6th. Eligible members would be: RCC, Porter, Cowell, Stevenson. Lucy and Mel will then review and make a selection. Nicholas, hoping you say yes!
    3. Hiring committee will operate over the summer via Zoom. The time commitment is about 10-15 hours for reviewing applications, interviews, and meetings for planning and deliberation. All time spent in committee is paid work time.
    4. Those interested in continuing will be asked to submit a statement. Hiring subcommittee will review those statements as well as part of the review process.
    5. Trey’s Experience: Straightforward
    6. Lyra Question - who does eligible members refer to?
      1. Error realized - eligible members includes Porter when it doesn’t need to (since Angelina as Vice Chair is already on the committee), and is missing Oakes (Lyra).
    7. Marshall + Lucy met with GSA President (Sophie), about two weeks ago. Sophie is still interested in the GSA having that seat. They are interested in their treasurer serving.
    8. Mel - should we take a vote?
      1. Lucy: Not necessarily, since GSA is engaged and we appreciate their interest.
      2. GSA and Graduate Student Commons are exploring merging in the future.
      3. If there’s no objections, would like to honor their request to place their treasurer in the position.

No objections from the Committee.

- - - 1. Nicholas would remain as Graduate Student at-large, and GSA would have their treasurer serve.
    1. We will invite Eve (new SUA member) to the last meeting of the year.
    2. Lucy will check in with John and Aims to see if their respective organizations will continue.
    3. Mel will make the response form for SFAC Hiring Committee interest form private.

[4:20 - 4:35] Final Review of Funding Call
1. Allocations
  1. All updates have been made
  2. Bottom line: after the final reductions, there is still $7,563.50 available to allocate.
  3. Discuss where to allocate this available funding and make appropriate motions
    1. Discussing giving money to EOP STEM RAICES (who is currently funded at $0) versus redistributing to other groups versus saving surplus to budget for next year.
    2. Lisa: Budget Office has offered us the $300k for the last few years
      1. Will not know amount for next year until fiscal close in July
      2. Mel - we know at least $180k
    3. Lyra: Do we use the funding call rating sheet to determine numbers?
      1. Mel - it’s based on the group
    4. Discussion - one peer mentor and then half of programming?
      1. Vir: Should we choose which programming?

Mel/Nick - giving them the leftover (after funding one peer mentor) and letting them decide might be wiser.

- - 1. Cheryl Question - did we ever adjust Cheryl’s notes?
      1. No
    2. Committee agrees to fund EOP STEM RAICES, proposal 34, the remaining $7,563.50, with one peer mentor ($5,500) and the remaining going to their programming costs.
1. Deliberations
2. Appropriate motions
  1. Motion from Mel: Approve funding call amounts for this group.
    1. Angelina seconds
3. Roll Call Vote
  1. Roll-Call Vote:
    1. Cowell - not here
    2. Stevenson - yes
    3. Merrill - yes
    4. Kresge - yes
    5. Porter - yes
    6. Oakes - yes
    7. RCC - yes
    8. C9 - yes
    9. JRL - yes
    10. Grad - yes
    11. SAB - yes
    12. Provost - yes
    13. Motion carries
  2. With that, the funding call is complete.
4. Please review Column H on the Allocations Tracker to ensure your group has captured notes for the funding letter, with any restrictions, etc. Lucy has populated as much as possible from the group’s notes.

[4:35 - 4:55] Seismic & Life Safety Fund - Updates (Lisa)
1. Angelina question - how did we decide how to have a presentation on this specific fund?
  1. Nobody present knows [Lucy adds note after meeting to minutes: Marshall requested this topic].
2. Presentation
  1. In 1988 or 1998, survey was done of all student-supported buildings on campus for seismic needs.
    1. Most of them have had seismic upgrades
  2. 2003 -> UC Regents approved a $25 per student per quarter fee with 33% RTA through 2007.
  3. In 2007, Regents approved an increase to $40, extended to 2038
  4. Main Projects funded with the fee
    1. 2008 – external loan initiated for $2,499,000 to redo West Field House. We are still paying that loan back (external bond)
    2. Cowell Health Center (main building, not annex) was seismically upgraded in 2009.
      1. Also an external loan, for $11 million.
    3. Seismic 2A - Cardiff House, Student Union, Redwood Building for a total of $5,615,000 (including transfer (648,000) and Central Campus Loan ($4,967,000)
    4. Baytree - Redo of the elevators ($1,408,000
    5. Quarry and other projects.
      1. Quarry was seismically upgraded in 2015-16
  5. ~$3 million at start of the year, expected $21 million in revenue after RTA by 2038
  6. At the end of the fee, still should be around $10 million in the fund
    1. There may be other projects this could be used for
  7. Seismic 2B, Cantu Center + Radio Station was once considered but project became too expensive and was paused
    1. Part of the Baytree project is to do some of this, like the Cantu center.
    2. Mel: Cantu Center will be moved into Baytree once Baytree is done. Don’t know about KZSC or the Cantú cabin.
  8. Aims Question: Working on a new map for Merrill. Currently includes Cantu Center and Radio Station. Should we not include those on the map, under the assumption that those buildings may not continue to function?
    1. Lisa: Radio station will, Cantu center will move (but a few years away).
    2. Mel: Appropriate to keep Cantu center there for historical reasons - there’s a mural on the building. Don’t know if it will be fully moved or still a lounge space.
    3. John - buildings will most likely stay for many years to come, should keep it included in the mapping.
  9. Nick Question: Do we know what the annual interest rate is on the loans taken out of Central Campus?
    1. Lisa: Bonds change every year, since it’s done at UCOP where it’s renegotiated. Sometimes the principal gets pushed out, sometimes the rate changes. It’s mostly principal left, which is why it seems like such a high number.
  10. Angelina Question - What is a Central Campus loan?
    1. Lisa: Central Campus funding. Core funds, a couple of funds we can use for capital. One of them is interest-bearing, so it can be used for capital improvement. Some fund groups we cannot use, like tuition, state funds, etc. Non-resident tuition can also be used for capital.
    2. Interest rate is at 1.5% on the remaining principal. It’s like a standard mortgage.
  11. Mel: How come out of state can be used for things that SSF can’t?
    1. State funds and tuition goes towards the purpose of the campus. This is why they like having non-residents, it can be used for more things. Money can go toward improvements on the campus, not state-related.
(If we have time) Where do we want the end of year celebration to be?
1. Mel: Last year, we went out to dinner at Lillian’s.
2. Laila also approves of Lillian’s. Vir and Laila like Tramonti. Sugo’s is good as well.
3. Vir - what’s the radius?
  1. Mel - would like to stay local since not everybody has a car.
4. Mel: can also go bowling.
5. Committee approves of dinner.
6. Saturday, June 6th, 2026 from 7pm-9pm will be the time for dinner. Location will be decided.
[5:00] Adjournment
1. Meeting adjourned at 4:37pm. All business was covered.

Upcoming Guests/Topics:

Invite new SUA IVC
SFAC Banquet - Year End Event

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